Panera conducted a group interview at its store scheduled to open across from City Hall. Above, Michael Dean of Andover, Marisa Cidam of Boston, and Raynisha Slade of the South End. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

By Jenn Abelson Globe Staff

There is no cash register at the Panera cafe near ­Government Center in Boston. There are no prices either — just suggested donations and bins to leave money, if you can afford to.

This is Panera Cares Community Cafe, a nonprofit outpost of the national bakery and sandwich chain that is set to open in Boston in January. The idea, according to Panera founder and co-chief executive Ron ­Shaich, is to provide a place where everyone can eat with dignity, regardless of their ability to pay for a meal.

The restaurant, at 3 Center Plaza, is the first of its kind in Boston­ and only the fifth for the company. In other states, including Oregon and Missouri, Panera converted existing Panera Bread shops into Panera Cares cafes. In Massachusetts, executives decided to build from the ground up in a prime location — across from City Hall and around the corner from the New England Center for Homeless Veterans.

“Nobody thought this could be done. I love figuring it out and seeing how it could work,” Shaich said in a recent interview at the 3 Center Plaza cafe. “It’s a powerful study of humanity — will people do the right thing?”

So far, at other cafes people are doing just that. The nonprofit restaurants bring in 70 to 75 percent of the retail value of the food served, said Kate Antonacci, project manager of Panera Cares, which is run by Panera Bread Foundation, a charitable organization.