Caribou Coffee reviews

3.5

63% would recommend to a friend

(1,792 total reviews)
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Scott Kennedy

48% approve of CEO

37% positive business outlook

Caribou Coffee has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 1,792 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Caribou Coffee employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Restaurants & Food Service industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
May 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Employee meals, discounts, solid pay

Cons

Was managed terribly. They had problems balancing the til and didn’t fire the people who couldn’t count money properly or exchange tender. Cash drawer would be consistently short unacceptable amounts of money ranging from $10-$100. Never in my life have I worked at a place that couldn’t balance the til. Dare I say that someone was stealing from the store. Their safe was not properly secured, wasn’t properly counted, and bags of money were left out in the open. There was an envelope with $100 bills left out one day. I was told they were +$1000 short the year before a few months into the job. This was a problem I walked into that they never fixed. This is beyond negligent. I did my absolute best to watch over operations but could not be everywhere at once. I could not run the store, do inventory, financial reports, expect to take a break and watch over a couple troublesome employees. I ended up doing everything myself, I worked rushes on my own and rather do it so because I at least knew the cash register would be balanced. Troublesome individuals needed to be fired and the boss wanted to be their friend instead. I had to deal with: a short register on a daily basis, consistently 2-3 hours late, stolen tips, stolen inventory, and taking extended breaks while I do all the work and split my hard earned tips. I also got cussed out at for doing my job. So the shift leads got written up and took the blame because the company couldn’t do the right thing and take care of the actually problem.

4.0
Jan 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of room for climbing the ladder. I was an external hire for the AGM position and was promoted to GM the following year. Benefits include stocks, insurance, quarterly bonuses and more.

Cons

Downlone communication from CEO to down through regional and district managers to the front line team may be a crapshoot, depending on your leaders. Your success may be dependent on your direct up line and I’ve seen favoritism and passive bullying tactics/gossip take place. Towards the end of my time I felt I was back in high school the cliques that formed at the annual GM conferences.

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Caribou Coffee Response
5mo
Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. We’re glad to hear your time with us has been positive — it reinforces our commitment to building a workplace where people feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.
1.0
Feb 13, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Tips and Pay are good if you work as a Team Member or Shift Leader.

Cons

Poor Quality of Life as GM, you will forever be called to come in on your days off or PTO. No growth potential, Middle Management treats each other and their teams like a high school clique.

Viewing 40 - 42 of 1,792 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,822 Caribou Coffee reviews submitted anonymously by Caribou Coffee employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Caribou Coffee is right for you.