Hi everyone!

So I'm very excited that I have gotten a job at a small restaurant franchise which is not an espresso shop, but offers espresso drinks. The owners are very loving and understanding, but I have to admit they (and the people they hired) don't know the first thing about espresso. It's a completely brand new everything (building, owner, employees, equipment, etc). We are all new, and the owner's vision is to have everyone cross-trained on everything. This is where I need help. I am the ONLY person in the team of 15 or so who has barista experience, and have been hired specifically as a "barista manager" sort of position. However, my concern is that, unlike most of the other machines that take 5 minutes to learn, learning espresso takes hours and hours, which is something the people I'm working with don't really realize. Because we are usually pretty busy, I feel like my training is incredibly mediocre and now employees are suddenly off making their own drinks for customers who are in turn judging the quality of espresso here. Sometimes it can be difficult to catch the owner in a conversation, but so far he seems to be under the impression that "grind, tamp, pull" and whatever that produces is good enough for a drink. What would you guys do in a situation like this?

Another thing I'm struggling with is the corporate charts for building drinks. It's very old and doesn't seem well thought-out at all. The turtle mocha for example calls for about 6oz (!!!) of flavor in a 16oz cup. That's not even including the 2-3oz of espresso. This is a touchy subject to talk to the owner about, and I don't want people training on these charts because they will absolutely construct something horrible.

The construction of this restaurant has a great environment and lounge area, and my hopes are for customers to perceive our espresso drinks like something more of a local coffee shop and a little less franchise-y. I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read all this. Any thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Jeremy

Welcome to the forum!

There could be an endless amount of advice to give and things to say, but in all honesty, nothing will be helpful unless you + the restaurant owners can get on the same page. If they don't see their business as a cafe-based coffee-based business, I'm afraid that no amount of conversation or insight on your part will enlighten them, and will likely only lead to frustration on everyones part.

My suggestion would be to sit down with them and talk about the direction that YOU see their coffee program heading, and how it can benefit their business. Once you're all (hopefully) on the same page, use your expertise and guidance to gently pull them into a direction of taking their coffee program seriously, but be sure to be gentle in your guidance, especially if they don't see coffee + training as being all that important. If that falls on deaf ears, it might be far easier for you to part ways and to look for more a more coffee-centric restaurant or cafe to work with, or just accept the fact that their coffee program will take a back seat to most everything else. Judging by the fact that they hired you in the position that they did, I would imagine they are somewhat interested in taking coffee seriously!

As a business owner (admittedly in a completely separate type of business, but I DO have several very successful restauranteur friends), there are a zillion things to worry about when it comes to running a business and staying afloat, especially in such a service-based industry such as a restaurant or cafe. If the route that they are most concerned about is food or alcohol service, you're probably knocking on the wrong door.

My 2 cents, anyways.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the response! Every day is a new day and progression is happening little by little, which is why I think it is this current time-frame that is the most vital in making things happen. I will definitely allocate a time to speak with the owner and other managers if possible to get us all on the same page.

For now, I'm working building new drink charts and writing up a sort of "procedures" for using the machine (which kind of worries me, ha). And I'm thinking I'll propose these to the owner when I finish them.

I really appreciate your input!

It's a franchise restaurant not independent though independently owned and as such it is supposed to offer the same customer experience of other franchise locations under the same name regardless who the specific owner is. The Corporate Way is the franchisee way is the right way in this situation whether it's crap espresso beverages or not. It may be that a specific franchise location can operate with variances from Corporate norms but highly suspect only with corporate permission. It seems tantamount to you taking a position at Charbucks and attempting to change how they make their beverages. Good luck with that!

What site am I on? I thought home-barista.com. It must have morphed while I was away.

Jack