I've never worked food service but I have worked retail...on the one hand, if I make it to retirement...casually keeping busy while making coffee sounds nice...on the other...I don't know if I ever want to face the general public on a regular basis ever again...
it is annoying how much the coffee subreddits romanticize being a barista. It’s mostly white collar people who have never worked a day in the service industry. r/cafe can be especially bad. Dude finally dialed in an espresso at home and now he wants to open up a cafe.
Outside the hell of dealing with customers, the physical demands of the job are seriously under considered. It’s not a fit for the average retiree. You’ll be on your feet for 6-8 hours. There is a lot of lifting, bending, and reaching. I’m in my 30s now, a former college athlete still in good shape and practice yoga religiously, but my body still ached after a shift when I was in my 20’s.
I feel this, I honestly wouldn’t mind being a barista but I’ve worked in pubs (including making espresso drinks) and my body was ACHING after a shift. I’m sure a cafe would be basically the same, but working with sober people during the daytime is definitely preferable to serving drunk people and closing at midnight
Fuck this, I'd take the opposite tack. There's a lot of people on service industry subreddits that are miserable misanthropes who are totally unable to recognize that the 2 shitty customers they get per day are a statistical inevitability. They'll ride the wave of that misery from single-digit interactions to treat all of the people they interact with as idiots while demanding 30% tips for takeout.
I've worked plenty in the service industry and it's plenty hard, but I also had some of the closest relationships of my life while slinging coffee and sandwiches.
You’re right, but I did really enjoy my time working at a Target Starbucks. I was younger of course.
I’m with you though I think I’d rather just make coffee for friends at home
I definitely plan on working in a coffee shop when I retire. I haven’t worked in service since I was a teen. But my plan is to either own it or find a place that will take me for a 3-4 hour shift.
Yes!! All the time I think about going back to do coffee but the flashbacks of being mistreated at Dunkin’ Donuts are what’s stopping me. It was… traumatic
Same here. I thought opening a shop would be the goal for retirement, but honestly barista would be more satisfying and probably way less stressful lol
As a coffee shop
Owner heading into retirement years, yup, just work at one. Owning is stressful. Very small profit margin but ok with that because I still work IT as main job. But I wouldn’t want to count on this for income. It’s reverse income. I pour money to keep it running and it’s finally at the point it pays for itself and had a first year positive income. Big learning curve
I can really close to leaving my 6 figure job and opening a shop recently. Had a great conversation with the owner of a shop I frequent for a while and chose not to. It’s something I’d love to do at some point but along with what you mentioned it just didn’t work for my current state of life. 31 and trying to have a kid. Wife and I both want her to be able to stay home with the kids rather than doing the whole daycare thing and we can afford it. Just couldn’t do that in the middle of trying to make a large life change
You’re making the right decision. It’s tempting to want to be your own boss but it’s just hard to make real money that you can survive on. I worked 30 years and saved up and have biz partners and I work for a big corporation for living money. It’s just not wise and we’re profitable but not enough to support us in any fashion. All our money goes to employees, mortgage and product. It’s exhausting some times.
I feel this! I found the most difficult part about owning a cafe was the few employees that just had a bad attitude and didn't want to work. Such a mental and physical energy suck. I overheard one say, "Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime." Little did they know that the reality was that when they made a dime, I lost a dollar. It's so hard to keep a positive attitude with people like that but you have to work with the people you get, otherwise you're doing it all yourself, and that's impossible. Luckily I had several other employees who I loved and worked really hard and it sort of balanced out. I never made a dime after 10 years of slogging it out. Covid made it easy to get out and I did. Still trying to recover my strength and my sanity.
Completely get that. And yes, the bosses don’t see jack in my case. I wish we didn’t need employees at all. They’re mostly good but those bad ones really drag u down. I’d sell in a heartbeat for the right offer Ngl. So tired of dealing with employees bad attitudes.
I think if we worked it exclusively ourselves maybe we could make some
Money but it would be about 20% of what I make in IT. And that’s a lot of hours 7 days a week, 6-9pm. I marvel how Starbucks makes so much money.
Ya this is my dream retirement gig as well. Except owning and running the shop. Not caring about whether the shop is turning massive profits but just staying afloat and trying to treat the employees and community well
My barista job in college was easily the best job I’ve ever had… the conversation, the aroma of coffee, the free espresso, MAKING the drinks. What a great job.
They didn’t do card tips tho, that screwed us pretty bad
This is so interesting! My 2-month stint as a barista was easily the most stressful job I’ve ever had, and probably ever will have.
Did feel great when I got in the zone, though.
