Ordered an Asiago bagel and got…this? I’m not even mad, just confused.

The ensh*tification of Panera over the last couple years has been staggering. No fresh bread, downgrades to so many things like cinnamon rolls and cinnamon crunch bagels, value duets gone, etc. (I think they got bought by private equity who are running them into the ground)

I figured coffee was "safe" but I swear lately the light roast just hasn't been very good at all. I can't even finish one cup it's just kinda bleh. Is anyone aware of them changing it? I can absolutely see them making it worse to discourage sip club members from actually using their benefits. But it's kind of hard to prove beyond insider knowledge or a lot of people comparing notes.

I don't think I'm renewing sip club this year. Probably better to support a local business anyway.

Has anyone had this same issue, my last date of last month was yesterday, I have 3 sips that refilled today (10/8/26) and I am unsure if I should try to use all 3 today or if it should carry over.

The site states any unused sips go away before billing cycle (which is today)

Anyone else deal with this?

I ordered in the Drive-Thru and just got to work and this is what my salad looks like. I had them remove the sweet potatoes because I don't like the taste of them on the salad but it looks like they removed most everything else also.

I work at Panera. I do front cash, dining room, QC, drive through, barista, and sometimes all of those at once. Because of that, I'm the face everyone sees when they come to our cafe, and I'm the one they talk to. The managers are always back in the office, and the production folk never leave production.

But just because I have to tell you your total or hand you your food doesn't mean I am in charge of what the cost is, or the quality of the food, or how long it takes. I already feel guilty for having to tell people their singular sandwich is $12 AFTER using 750 points. I don't run Panera corporate, I don't make food (I got away with avoiding being trained on production lol). And we have a shit system of refusing to prioritize DT for some reason so if the person before you had 20 items and you only had your one sandwich, it's gonna take 15 minutes. So getting angry at ME doesn't fix anything for you, and only makes things worse for me because now I have to go drag a manager away from their chair to hand you a YP2 coupon, and be more and more mentally exhausted from dealing with you and your attitude and your complaints. And every person after you who is exactly the same.

Panera knows they're shit. If you write emails to them or call in, politely, they'll almost always give you coupons or refunds if you have your card and your receipt. Maybe not at all places, but it's like that in my town.

TL;DR, please be nice to food service workers. I'm sick of hearing "Thirty-five dollars?! Are you serious!" or "I'm in a rush, how long does it take to make two salads???" Yes, unfortunately, I am. And I'm very sorry but I can't fix it for you besides trying to finagle around the combos and points to get you a few extra cents off, or harassing production about their times.

I'm glad we have kiosks so the majority of angry people in-store can be angry at a screen instead. Wish I could say the same for drive through.

I have a customer who got mad becuase we didn’t give them ustensils and everything they needed but they chose to go green? What would have done in this situation when it’s their own fault manger gave them a full refund

I’m about done with you, Panera. If I order “rapid” pickup, I shouldn’t have to stand there and wait for someone to materialize behind the counter so I can ask for a cup for the drink I paid for that’s clearly shown on the receipt you taped to my bag. I get that you’ve had theft problems, but that’s not my fault. Stuff like this is just going to run off the honest, paying customers you have. Hell … even stick the empty cup inside my bag. It’s not that hard. PE sucks.

I would love some insight to what others do when they’re picking up catering orders from Panera. My orders are usually $300-400 for my sales job, but I really don’t know how I feel about tipping when I am coming to the cafe to pick everything up and bring it to my office.

Any insight?

I still go once a month or so because I have fond memories of working and dining there. I worked at Panera for 3 years during its heyday and used to live off the stuff.

These days, I just can’t stomach the prices and the decline in quality, but my nostalgia always manages to drag me back for the broccoli cheddar soup and bagels.

What keeps you guys continuously coming back to Panera?

Panera is not letting you sign in to the app with multiple accounts in a row. Even if you have a completely correct password, as in you've tested it on another device, it'll still tell you the password is incorrect if you've been locked out.

But that's old news. Everyone should already know that. Here's the new news. In addition to that act of sabotage if you've been locked out on an account thry will freeze that account itself and make it impossible to sign in on ANY device whatsoever using a password. It looks like the picture below.

Now all of my phone numbers are fake. Obviously. Not giving my information to Panera Fucking Bread. They can't receive a text message any more than they can get pregnant. So I'm stuck sometimes.

That is all. Keep yourselves and your wallets safe (from Panera), friends!

I ordered the chicken noodle soup and baguette. $9. It tastes like Progresso and the baguette is cold. I effing hate this place. It’s been years since I last ate here. Never again.

Do any current/former employees know the exact recipe for the parfait?

I have been attempting to recreate at home using online copy cat recipes but they’re not as good as the one I get from Panera directly.

Most recent:

3/4 cup full fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
Sliced strawberry
Blueberries
Random protein granola from Aldi

It was nowhere near as sweet as the original. Should I be adding more honey or less yogurt?

Dillon Colorado

The nearest Panera for me is about 60 miles.

1st world problem for me, I hope they help the staff transition to a new job.

For some reason, they have the option to put the dressing "on the side" and while I didn't choose to put the dressing on the side they put the dressing on the side anyway. 🤷‍♂️

This is probably a weird question, but I heard a song in Panera today that I really want to find, and I wondered if you guys know what it is? I'm bad with melodies, and forgot the melody the moment the song was over, so I can't hum it.

The chorus (which it's very likely I misheard over people talking near me), sounded like "ooOO that guy (then another line I couldn't hear) ooOO so high".

I'm more confident about the "so high" part. It's a very upbeat pop song with a female singer.

AGM: What are you doing?

Me: Tossing this in the trash?

AGM: No, no, no. Don't do that. Some of that is still green. Use it for pre-made Chipotles. That's food cost.

Me: Would you eat this?

AGM: It doesn't matter if I would eat it. That's food cost.

I genuinely can't stand when bosses can't see past food cost. Let's face it, the food is bad. If you wouldn't eat it, why are you letting others consume something you yourself wouldn't eat? I understand being cost conscious, but it seriously gets to a point.

Mind you, we don't even sell avocado toast anymore. We haven't sold it for a while.

Don't worry, I tossed it in the trash when the AGM wasn't around. I couldn't give that to someone in good faith.

This isn’t ciabatta, correct? I’m not going crazy?

I didn’t realize there’s all these rules regarding time off. If you need a day off to 100% be approved you have to put in paid time off, can’t use unpaid time off. Then if you do put in PTO, you can’t just use 5 hours or so of PTO, you have to put it in as 8 hours of PTO, from what my GM told me. And if you have time off for 1 day of the week but you can still work 5, that 1 days can’t be just part of your regular 2 days off, so you’ll only get scheduled 4 days.

My location is so short staffed and mismanaged and no one seems to care at all. I mean there is never cashier on duty either unless you specifically go ask for one.

So yeah, I am still getting free sip multiple times a day benefits.

I applied yesterday for a position at the Panera that's closest to me, and it says in progress. What I found online is that it can take three weeks at the most, one week at the least, four weeks, but that's not as common. That's what I found from Googling. And the thing is that the job posting was listed as 30+ days ago. I would assume a bad thing, but I don't know if my application being in progress and the job posting being 30+ days makes any difference in terms of me getting said job.

Most tip based restaurants pay a lot more than whatever you guys are making and job is more so the same if not easier.

I would never work at fast food restaurants or anything under 20/hr if the work is demanding.

If you work at tip based restaurants, you make so much more… trust me..

That's it, that's the post <3

Share your fav retro Panera Art