A Mixed Bag - Anonymous employee Caribou Coffee Employee Review

3.0
Mar 24, 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free coffee, obviously. Good regular customers. Good coworkers, depending on where you work. If you have a good manager and good coworkers, the job can be very fun, despite being busy and understaffed. The drinks are of high quality.

Cons

Caribou management likes to get all tangled around itself. Nobody is ever on the same page. Most of the District Managers have never worked in the store. All the rules are made by people who have no idea what it's like, but continue to enforce these ridiculous things. They also like to play games of 'manager roulette.' I had four managers within four months. I like my manager very much, and I hate to see her being taken advantage of by the DM and everyone above him. She is constantly warned to "lower labor costs." This is IMPOSSIBLE. We only ever have two people at the same time. We're operating at the minimum and she's taking flak for "spending so much money on labor." On the whole, the District Managers are awful. Every email we receive is so rife with spelling and grammatical errors, it looks like a second grader wrote it. Disappointing.

Explore other reviews about Caribou Coffee

5.0
Mar 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Easy to learn menu and recipes

Cons

Bad tips and not great pay

2.0
Jun 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Usually nice coworkers, good regulars, tips can be really good if you’re working busy shifts

Cons

Over worked and under paid. General managers are hit or miss and if yours is bad, you’re screwed and they won’t be held accountable. Some coworkers are bullies with no repercussion. Unfair task delegation. Hard to get full time hours unless you’re upper management.

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