Cafe Workers
Sell and serve food and beverages for consumption on premises in cafes and similar establishments.
Saturday brunch at Fig and Fennel
You are a cafe worker on a weekend shift, taking orders, clearing tables and working the till while the cafe fills up. It is 10am and every table is taken. The kitchen is behind, two staff have not turned up and the owner is on the coffee machine. You have a minute before the next group walks in.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Dear, I ordered poached eggs half an hour ago and nothing has come. I am not complaining, but I do need to be somewhere at eleven. Could you find out how long it will be?
Tell her it will not be long, then go back to what you were doing
You do not know that, and you do not check. Ten minutes later she asks again, more upset, and you have lost her trust over something small.
Check with the kitchen, give her a real time, and bring a tea while she waits
The cook says eight minutes. You tell her honestly and bring a tea. She says she can manage that and thanks you for checking. A real answer is worth more than a cheerful one.
Ask the cook to put her order first and cut the queue of tickets
The kitchen bumps her ticket, but two other tables have waited longer and complain. You wanted to be kind, but you made the delay unfair for others.
You have charged me twice. The receipt says two coffees and I only had one. Fix it or I will leave a review.
Show him the till record, explain what happened and wait for the manager to confirm a refund
You are right to check the record, and he does get his money back. But he feels he had to push for it. The refund could have started the moment you saw the mistake.
Apologise, check the receipt with him and refund the double charge right away
It was a till mistake. He gets his money back in a minute and the tone changes. He leaves a kind comment, and you note down how it happened so it is less likely again.
Tell him the till does not make mistakes and ask him to check his own card
He becomes angry and others in the cafe stare. When the manager checks the receipt, it was your mistake. Defending the system instead of listening cost the cafe a customer.
We are out of avocado and the lunch special uses it. Do I take the special off the board, or will you tell the tables yourself?
Change nothing and say sorry if anyone complains
Two tables order it, wait, then hear it is gone. They are upset and so is the cook. Surprises at the table are worse than telling people at the start.
Take it off the board and say nothing to anyone who has already ordered
The board is right for new tables, but three people who ordered already do not know and wonder what is taking so long. Tell them directly.
Tell tables as they sit down, and suggest another dish
Customers appreciate being told early. Most of them choose another dish. Leo marks the board, and the floor stays calm.
How it went
The cafe empties at three and the last tables are wiped. You have learnt that cafe work is about noticing people before they have to ask. Some of it is physical, some is quick thinking and a lot is staying friendly when you are tired. What part would you enjoy most?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The table that kept getting forgotten
A fictional case set in a neighbourhood cafe that serves breakfast and lunch to locals.
The situation
On a Saturday at Fig and Fennel Cafe, Jasmine was covering six tables when a family of five sat down in the corner. The kitchen was backed up and the two newer staff were helping at the counter. Jasmine took their order, but then two tables nearby asked for the bill at once and the family's table drifted to the back of her mind. Twenty minutes later the father waved at her, looking tired, with a restless child on his lap.
What they did
Jasmine went straight over, said sorry and told him exactly what was happening in the kitchen. She brought bread and water for the children and checked the order with the cook. She then asked a colleague to cover her tables for two minutes. When the food was ready she took it out herself, and told the family she would come back to check on them.
How it turned out
The family were not thrilled about the wait, but they stayed and ordered dessert. Jasmine added a quick walk-through of all her tables to her routine every ten minutes. The owner heard about it and used her check as an example for new staff.
What would you do?
- How would you feel if a customer you had forgotten finally caught your eye?
- What would you say to them so that you sounded honest and not just sorry?
- How could a team help one person who has too many tables?