Overall experience - Night Baker Panera Bread Employee Review

4.0
17 Jun 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interview process was pretty straight forward. I had a face to face interview with 3 managers, and then I was called the next day to set up a "shadowing" interview and immediately after I sat down with one the the managers from the 1st interview and they offered me the job right on the spot. The pay and benefits were excellent and the managers seemed to be fairly nice and willing to work around your schedule.

Cons

As a night baker, if you are not used to working a night shift it is difficult and can be very emotional trying to adjust your body to a new routine. Once done with training you will more than likely be the only person in the store during the whole night.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
25 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people with good morals and values. Fun work environment. Great food fresh ingredients.

Cons

Be careful not to burn yourself while baking bread. Can gain a lot of weight eating bread 😆

3.0
18 Apr 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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