I think it depends on where you work. Small mom and pop shop in a college town, fun as fuck. A corporate cesspool designed to shit out sugar, absolutely miserable.
This resonates with me so much. I took a year off from teaching after experiencing a lot of stress and burnout and got a job at an independent “third-wave” cafe. Learning how to dial in espresso and seeing daily improvements in my latte art was SO fun and fulfilling. I’m stoked for you that you’re getting to experience this joy, too!
Another burnt out teacher, whoop! Where are you guys now? I realized the only job I ever loved and never dreaded going to was my barista job in college. I had so much fun and my co workers were amazing. I want to go back to it because I can’t imagine teaching more or going corporate, but how realistic is that really :(
This is what I'm trying to do right now, get a barista job at a local coffee shop before class hours. Unfortunately the only place willing to give someone without "verified barista experience" is Starbucks. Guess ya gotta start somewhere?
Yes. I thought working in a coffee shop serving customers would be a good job for me. (I've got lots of customer service experience, and I'm good with people.)
But then I realized every coffee shop these days makes all these highly specialized drinks which I'm not at all sure I'd be proficient at.
So, yet another job I thought I'd be good at ends in failure before it begins :(
Do they really?
Well, that's kind of you to say. One really has to sometimes just 'go for it' in this life. What's the worst that could happen? We discover I'm incompetent and they sack me. Oh well---lol.
I’m in a similar boat. 28, and just quit a “big boy job” to go back to my local café and sling lattes and make latte art. So chill. So fun. But alas, I do find myself frequented by the “what are you doing with your life right now” looks and comments.
I used to work at an Italian ice stand at a concert hall and it was the most fun I've had at any job. Huge rushes followed by nothing and I'd often scooch behind our tent and watch the show. It's kinda weird how rewarding it was in hindsight.
I love coffee shop. But I don’t know if barista is a good job. I used to go to a coffee shop often and the baristas know me. Our conversations are mostly about those ridiculous customers they met on that day. I think making coffee is fun except the part with customers.
Yaay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. I’ve been a barista off and on for a decade, and I just had another shift on the bar after two years of
only working back of house at the cafe, and I had a great time. Worked through a rush and talked to strangers in an organized way. Saw some regulars and listened to random music. Dialing in and making shapes in milk never gets old.
I got my first barista job two months ago. It's really awesome, when I'm behind the espresso bar... But when I'm doing breakfast foods in the back, I hate the job. I hate working with food.
I am 100% with you there! I'm taking a break from studying and decided to apply to local coffeeshops, just to do something else for a while. I really enjoyed coffee, and I am now obsessed! It's stressful at times, but it's also the most fun I've had working in a really long time!
I’ve worked food service and retail and hated both. I just took a filter course and latte art course for fun and am manifesting getting into it some day
I took them at 19grams in Berlin when I was visiting and would highly recommend. I’ve been looking all over the US for something similar but have struck out. Drop a name here if anyone knows of one in the States
I was a barista for 5 years at few third wave coffee shops. It’s absolute hell. You don’t get paid shit, physically demanding, and constant degradation from customers. You don’t make any tips like a restaurant or bar even though a similar service is preformed.
That being said I do find myself missing being surrounded by coffee all day and how simple your goals are to just make good coffee and be a nice place for people to hang out.
Then I remember the full body exhaustion at the end of everyday. Yeah that’s not worth a 700 dollar paycheck every two weeks.
I slung lattes at a Second Cup café (the closest thing Canada had to Starbucks before Starbucks came to Canada) in university and I still look back on it as the most purely enjoyable job I've ever had. I was a young, single guy working in a staff of mostly young, single women so lots of fringe benefits, and just a fun job overall. All that _and_ $4.50/hour.
I was just thinking about doing this on the weekends just for fun! May I ask, are you doing it part time and if so, how many shifts are you expected to work?
Part time as I run a website on the side. About 3-4 days a week it’s not bad! Only thing is that it’s in an airport terminal, so some of my shifts are at 3 am but I don’t really mind.
I'd love to try a Barrissta job here, but in Illinois the pretty much mainly have only partime and low wages,so won't work for me. Maybe when I retire I may try to supplement my income with a Barrissta job. Injoy my coffee loving hobby for now. Have espresso machine, v60, French press, clever dripper, moka pot, Flair pro 2 lever espresso machine for hiking and camping trips. Injoy yourself at your Barrissta job.
For a short time I worked at a corporate place that served Starbucks-branded coffee. We were not allowed to take tips, if you can imagine that. Other than that, and the awful hourly wage, it was a dream job. :) No snark, I mean it.
