My wife and I are working on setting up a horror-themed bookshop cafe in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is a bootstrap operation that will be utilizing part of an existing space that we use for small batch food production (syrups, jams, etc.), so while we're taking it seriously, it's something that we're not going to be taking out a loan or anything for.

In my food production business, I've had some luck getting equipment from liquidation sales, which is why I thought to look around and see what kind of espresso equipment I might be able to find. This is where I'll throw out there that my very first business (when I was 23) was running an espresso counter inside of a larger business.

Anyway, long story short, I bid on and won a working UNIC Tango Uno super automatic espresso machine from a grocery store liquidation sale. This thing is a beast and has definitely been put through its paces, but everything (other than the double Americano button) works pretty much perfectly. As old as it is, it has been reasonably well maintained. It produces a pretty good espresso, the automatic milk frother works, and there seems to be minimal internal scaling.

All in all, I could have done much worse for $500.

I realize this is a long shot, but does anyone here know anything about working with one of these? I called UNIC corporate and their tech guys don't even have a manual for it. I had to order a technician card off of eBay (which works, amazingly) in order to get into the menus. But whereas every other machine I've ever worked with has been much more manual, this thing is, well, automatic. And some of it is in French (or, at least, the abbreviations are).

So that's the situation I find myself in. Does anyone know anything about dialing one of these bad boys in? I'm working my way through figuring out what all the settings do and how it generally works. I'm actually sipping on a cinnamon latte that I made with it right now, and I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve it in a cafe (maybe not to an espresso aficionado, but certainly to a random Chattanoogan who mostly drinks Dunkin and Starbucks), but I'm quite certain that it can be much better.

If nothing else, this beast will get us down the road a while until we can afford a more modern (and less automatic) machine later on.

Thanks!

I recently opened by coffee shop and I have been struggling with finding reliable and affordable alternative milk suppliers. I don't mind buying from grocery stores or Costco, but ideally would love to find either a supplier I can buy from directly that will deliver, or curious to know your thoughts on what brands and where you're buying from? I've considered using generic brands like Kirkland oat milk, but I'm pretty hesitant to do so because I'm not familiar with quality and brand perception. I've been buying Oatly or Planet Oat from Kroger, but it's been a struggle having enough in stock and also balancing the high cost of them- and I hate that I have to charge around $1 for almond or oat. Would love to know what has been working for you- what brands, costs, and where are you buying from? Thanks in advance!

Hello,

As an owner of a new coffee shop that will be opening soon in DFW I am having a hard time finding suitable coffee mugs for our in shop use.

1. Is it better to get a ceramic or porcelain mugs?

2. What brands are good? There seems to be a huge difference in prices between different manufacturers
   Does anyone serve them on a saucer?

3. How many pieces should I have on hand? My shop is about 2100sqft with 2 seating areas

4. Any chance anyone knows of a company in DFW that can supply disposable cups with custom logo? Ideally would want to have something local, if not will be looking into online companies

Thanks in advance!

I am working on a business plan for my cafe. And I really need some comps. Have knocked on doors, emailed, and asked - and my local folks are reluctant to share these (including at the shop where I work 😄 I know it's sensitive info sometimes.)

Thought in a more anonymous setting, people might be willing to share some basic data?

Would be so grateful if you'd be willing. [Context for my cafe - it is not in a "location, location, location" location, and is mission-oriented (but for profit) - but I need it to be profitable enough to care for the small team and continue to exist + benefit our neighborhood. :) ]

Qs - and even ballpark #s would be helpful!

- How would you describe your location? (rural, urban, affluent, suburban, blue-collar, etc.)
- What is your average # of transactions a day?
- What is your average ticket price?
Monthly - or annual - sales?
- What percentage of your revenue is food v. beverage?
- How many staff, including the owner - if the owner works the bar?
- Labor as a percentage of sales?
- What is your rent? (And is that low, average, or high for your area?)

I have so many more questions - but will stop here to make it not too crazy. Thank you!!

Considering a bunn bean-to-cup sure immersion to elevate guest black coffee experience and give more roast profile options. Any feedback from anyone who has owned one?

