A bread nightmare - Day Baker Panera Bread Employee Review

2.0
Dec 15, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent starting pay for position, great hands-on training, most coworkers are very friendly, health insurance is fairly decent.

Cons

The schedule only comes out a week at a time, you do not start accruing PTO until after your anniversary date, pay is biweekly on Tuesdays (it always falls in places that make it hard to pay certain bills on time), position is horrible unstructured, a lot of cafe managers are not concerned about bakers having the product they need to complete their bakes correctly, issues with dough delivery arriving on time (often leads to working 12+ hours shifts with short or no notice) If you need to reach out about issues, they will probably not be addressed Racks are constantly not rolling properly, which has lead to me being burned pretty badly several times (racks have tipped over several times) and they are never fixed in a timely manner.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
Jan 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Simple, easy work, doesn't require much energy.

Cons

Had to pay for food as an employee and cutting bagels was annoying.

3.0
Apr 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

GM at this location is very on top of things, because it's the busiest Panera in Queens. Consistent hours. Shifts go by very quickly, especially in the morning.

Cons

Location is extremely busy so it gets very stressful, especially in the morning when someone is out / there is no second cashier scheduled so the single cashier in the morning has to clean the coffee counter, refill coffees, make drinks, stick bagels in the oven & serve those bagels, check and bag up RPU/delivery orders, get bakery items for barista screen, and ring up customers. It can get really intense when many people come in, which is most of the time. You will be running back and forth like crazy. Customers can be impatient, rude, demeaning, and nasty when the line gets too long. Not recommended for people who are sensitive, with high anxiety. As for Panera the company, this chain keeps making bizarre and difficult changes to the menu, all of which make employees' lives harder and harder. With every change comes strange, dismaying, and borderline impossible expectations for frontline staff that cascade down through management who cannot do much to alter the hard policies. You can tell the company is struggling greatly to keep itself relevant with the younger crowd (a solid 80% of customers are old people). The CEO and everyone making company decisions at Panera is extremely out-of-touch. EXTREMELY. With every nonsensical menu & operations adjustment, you can tell these people haven't actually worked at a food service job in like 40 years.

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