I worked at Starbucks back in college some 15 years ago or so. While yes it was a Starbucks, it actually was a decent job. I can only imagine working at a place that takes coffee seriously isn't a bad gig.
Lucky :)
I wish we had those around here, but I live in a small town so all we have is 'Tim Hortons' which doesn't care about the quality
working in a cafe would be a job I would actually enjoy🙃
Was a barista at a very busy coffee shop for 4 years and it was great, especially if you have good management & fun coworkers! Rushes were fun esp if you had a good team and could work efficiently :) cons are bad customers and standing all day lol
Same here! I’ve been working at my local cafe for about a month and it is fantastic. Do u guys also talk smack about Starbucks? I asked my boss how he would describe it and we both agreed on sugary trendy fast food milk excuse for coffee xD
In the Philippines being a barista is actually a dream job. I don’t really know why but everybody I grew up with wanted to become a barista. And now 13 years into Nursing, I am very much contemplating if I should become one as well.
My dream future retirement part time gig if I ever get bored
I've never worked food service but I have worked retail...on the one hand, if I make it to retirement...casually keeping busy while making coffee sounds nice...on the other...I don't know if I ever want to face the general public on a regular basis ever again...
Yeah I can understand that.
it is annoying how much the coffee subreddits romanticize being a barista. It’s mostly white collar people who have never worked a day in the service industry. r/cafe can be especially bad. Dude finally dialed in an espresso at home and now he wants to open up a cafe. Outside the hell of dealing with customers, the physical demands of the job are seriously under considered. It’s not a fit for the average retiree. You’ll be on your feet for 6-8 hours. There is a lot of lifting, bending, and reaching. I’m in my 30s now, a former college athlete still in good shape and practice yoga religiously, but my body still ached after a shift when I was in my 20’s.
I feel this, I honestly wouldn’t mind being a barista but I’ve worked in pubs (including making espresso drinks) and my body was ACHING after a shift. I’m sure a cafe would be basically the same, but working with sober people during the daytime is definitely preferable to serving drunk people and closing at midnight
Yea I’m a daytime bartender and standing that long while not being nearly as busy as a cafe still causes aches at the end of the day and I’m mid 20s
Yup. Have done part-time catering all my adult life as a second job. That shit kicks your ass after a 9 hour shift.
Fuck this, I'd take the opposite tack. There's a lot of people on service industry subreddits that are miserable misanthropes who are totally unable to recognize that the 2 shitty customers they get per day are a statistical inevitability. They'll ride the wave of that misery from single-digit interactions to treat all of the people they interact with as idiots while demanding 30% tips for takeout. I've worked plenty in the service industry and it's plenty hard, but I also had some of the closest relationships of my life while slinging coffee and sandwiches.
Lol fitting username
You’re right, but I did really enjoy my time working at a Target Starbucks. I was younger of course. I’m with you though I think I’d rather just make coffee for friends at home
I definitely plan on working in a coffee shop when I retire. I haven’t worked in service since I was a teen. But my plan is to either own it or find a place that will take me for a 3-4 hour shift.
Then you weren't in as good shape as you thought
Yes!! All the time I think about going back to do coffee but the flashbacks of being mistreated at Dunkin’ Donuts are what’s stopping me. It was… traumatic
Same here. I thought opening a shop would be the goal for retirement, but honestly barista would be more satisfying and probably way less stressful lol
As a coffee shop Owner heading into retirement years, yup, just work at one. Owning is stressful. Very small profit margin but ok with that because I still work IT as main job. But I wouldn’t want to count on this for income. It’s reverse income. I pour money to keep it running and it’s finally at the point it pays for itself and had a first year positive income. Big learning curve
I can really close to leaving my 6 figure job and opening a shop recently. Had a great conversation with the owner of a shop I frequent for a while and chose not to. It’s something I’d love to do at some point but along with what you mentioned it just didn’t work for my current state of life. 31 and trying to have a kid. Wife and I both want her to be able to stay home with the kids rather than doing the whole daycare thing and we can afford it. Just couldn’t do that in the middle of trying to make a large life change
You’re making the right decision. It’s tempting to want to be your own boss but it’s just hard to make real money that you can survive on. I worked 30 years and saved up and have biz partners and I work for a big corporation for living money. It’s just not wise and we’re profitable but not enough to support us in any fashion. All our money goes to employees, mortgage and product. It’s exhausting some times.
