I just started working from a grocery store Starbucks to a small coffee shop. I’m not used to tips but we just started taking cash tips at my current job. At the end of day I noticed the lead would cash out all the tips and not split with others, is this normal?

without going into the details; i'm (F23) looking for a change in careers. i've been a dog bather for 2 and a half years with two different companies and i feel i'm not getting promoted. as much as i love my job, my passion for grooming has officially died. while i figure out what the next step in my life, im looking to find a different career.

i have around 4 years in food service, and although ive never worked as a barista, i feel like im a good fit. i'm well acquainted with fast pace work environments and i understand food safety protocols.

im only hesitant because i recently moved out and require a full time job to keep food on the table. my current job pays me well, and i am guaranteed full time employment. i worked as a deli clerk full time, made good money. but suddenly my hours were cut to part time because management changed and hired a whole bunch of people. luckily, i was still living with my parents at the time. so it didn't matter. but i fear that my barista job might pull a fast one on me and put me down to part time. even if i apply with the intention of going full time.

i'm open to other suggestions for a job. anything that gives me full time hours. thank you

These are in no specific chronological order of experience, just a collage of examples. Thanks !!

Edit: I meant don't "be" mean!! sorry

I'm assessing a space, and am considering a space that is light on power. It has around 125Amps/208V. This is for USA.

I don't plan to have anything too crazy. Hoping to serve a base of 80 drinks a day.

Anyone working in a similar scenario and have thoughts/tips on how to make it work?

Thanks.

مين الأفضل BRIVA Barista Dual Boiler و
HiBREW H7B
بس يا جماعه عايز حد يكون جرب حاجه منهم او الاتنين عايز من الأفضل من ناحيه كل حاجه الاستخلاص و التبخير و الطحن و والخامات وكل حاجه و نهايه مين أفضل
و كمان لو في حاجه أفضل وبنفس السعر او ارخص من ٤٠٠٠٠ج

I am a barista at a very big cafe/restaurant that is part of a chain. When I say big I mean it literally: it is a building with two levels and a terrace outside that has lots of tables. We are understaffed and most of the guys working are not working well.

The idea at the place is: it is divided in 3 sections and eqch section has 1-2 baristas depending on how busy it is. We also have to take the orders at the same time. No one has been trained, not even our 3 managers, so no one organises anything and we are in a constant mess because it is also a very busy place and lots of customers love to treat us like shit. The managers keep all the sections open even when we don’t have enough personal.

Today I was working at the terrace and they left me alone taking orders, making the drinks, serving drinks, and handling the complains of people (there were two or three nasty ones today) and I asked for some help but the managers got kinda mad bc 2 guys out of the 5 we had came to help me (notice, we also have a manager of managers that supposedly has to do barista stuff in the biggest place but he works for a time and then goes on a break). One of them told me “if you need help just send the order to another bar” but at the time I literally had to stay because customers were nasty every time I tried to go in. I am losing it. The managers are super nice but they can’t coordinate themselves or us, and only one of them works and he is super stressed already. Like, I get it but we are all stressed and tired.

Today I hurt my hand while working because everything was fast and I had to keep the pace all alone. And some customers from hell were spawning around me and their mere presence is enough to make me feel like shit.

The worst part, they keep hiring guys who are of the same ethnicity of the owner and those guys are 90% useless. Two or three of them work, the rest just do what they want because the owner likes to hire them. I can make a list of drinks, 10 trays, and they will not take them and just will go away with any excuse. I am thinking of quiting, imeven if I like the job and some colleagues. The job market is kinda hard but I am becoming insane. Some customers don’t help because they have a bad attitude even before entering and it is a shit to serve drinks to people who treat you as if they could order you anything (I hate to admit this but I can feel my predjudice towards certain ethnicities growing and I know it is wrong)

Lesson learned, never work at big restaurants that have a lot of tables. The only positive thing about the place is that they don’t scam you with the payment (common towards immigrants where I live).

I've been at my store for almost two months now and I still haven't been trained on bar - hot or cold. I come in, I get stuck on drive through for 4 hours, get my lunch, come back, and get stuck on front and warming for another 4 hours.

