Pros
The employees at Panera are more friendly and open-minded than many other chain restaurants, but then again I work next to a college that most of the employees attend. The food is more healthful and I can recommend it over McDonald's. It's the lesser of two evils. I have coworkers from Brazil and Puerto Rico and we talk to each other in Spanish and Portuguese, so I am learning real skills not related to food service. I don't hear a lot of Spanish in Starbucks. They have a good food discount-65% on shift, 40% off shift. I can get a green smoothie for two bucks on shift when I can't stop and eat. That being said, vegans and vegetarians really don't want to eat the food-the vegetables touch meat often. Omnivores are happier there.
Cons
The dish washing is disgusting. I am vegan and wouldn't eat off the plates here if there was anything I -could- eat; their is no separation of foods. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE WASH THEIR HANDS. I am not exaggerating. Not a single time. Only myself and one guy in pre-med. Disposable gloves are worn for sandwich/salad assembly but not changed between stations nor when making vegetarian items. I had to stop my trainers multiple times to wash our hands during training. They looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them to wash their hands before they went back to making drinks after handling dirty dishes. I am surprised so few people have gotten sick. The hours are insane-I don't mean fifty hours a week, but irregular and often scheduled in a way that adversely effects health. My first month I was usually scheduled a few close shifts then a few open shifts, often five then nine hours so I didn't get breaks. I was expected at six when I was there at 10:30 the night before and had to travel an hour and a half to and from home-yes, the managers know how far I live! They drive five minutes to work so they don't care. I take public transit and had to adjust my availability, which the managers chewed me out for-then the first thing they did was schedule me for the only half day I originally can't work! The pay is not enough for the level of personal maturity and hours Panera expects from associates-full-time is 270-350 a week! If I didn't live in a dumpy apartment I would starve to death. It's a wage that can only work if you have other income like mooching from parents (college student strategy) or social security (older worker strategy).