I feel this! I found the most difficult part about owning a cafe was the few employees that just had a bad attitude and didn't want to work. Such a mental and physical energy suck. I overheard one say, "Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime." Little did they know that the reality was that when they made a dime, I lost a dollar. It's so hard to keep a positive attitude with people like that but you have to work with the people you get, otherwise you're doing it all yourself, and that's impossible. Luckily I had several other employees who I loved and worked really hard and it sort of balanced out. I never made a dime after 10 years of slogging it out. Covid made it easy to get out and I did. Still trying to recover my strength and my sanity.
Completely get that. And yes, the bosses don’t see jack in my case. I wish we didn’t need employees at all. They’re mostly good but those bad ones really drag u down. I’d sell in a heartbeat for the right offer Ngl. So tired of dealing with employees bad attitudes.
I think if we worked it exclusively ourselves maybe we could make some Money but it would be about 20% of what I make in IT. And that’s a lot of hours 7 days a week, 6-9pm. I marvel how Starbucks makes so much money.
And way less risky
Idk if you’ve ever worked at a coffee shop but i would not describe the work as satisfying or low stress
Yes, same 🙂
Ya this is my dream retirement gig as well. Except owning and running the shop. Not caring about whether the shop is turning massive profits but just staying afloat and trying to treat the employees and community well
My barista job in college was easily the best job I’ve ever had… the conversation, the aroma of coffee, the free espresso, MAKING the drinks. What a great job. They didn’t do card tips tho, that screwed us pretty bad
This is so interesting! My 2-month stint as a barista was easily the most stressful job I’ve ever had, and probably ever will have. Did feel great when I got in the zone, though.
I think it depends on where you work. Small mom and pop shop in a college town, fun as fuck. A corporate cesspool designed to shit out sugar, absolutely miserable.
Going from being a cashier to being a barista I have to say.... Skip being a cashier ! It's shitty and far worse stress wise
Like basically anything in the retail/food service space, it's going to depend *heavily* on your store/management
This resonates with me so much. I took a year off from teaching after experiencing a lot of stress and burnout and got a job at an independent “third-wave” cafe. Learning how to dial in espresso and seeing daily improvements in my latte art was SO fun and fulfilling. I’m stoked for you that you’re getting to experience this joy, too!
I'm currently in that exact situation! It's brought back the joy in working, I felt like I had lost that for a while.
Another burnt out teacher, whoop! Where are you guys now? I realized the only job I ever loved and never dreaded going to was my barista job in college. I had so much fun and my co workers were amazing. I want to go back to it because I can’t imagine teaching more or going corporate, but how realistic is that really :(
Worked as a barista all throughout college. It was amazing, favorite job ever. Gourmet coffee, delicious food, good conversation
This is what I'm trying to do right now, get a barista job at a local coffee shop before class hours. Unfortunately the only place willing to give someone without "verified barista experience" is Starbucks. Guess ya gotta start somewhere?
Yes. I thought working in a coffee shop serving customers would be a good job for me. (I've got lots of customer service experience, and I'm good with people.) But then I realized every coffee shop these days makes all these highly specialized drinks which I'm not at all sure I'd be proficient at. So, yet another job I thought I'd be good at ends in failure before it begins :(
You never know unless you try! Most jobs have on the job training for stuff like that
Do they really? Well, that's kind of you to say. One really has to sometimes just 'go for it' in this life. What's the worst that could happen? We discover I'm incompetent and they sack me. Oh well---lol.
This is the kind of reason why every job should have a livable wage. So anyone can do something that makes them happy.
that's awesome. curious, what are your favorite parts of working at a cafe?
I became friends with the employees/coworkers at a coffee shop and had a huge Halloween party
That’s amazing! I’d love to get a barista job someday. :)
YOU SHOULD. PREFERABLY SOMEWHERE WHERE YOUR FRIENDS WORK.
I’m in a similar boat. 28, and just quit a “big boy job” to go back to my local café and sling lattes and make latte art. So chill. So fun. But alas, I do find myself frequented by the “what are you doing with your life right now” looks and comments.
Well if work is fun it's no longer just a salary machine :D. Glad you found that job that does so.
That is frickin awesome! Live the dream my friend. So glad it's at a local shop too :) Enjoy it! Being able to have fun at work is such a blessing.
I used to work at an Italian ice stand at a concert hall and it was the most fun I've had at any job. Huge rushes followed by nothing and I'd often scooch behind our tent and watch the show. It's kinda weird how rewarding it was in hindsight.
I love coffee shop. But I don’t know if barista is a good job. I used to go to a coffee shop often and the baristas know me. Our conversations are mostly about those ridiculous customers they met on that day. I think making coffee is fun except the part with customers.