I just sit there watching the more experienced baristas get slammed by drink orders because half of our baristas are new in the last few months and didn't get trained.

Even the stuff I can do (drive through, front, and warming) I didn't get to do the modules for, I just got thrown on the floor on my first full shift and had to figure it out.

When is it going to get better? I feel so useless and unhelpful: (

Do you receive/give food safety training at your shop? Transitioned into working as a Barista/cook at a shop after years working in professional kitchens and I'm surprised by some things. In general everything is what I would deem to be just barely acceptable in terms of food safety. I don't see anything egregious enough that Im worried customers are suffering from lack of food safety; however, I am alarmed at just how unaware some of the other Baristas are regarding food safety. Management does a good job of overseeing and enforcing/conducting proper food safety practices, but certain people are left cleaning up after others due to their lack of training/ awareness. How have people made improvements with food safety at their shop? What has helped encourage coworkers to take things more seriously and actually do the job they signed up for?

Hey! moved to big city a bit ago and i've been on barista on tap waitlist for 3 months now.

Really need the flexible hours from it as rent is getting scary but I'm just stuck waiting.

Anyone know a way to get it checked quicker?

What do you do when a customer hands you a nasty scummy cup/water bottle to put their drink in?

We have a regular who's a dick and does this. (Not bad enough to be kicked out, but generally unpleasant and mildly creepy.) His cup is always disgusting and has brown or white scum in the bottom. My boss told me to just pour the coffee into it anyways, my coworker said she usually gives it a quick rinse (which didn't do much, it was nasty and crusty....)

I'm sure as hell not obligated to wash his cup for him, so I guess I just pour in the coffee and then wash my hands. Good thing he just gets drip so I don't have to mix anything in there.

I turned in my two week notice and when I was asked why I explained that the shop isn’t well managed and I feel like it’s very unprofessional. Ten minutes later I got a phone call from the owner ready to argue that it’s not supposed to be professional because it’s a small business. She constantly brings up that she’s a teacher and stuff too, I told her employees shouldn’t be told that as some sort of an excuse for poor management. She acts like a martyr because she’s a teacher and small business owner, on the phone she literally called her and her husband “honest hard working people” as a defense to me explaining that it’s just my opinion and why I don’t want to work there anymore. The whole phone call was basically a rant about how my personality is the issue and how I don’t understand the effort she puts into the business. She proved my point by how she took everything very personally aimed at her and her family, when truthfully I just don’t want to work somewhere that I feel like is managed in an unprofessional way, even if it’s a small business ran by a family I’m a PAID EMPLOYEE, and I think that includes addressing me with some level of professionalism. I ended the call by saying to forget about my two week notice, after the way she tried to argue with me I’m not going in tomorrow morning.

There’s a lot more I could include but I’m gonna cut my rant short to address the photo. A part of her poor management was constantly texting about how staff wasn’t cleaning well enough, but she failed to address that a severe ant infestation is in the room where open ingredients are kept. I was told by her daughter that she had knowingly served people stuff with ants in it because they can’t afford to pour out full containers. She has cameras on employees at all times and I was texted about pouring stuff out, when I told her there were ants in it she ignored me and still never addressed it at all.

The main point of all of this is that I addressed her professionally and she proved she doesn’t have a shred of a chance at professionalism. I genuinely believe that she’s very incompetent and should’ve shut her store down a long time ago, I’ll be reporting her to the local health department for this and other issues.

I’ll probably lurk on this subreddit, and maybe become a barista again, but I mainly just want to say BE PROFESSIONAL. Especially if you are young, and especially if you work for a small coffee shop. Don’t compromise your integrity and don’t hesitate to quit if you’re bothered by stuff. I felt kind of stupid for my main reasons for quitting when I picked up my phone, but as soon as I got off the phone and watched the schedules be updated one by one, I felt a weight lifted off of me. that’s all, thank you to all the wonderful people that I see on here 💖

First, I’m curious how you were trained to learn how to make each beverage. Was there written training material? Was it a hands-on process of making each drink? (Solely one or the other or a little bit of both?)

Were you paid for training to learn how to make drinks or were you expected to memorize the recipes in your own time?
How soon were you expected to know each recipe and make every drink?

