Working at Panera Bread was great while it lasted.
Pros
Panera Bread is a respectful company. They offer a great starting hourly rate. They have a passion for food and understand what is quality food. It's about quality not quantity. As an employee you are eligible for a 65% discount on food, only the day you work. They give a decent amount of hours; I received about 20-30 hours a week. My pay started at 8.50, which, is decent compared to the minimum. If you are an asset to the company and are reliable you can move up to Associate Trainer fast. Which can give you great experience. In my opinion, the food is great. I loved the salads and since I received a great discount, I only payed about $3 for my meal. Compared to $10, that is usually what a regular customer spends on a single meal.
Cons
The managers need some improvement. I am aware that it is a fast food restaurant and so the management can be anyone without any degree, but the management can be very unprofessional. Like most work places there is a lot of gossip. Another thing is that usually the co workers are always involved in each others lives. There is a lot of drug activity going on too. Most of the people that I worked with were always coming to work stoned,which, delays our service and how fast we prepare orders. Some managers are unprofessional and gossip about other people and tend to put people on the spot, a lot.