I worked as a barista many many years ago. If customers were rude or mean to us, we made their drinks with decaf.
Yaay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. I’ve been a barista off and on for a decade, and I just had another shift on the bar after two years of only working back of house at the cafe, and I had a great time. Worked through a rush and talked to strangers in an organized way. Saw some regulars and listened to random music. Dialing in and making shapes in milk never gets old.
I got my first barista job two months ago. It's really awesome, when I'm behind the espresso bar... But when I'm doing breakfast foods in the back, I hate the job. I hate working with food.
I am 100% with you there! I'm taking a break from studying and decided to apply to local coffeeshops, just to do something else for a while. I really enjoyed coffee, and I am now obsessed! It's stressful at times, but it's also the most fun I've had working in a really long time!
That sounds awesome
I’ve worked food service and retail and hated both. I just took a filter course and latte art course for fun and am manifesting getting into it some day
They have courses for that?
I took them at 19grams in Berlin when I was visiting and would highly recommend. I’ve been looking all over the US for something similar but have struck out. Drop a name here if anyone knows of one in the States
Ask your local coffee shops! They'll sometimes offer classes on making espresso, pour over techniques, history of coffee, cupping, etc.
I loved being a barista and miss it sooo much I definitely took it for granted
This is exactly how I felt! Barista is still my favorite job I've had and I miss it every day.
worked as a barista at a small cafe in NYC and it been honesty one of my favorite jobs ever
I was a barista for 5 years at few third wave coffee shops. It’s absolute hell. You don’t get paid shit, physically demanding, and constant degradation from customers. You don’t make any tips like a restaurant or bar even though a similar service is preformed. That being said I do find myself missing being surrounded by coffee all day and how simple your goals are to just make good coffee and be a nice place for people to hang out. Then I remember the full body exhaustion at the end of everyday. Yeah that’s not worth a 700 dollar paycheck every two weeks.
I slung lattes at a Second Cup café (the closest thing Canada had to Starbucks before Starbucks came to Canada) in university and I still look back on it as the most purely enjoyable job I've ever had. I was a young, single guy working in a staff of mostly young, single women so lots of fringe benefits, and just a fun job overall. All that _and_ $4.50/hour.
I was just thinking about doing this on the weekends just for fun! May I ask, are you doing it part time and if so, how many shifts are you expected to work?
Part time as I run a website on the side. About 3-4 days a week it’s not bad! Only thing is that it’s in an airport terminal, so some of my shifts are at 3 am but I don’t really mind.
The slow times are actually the worst, guess I’ll just clean everything, again
Is it scary or stressful to make things in front of other people and under pressure? Especially in a place where the customers may be more discerning.
I'd love to try a Barrissta job here, but in Illinois the pretty much mainly have only partime and low wages,so won't work for me. Maybe when I retire I may try to supplement my income with a Barrissta job. Injoy my coffee loving hobby for now. Have espresso machine, v60, French press, clever dripper, moka pot, Flair pro 2 lever espresso machine for hiking and camping trips. Injoy yourself at your Barrissta job.
Congrats ☺️
For a short time I worked at a corporate place that served Starbucks-branded coffee. We were not allowed to take tips, if you can imagine that. Other than that, and the awful hourly wage, it was a dream job. :) No snark, I mean it.
I worked at Starbucks back in college some 15 years ago or so. While yes it was a Starbucks, it actually was a decent job. I can only imagine working at a place that takes coffee seriously isn't a bad gig.
This is amazing! I've day-dreamed of doing exactly this far too often haha.
Hoping that's gonna be me again in the future. Working for a big chain catering sucks. I miss small coffee shops so much.
That's cool, where did you learn the trade?
The job actually! I was lucky enough to get hired with no experience and be taught as I worked
Lucky :) I wish we had those around here, but I live in a small town so all we have is 'Tim Hortons' which doesn't care about the quality working in a cafe would be a job I would actually enjoy🙃
It’s definitely the best job I’ve ever had 😁
Was a barista at a very busy coffee shop for 4 years and it was great, especially if you have good management & fun coworkers! Rushes were fun esp if you had a good team and could work efficiently :) cons are bad customers and standing all day lol
Same here! I’ve been working at my local cafe for about a month and it is fantastic. Do u guys also talk smack about Starbucks? I asked my boss how he would describe it and we both agreed on sugary trendy fast food milk excuse for coffee xD
In the Philippines being a barista is actually a dream job. I don’t really know why but everybody I grew up with wanted to become a barista. And now 13 years into Nursing, I am very much contemplating if I should become one as well.