What’s it like working in a cafe?

I have never worked in a cafe, but I am going to bet it would be absolute shite.

I would say....... kind of...... no.
Tips in cafes are minimal.
That's one of the things that makes working in a cafe worse than working in a restaurant.
When I was a waitress the tips in restaurants were way, way better.

I work in what is essentially a cafe and it's great although can be hard work. .

We mainly get regulars in who are never rude to me and always like a chat.

I do 6 hour days and definitely don't do 50,000 steps, more like 12,000 unless it's a particularly manic shift. I can't get to 50,000 doing a 4 mile walk, a 6 hour shift and running a half marathon all in the same day (not far off though!)

Get some good trainers and you will be fine, your feet will throb for a while if you aren't used to being on your feet for hours but they get used to it.

We are not understaffed, some days might be busier than expected but then the following day could be dead despite the previous week being steady. So whilst we might have the odd day where we are understaffed we just get on with it because it's nobody's fault, it's just one of those things, same with staff sickness.

I've always worked front of house though ever since I was 15. I keep thinking about changing jobs for a "proper one" but it's so flexible around the kids and it's a 5 minute walk away from my house so until I get both kids in high school it's a no brainer to stay put especially because I enjoy the job.

There's a tips jar at the counter in pretty much all cafes, it gets shared out at the end of the day. At least there is where I am (South Yorkshire).

Are you serving or kitchen? My son worked KP as his first job and even as a fit 16 year old found the first few days exhausting. The kitchen was downstairs so it was multiple trips an hour to bring dishes and food up and trays of dirty dishes back down. Plus he needed to double glove his hands as they got wrecked with all the detergent and hot water. He enjoyed it though. There was a rhythm to the day of course with it being quite frantic from 8-10, a bit of a lull then mega busy 12-2.30. Another lull then after school crowd 3.30-4.30 and I think they shut at 5. He enjoyed it though but was made redundant during Covid.

Do you expect tips in a cafe?? I would never think to tip in a cafe. But as we have minimum wage I don’t believe in a tipping culture anyway.

Yes it gets very hot in summer. It's been awful this year.

Depends on the cafe. The one I worked in it was lovely and chill until customers turned into arseholes.

I've worked in a few cafes / restaurants / pubs. Cafes that just do sandwiches / cakes / drinks are easiest, if you have a decent boss and are the right amount of busy (a bit busy makes the time go fast, but if they're trying to make one person do the work of two to save cash it's awful). Places that do hot food are worse for being way too hot and having to handle all sorts of grease and filth. Scrubbing grease off the floors and picking soggy veg out of the plughole etc. Ending the day sweat-soaked and stinking.

Are we talking kitchen, out front, coffee shop vibe or more cooked breakfast cafe?

I did 10 years in a pub, mainly daytime trade, loved it until we got took over.

Now two weeks into working in a cafe/coffee shop/brunch place.

It is physical work, on your feet a lot and so tiring. But not hard, not really, once you pick up the way they like things done you'll be fine.

Expect to be run off your feet.

There is a lot of cleanup during each shift and after closing too.
A lot of setting up, if you're opening up.

Most cafes are understaffed because no one wants to / can afford to pay for staff anymore.
I was a waitress for years and I hated working in cafes. Tips are really poor too.
Restaurants are marginally better.

Depends which one. In a place with nice customers, with a good manager, lovely. In one where kids are constantly running around screaming and their mothers shriek at you when you fall over them when carrying hot drinks, and the manager's more bothered that you're injured so can't work the next day, well you get the picture.

Depends on the cafe and depends on the Manager and / or owner, and colleagues if there are any.

Some people enjoy the interaction with people all day, others don't.

Chef in a cafe/tearoom that's so busy we have coaches 🤣.
It's fun physical and you often get drinks or broken cakes leftover bits to eat.
Team is usually lovely but be prepared for non stop mind bending busy periods where you are answer questions about allergies, showing people to tables.Wiping,cleaning washing up.Customers can be so lovely so if you like to be busy with no two days the same go for it.

My experience is 35 years ago when I was a teenager. It’s hard work. There’s no down time at all. Even if you’re empty, there’s always something to clean. And you will come to loathe parents who can’t be arsed to parent, as well as that one weird customer you hate serving.

But, the shifts will always go quickly. You’ll have regulars you will become fond of. The tips are nice. It’s not difficult work. And when you walk out the door, you aren’t taking it home with you.

Bloody exhausting

I'm in my late 50s and work 12 hours over two days a week in an independent cafe/coffee shop, as a semi retirement job. The staff and customers are lovely, and we all do every job - so usually a mix of making coffees/teas/milkshakes, taking orders at the till, preparing food, washing up, serving customers, clearing tables, cashing up and cleaning (including the toilet!) at the end of the day.

It's hard work, but after 25 years of being self employed, I love it - and my latte art is coming on a treat!

No doubt it depends on the set up of the cafe, and what the staff and customers are like, but I absolutely love it - best decision I ever made.

Depends enormously on the cafe!
I've worked in cafes and pubs and kitchens since I was 16. You're on your feet all day. You need a good memory. It's lifting and carrying and cleaning all day.
And yes people are disgusting, they'll often steal anything they can (cups, toilet rolls, cutlery etc) and some will leave the place a mess. You'll get people assuming you're thick because you're working in a cafe. But that's not every person, you do get friendly regulars and it can be really good if you've got nice people to work with.

I've loved working in cafes over the years. Hard graft but I'd never been fitter. I had a great team with lovely managers.

It was my favourite job. I loved being on my feet, chatting to the public, being busy and seeing the result of my work (it's why I like cleaning). Had a great team and could always find something to do.

But people are gross! Be prepared for people to pile up their used tissues on plates and stacking plates on top of food, hidden sauce sachets and rubbish all over the floor. I honestly preferred people leaving crumbs on the floor so I could just sweep it up, rather than having to touch the used wet wipes, which inevitably had all sorts of floor marks and debris from earlier foot traffic.

I used to love the regulars and some of the weird orders. We had one chap who used to come in between breakfast and lunch changeover and he always ordered a hybrid meal of something like a roast chicken with toast and beans. It was so endearingly bonkers 🙃

Physically quite hard, but can be good fun, and a nice team spirit in a lot of places, when you are all pitching in while it's busy. Terrible pay, and tips can be variable. I really enjoyed it.

Hard work physically, and you need to be able to do about 12 things at once and very quickly. Working in customer service is useful experience but for whatever reason hospitality customers (in addition to the usual working with the public shit) have the idea that your job is incredibly easy so if they don't get exactly what they want immediately despite having not asked for it they feel entitled to shout at you and belittle you. Having said that, if you have the kind of brain that likes to be doing 12 things at once and like people (and not all of them are arseholes to be fair), it can be quite fun.

I have never worked in a cafe but I worked in hospitality for years at events - Corporate days, weddings, waitressing in restaurants and pubs and it is really hard work. Good fun if you’re working with people you like but don’t underestimate the physical element, although a four hour shift isn’t too bad. I’m not sure I have the stamina for it now I’m in my 40s.

People often say they'd love a little job in a cafe like they're just serving a few coffees and cream teas all day but in truth it's hard work. I would do an 8 hour shift and my back would be killing by the end of the day and was knackered. On the go constantly and having the general public moaning at you cos they're still waiting for their food, letting their little darlings empty the sugar sachets all over the table.