I work at Panera Bread, ask me anything

you guys arent a bakery

why do you act like one

>delish

I want to punch you to death.

Can I buy burger buns and other types of bread at Panera? My girlfriend told me that I can try there for fresh buns and shit, and I told her I didn't believe her, but didn't look into it further.

Good question, the bakers hide in the back from 8 pm to like 5 am and they don't even make their dough here. They just bake the breads, add toppings, add fillings, etc. One of them didn't even know what shortening is.

Hoagie rolls sure but no buns. We keep some loaves of bread unsliced for retail but no one really buys them at my store. I end up donating most of them.

I believe it.

I almost had an argument with a girl i was seeing for a while, because she would not stop referring to Panera as "healthy." I had to show her nutritional info for almost every product to prove it. Like, no fast food chain will EVER be healthy for you, better than others sure, but not objectively healthy.

Why the fuck can't I apply for more than oe position there? I applied for a night baker position and they said a separate manager hires all baking positions. I tried to apply for another position, like a day job making preparing food, but the website says I can only apply for one job at a time.

How did you get the job?

Why does she think the food is still good? Fat, salt, and sugar aren't healthy, but they're natural so they aren't against the "artificial" rule. The sodium in our soups is incredible.

Can't help there, best I can say is call the store or something. I had a friend who worked there that put in a good word for me. The store just lost a full time cashier so they hired me basically immediately after my application went through.

Why did you guys forget my Mac and cheese two god damn times in a row? I'll never not check inside the bag again.

What's your favorite type of bagel? Mine is Cinnamon crunch!

Why did you order overpriced mac n cheese twice in a row
Asiago or everything, toasted with chive and onion cream cheese. Good ol crunch is good though.

I mean, if you're talking value judgments, Panera is pretty tasty; so i can see why she likes it (hell, there are several things panera makes that i really like).

But like you said: fat, salt, and sugar. They're all great, so it makes sense that people enjoy their food.

While I've really got nothing against fast food, but it's just the idea that any food like this is healthy that drives me nuts because it just perpetuates Americans' bad eating habits

I used to always order the veggie sandwich and a cup of broccoli cheese soup, but because of new (and so fun) gastrointestinal problems, my doctor says to eat very little dairy.
SO, my question is, which soup is the most delicious without there being cheese or too much dairy in it?

Panera knows that no one actually checks nutrition guides even though it's all on the website, so they really take advantage of that. I'm honest with customers if they ask about what's healthy and remind people the guide exists for that reason.

Do they pay you well after overcharging for everything?

French onion (my personal favorite) with no cheese on top or black bean. Garden veggie is dairy free and I think the chicken noodle is too.

Worst experience with a customer?

$8.75 an hour. Sucks but minimum is $7.25 here so they could be worse.

McDonalds x Starbucks = Panera
y/n?

Cool, thanks. I think I'll try the French Onion next time I'm there (but with no cheese). Are they going to be pissy if I ask for no cheese on it? (I've always tried not to be one of those people that asks for special orders, but I have to now, I guess.)

I get a lot of really annoying customers but I somehow miss the worst ones. My favorite is the homeless man that used to squat outside who wouldn't buy bear claws from me because he thinks I'm a Satanist or some shit.

My biological father I had no interest in meeting and never previously met stops in sometimes, that's pretty awkward.

>Better than working at subway
Except for no it isn't, subway is so much fun to work at, barely any work to do.

If they do, they're a shitty cashier. There's buttons for ingredients on each item on the register; tap it and it takes it off and line has to do one less step when they get order.

Did you work at a shitty understaffed Subway, the only restaurant off the interstate for 5 miles, all alone all shift?

Is Phil Anselmo secretly racist?

It was a JOKE

Cool man, so I could go in and be like "gimme your fucking rye and nobody gets hurt" and I could get a loaf?

If you think you're tough enough to steal from high schoolers and apathetic 20 year olds, go for it. We have at least 1 rye loaf a day for retail, just vault over the counter and grab it.

How is motherbread these days? I worked for Panera a couple years back. I left right before they transitioned to Panera 2.0. It wasn't a hard job. The only crappy part was talking to shitty customers while trying to consolodate mid-rush amd dealing with really fucking specific or large online orders.

why did they change the ham/swiss sandwich

I was thinking about applying to my local Panera as a night baker.

What's life like for those guys?

Aside from rising prices, constant menu changes, and "100% clean" I don't think much has changed, and if it has my coworkers that have been there for years haven't said anything.
It's probably gonna vary between areas, but ours come in at 8 pm and after closers are done they get the store to themselves a while. I think they stay till 4 am or so? I really don't know all the ins and outs, they have a different manager and I honestly don't talk to them much. One of them hates it but he complains about everything.

What do you like to eat there otherwise as far as soups, sandwiches, etc?

Thoughts on the fact that you'll probably be serving Krispy Kreme Doughnuts soon?
usatoday.com/story/money/2017/04/05/panera-bread-jab-acquisition-krispy-kreme-keurig/100062426/

I'm not particularly picky, but my favorites are the fuji apple chicken salad, french onion soup, and the steak and arugula sandwich.

Sick of customers asking about that shit, we aren't really going to change. The company that, amongst many other things, owns Krispy Kreme also owns Panera now. Franchise based stores like mine aren't going to be affected in the least.

If there is one soup to buy pre-made, it's probably french onion. Ain't nobody got time to babysit a stove for an hour for the onion base to caramelize and not scorch (and that's assuming most people will deal with the tears of slicing up so many pounds necessary that cook down to only about 1/2 pound of product by the end).

Why are you guys so shit at making sandwiches? Also is it true that your soups come in bags?

New shitty Italian aside, I honestly like ours. My store is pretty good though.

And yeah, 100% true. Shipped to us frozen, thawed and heated when needed.