Hi all, been a barista for over a year now. Been following this subreddit for some time.

This is partially a rant, but I also want your thoughts. Note: Names/some genders have been changed and some details about the business altered.

I left my previous coffee shop job because it was extremely disorganized, dysfunctional, and food safety was severely neglected (e.g., a maggot problem under the bar that the owner/manager refused to treat as urgent for over a year). 

Found another job quickly— a family-owned coffee shop and also a bakery. We learn baking techniques, which is fun! It’s a relatively new business, a few years old, and the owner reads as super “chill” according to current employees. There are a lot of green flags so far. 

The green flags are--

-owner is meticulous about food safety, sanitation and cleanliness; if there is a problem, he actually fixes it (unlike the last owner I worked for).
-has checklists for opening / closing (unlike my previous job where it was all word of mouth and based on the mood of the person working as to what they wanted to do/not do)
-owner is a great trainer, patient, i have yet to see him crack under pressure. I like that I’m being trained by him and not a barista who is a bad teacher (like my last job)
-I feel safe enough to ask for his feedback when things don’t go well on my end, whether it’s a baking technique, a flow question, etc. He holds himself accountable if there is a detail he forgot to communicate that may have caused a problem (again, massive difference from my last job).

....However, I found out about what I consider to be…a concerning red flag, but I want second opinions. 

The owner also owns another food business nearby. I went there to eat a meal, and the employee there told me that if the owner doesn’t think you’re a good fit for the team, he will fire you without warning. I was caught off guard by this. I figured, I’ll file that one away. 

At our shop, the lead barista, Ashlee, has been at this coffee shop/bakery for over a year. She is the only employee who has been there this long. Myself and another new employee Jamie noticed that the turnover is pretty significant here, so I inquired with Ashlee about that (she seems trustworthy).

Ashlee said—yes, people will leave when they move on to bigger/better things, but the owner also randomly fires people without warning, and without performance feedback that makes explicit that your job is on the line. He *will* tell you don't do this or that, but it's not made clear that this is a major strike against you as an employee at this place. He has done this 6 to 7 times while she’s been working there, and even fired HER FRIEND who she recruited. Again, no warning. Ashlee said she often is confused why certain people were let go because they were good workers. She also said a lot of these coworkers had no idea that their jobs were on the line. She noticed that after her friend was fired, the owner added an “at-will termination” clause to our policy book since we're in an at-will state. Some of the firings were justified, but one employee was fired for being late all the time due to disruptions in their personal life—to which the employee was communicating with the owner and keeping things transparent with him. He fired her anyway, and Ashlee didn’t think that was fair. 

I will say, he already fired one person (Emily) while I was here for only 1.5 weeks—but I think that was generally an **understandable** call (with a big caveat). I noticed Emily cut corners while closing, made weird executive decisions when the owner wasn’t around that caused friction between myself and a customer (e.g., Emily told me “we’re done serving espresso drinks 15 minutes before closing, period.” Customer orders espresso drink 10 min before, and Emily insists on giving them a refund after the customer argued with us. We got in trouble for this the next day).

Turns out, Emily works 2 other jobs (basically since 5am that morning, while closing at 11 at our shop. Insanely long days doing doubles all the time). She also cut corners while completing our closing tasks because she was concerned about her safety the later it got, because she has to walk home alone in the city. The crime in the area was increasing, so that really scared her. I understood this, and this provided some context for her situation and why she made certain decisions on the job at night as a closer. Emily expressed how she really likes this job, and I even offered to give her a ride home if she felt her safety was compromised. She said she would likely take me up on that offer. 

Then she was fired. 

So, even though her decisions caused issues, the lack of transparency and lack of opportunity to check in with an employee really concerns me before firing them. Who knows. Maybe he gave her warnings, but based on what everyone tells me, I highly, highly doubt it. If I were an owner, I’d check in with Emily and point out these problems and ask what is going on before giving her the ax.

Anyway. The way I see it, if he fires me down the line without warning, then this is NOT a good fit for me. I’m a fucking hard ass worker, and I personally think that is taking the “at-will” termination state law way too literally. They don’t tell you *how* to execute that, and there *are* consequences for creating this type of culture among your team and you start to get a poor reputation. The law is not gonna tell you about any of that. 

For instance, Jamie is now nervous and feels like she is walking on egg shells—if you make a mistake, is it merely just corrected and we move on (which seems “chill”), or is there some kind of implicit boundary being crossed that we don’t know about that could end our employment there (uhhh…definitely not “chill”)? It makes you overly hypervigilant. I’m concerned that there is little tolerance to be human at this job.

Anyway, thoughts? It’s a real shame because everything else about this job *is* chill, but I wish there were some kind of warning about you not cutting it before you get the ax, even if it’s not legally required.

________

TL;DR: new job, been here for a bit. So many green flags, job appears “chill.” Then I find out from a lead named Ashlee, and another employee at the owner’s other business, that the owner randomly fires people without warning, causing confusion. Terminated employees often don't know there was anything wrong with their job performance. Even though the owner is really clear, has clear policies, will gently correct anything you miss, and even though we're an at-will state—the problem is I don’t know what is merely a correction vs. him filing away a list of things he will eventually fire you for without telling you. Thoughts?

EDIT: For additional context, I did NOT ask Ashlee to gossip about former employees or name anyone who had been fired. I asked her, “What makes someone successful here? Are there any general patterns that indicate certain employees might get cut, without naming names?” I was trying to understand the expectations of a new workplace and how to succeed there. I think there’s a big difference between disclosing personal drama and asking an experienced employee about the factors that contribute to success or failure at a company. Ashlee said, in her view, there were mostly no obvious patterns that indicated “X employee might get cut,” which I think is concerning.

I know this is a lot I really am sorry but help would be much appreciated

So I’ve just started this job 2 weeks ago to which I am so grateful. my first trial shift was like 3 hours long 3 weeks ago, no experience. Only experience I have is agency work as bar staff at festivals etc but those are pre mixed cans I don’t do much. For whatever reason I got hired and I do really love it, but since I’ve been mostly put on the busiest days like the weekends and such, I have not been able to learn like nearly as much as I should have.

A girl who started a week or two before me- was on her trial shift when I was doing my interview seems way more experienced than me, can use the coffee machine and make latte art, decorate some of the plates we need to be able to, and carry multiple plates at once (she did have experience as a waitress). This past week I have been more reserved at this job since the last shift I did with the manager was an absolute disaster- on Saturdays which I was unaware of there are large numbers of reservations and such but I kept welcoming in people and sitting them in, moving menus back to their original place that were put out for the reservations, and just all over the place trying to help until the manager snapped and said to just stick to the dishes. Since then I haven’t really engages with customers unless I had to and would always look to the other person I’m working with so they could take their orders/deal with them even when it isn’t a busy day.

I do need to work full time I am on a gap year and me and my siblings birthday is coming up soon to which I would like us to enjoy it welll given we didn’t last year. I didn’t know full time people had to have complete availability since it’s a weekly rota where people tell the manager Sunday morning our availability before he then goes ahead and does it but since I was just starting out I was saying yes yes even when those days wouldn’t work for me. But this week I have had some stuff and when I told him I couldn’t do weekends he was visibly upset and changed me to another day. I don’t have access to the rota, or the gc and I did tell him yesterday to which he said he’d deal with it and still crickets. I asked if I could speak to him yesterday but I don’t actually think I expressed what I wanted to but some points were exchanged which is better than nothing. He said he’d like to put me on those ‘medium’ kinda days, not busy but not too quiet whatever that means. I can use the espresso machine for single, double shot espressos, iced lattes sometimes lattes and cappuccinos but that’s about it. I know how to do the others but haven’t actually attempted- everyone keeps telling me different ways to steam the milk so everytime I think I found a way idk anymore. I did make a latte with latte art last week just before it got busy and was quite proud of my work (I really do wish I took a picture) oh and I told my manager he shrugged and told me it was one but not too worry too much about latte art and not to be scared. Everyone keeps going on about this girl they’ve learned with who teaches well but I still haven’t met or worked with her yet. I guess my confidence has been knocked down but after that conversation somewhat better, but I’m off for the rest of the week🫠 With decorating some of the plates I got a rough idea of most of the ingredients for most of them but plating I’ve found difficult. I think I’ll just study the menu and place the ingredients wherever but I really do need help with learning how to make the coffees, cocktails, plating the plates, speaking to customers seating them and being useful in the busy hours by carrying as many plates up the stairs safely

He did also say full time people need to show more in their confidence with everything from opening closing to the dishes to the coffee to basically looking after the place by themselves and I do need to show him how this. Any way I can learn even on the busy days and show him I’ve grown? Even when I’m please anything

There are a few baristas at my favorite coffee shops that do an amazing job of remembering the names of regular customers. Which I find amazing, considering how many people they serve every day.

But my question is this: if a barista remembers my name, is it weird to ask for their name in order to respond to their greeting in a more personal way?

My intention is just to be friendly, I am not someone that flirts or asks for phone numbers from people who are doing their job. But I am a man, so I could completely understand if this question automatically raises a red flag. And the last thing I want is to make them feel uncomfortable.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Hello! i was wondering if tips at high end chains stay relatively steady? like at places like Mad Nice, DOCR, Or Lucky? Looking for other opportunities but don’t wanna make the same mistake of choosing a very slow place to apply, especially with living off the tips

Hey everyone
I’m working as a barista, but I’m completely self-taught. I’d say my skills are decent, but I really want to improve and take my latte art to the next level.
The problem is that I don’t really have anyone to learn from, so I’m mostly relying on YouTube and whatever I can find online.

Does anyone have recommendations for YouTubers, specific videos, or even online courses that go really in-depth into the technique? I’m looking for something that explains the why behind things, not just a quick tutorial showing you how to pour a heart or a rosetta. I’d love to understand the details of milk texture, pouring technique, cup positioning, and all the little things that make a difference.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi! Every year, fall/winter, my knuckles get so dry and rough and cracked. Working in a café 💯 makes it worse, as I'm washing my hands often, but can't lotion up to protect them. What are we doing for our hands to keep them nice?

Not so much a rant, but asking for advice, tips/tricks from fellow Baristas. ☺️

I'm planning to open a small bookstore café in Canada and want to serve authentic Indian chai (not instant premix).

I'm thinking of making fresh chai concentrate every morning, then adding steamed milk when customers order.

I need advice on:

• How to make a strong concentrate without bitterness?
• How to offer ginger, elaichi and masala, kaser flavours using one base?
• Fresh spices vs powders vs extracts?
• How to store it safely without losing flavour?
• And how do I keep it fresh throughout the day?

I know freshly boiled chai tastes best! 😅 But boiling a separate pot for every customer isn't practical in a café serving coffee too.

Has anyone actually tried this? What worked for you? I'd love to know your recipe, how you store it, or if there's a better way to do this in a café.

Any advice towards my bookstore café would be appreciated!

Constantly trying to improve, any tips or feedback is greatly appreciated! ❤

For context, I got hired at this Yemen Cafe in Redmond, Washington as a Barista of 4 years. I was so excited to start this part time job on top of my full time job i already had (I was VERY transparent about my full time job).They hired me on the spot and ONLY gave me 2 training shifts that lasted 2 to barely 3 hours with the expectations of memorizing the WHOLE menu and their tea recipes (it’s a really big menu) on top of that there’s ALSO pastries. They didn’t schedule me again until two weeks later on Friday night during RUSH HOUR. I had never felt so lost, I tried my best to help the lead where i could but truthfully, my knowledge of everything wasn’t there yet. And then top of that, i’m pretty sure there was an accident on the floor during rush hour prior to me coming in, while i was trying my best to navigate this rush, the owner came in yelling at one of the baristas and on top of that, got my name wrong many times 🫠and then starting slowly taking his anger out on me by ordering me around everywhere, eventually, because i wasn’t so useful. They actually sent me home 10 minutes later and then decided to terminate me. Unless you’re family or friends with the owners, they’re just gonna discard you like that, because they have REALLY HIGH expectations for a minimum wage job. It’s funny because it’s a father and son opening a business, they used to work for Microsoft prior to opening their business. Oh well, it is what is it, thank you for reading!