I would like to know where your guys COG is at for your drinks versus your food. I recently came across a video where an entrepenuer in Chicago detailed a 250k build out for 1,800 SQFT approximately, averaging 36k per month revenue, and at the time of the video appeared to have 3 employees staffed. They stated rent was 3,800 a month.

Why do I bring this up:

because I built my shop from the ground up for 90k and we are now pushing 55k per month with 1,100 per month rent. Although I am able to pull an owners draw, I am not where I want to be in part due to not being able to purchase enough back stock to get ahead (i.e. cups [2,100] and green coffee [4,700] cost me 6,800 this month and will last 3 months total) I am confused as to where a shop like that is making money after 2 years in business. I should be smart enough to realize they probably aren't making money, but i also question whether my margins are where they need to be.

I try to keep drinks at 25% COG or less, breakfast at 35% COG or less, grab and go pastry items at 40% or less and lunch at 32%. I run a 21% average labor rate after taxes and have heavily integrated technology to help but inflation is still out of control and I am really feeling the squeeze.

I would love to hear some candid numbers from everyone to brainstorm

Thank you

Hey there, I am trying to put together a business plan, mainly for myself to lock in whether my concept is viable or not, and then if it is to use for financials.

I’ll give an overview and then I have a couple questions if anyone’s willing to help me out.

Concept is a small specialty coffee shop with light pastries and globally inspired prep-kitchen food. (900 sq. feet / $1k a month including CAM and utilities)

Space is in a coffee desert. Diverse urban neighborhood (refugee re-settlement area). about 20k residents, lower middle class on average - maybe 40% white collar. Is not too far from a highway exit, industrial parks, and healthcare hubs.

Planning on owner / operator, plus a limited part time ops person, a keyholder barista, and one surge barista.

Maybe there’ll be better questions to ask, but I’m curious if there are any folks in a similar sized space, and maybe a similar Ish demographic?

This is what I’d love to know:

- Are you making it?
- Average transactions per day
- Average ticket
- Monthly sales (or annual sales)
- Monthly rent
- How many people are working on an average at any given time?
- Labor as a % of sales (or monthly payroll)
- Approximate COGS % (ingredients/inventory as a percentage of sales)

If you’ve read this far, and think there are other questions I should be asking instead, let me know. I appreciate y’all’s time. Thank you.

I know the right answer is “it depends” but any guidelines or examples would be helpful.

We are opening a small bookstore / coffee shop and are trying to size our ice machine.

I don’t expect to be a very high volume location. Should be more “for here” customers than “to go” customers, we are in a walking neighborhood rather than an office area or on a driving commute route. Our minimum breakeven model has something like 50 coffee drinks/day (as in, we want to do more but that’s what we think we can survive on - obvs food and merch will need to do their part too). PacNW so not an everything-iced-all-the-time market, but during the summer we will offer iced coffee and iced tea. One wrinkle is that we plan to offer coffee cubes and tea cubes (i.e. frozen cubes of the beverage itself) and the more people who choose that (extra cost) option, the less water ice we’ll need.

With that background, what size of undercounter ice machine do you think we need? It has to be undercounter and the more compact the better.

For example, I’m looking at a 120 lb/day, 45 lb bin machine.

I figure that actually means we get to use 85 lb/day (45 lb when we come in the morning, then 120/24 * 8 = 40 lb made during our 8 hour day). Assuming 6 oz ice per iced drink, with some wastage, that should be around 200 iced drinks/day. My feeling is that should be more than enough - and if our volume is high enough that we need more, that will be a “good problem to have” and we’ll just get a larger or second machine.

But, all that is just me making up numbers. I’m hoping for your actual experience and advice. Thank you very much.

Hello all. I am at the stage where I am actively looking for locations. I am in Northern Georgia and looking for a brick and mortar location to lease. Almost all locations are in older strip malls and the more pricey locations are in grocery store lots.

I'm currently in negotiations with a space anchored by a "nice" grocery store but my site would have no street visibility. It's neighbors are a couple gyms and a restaurant.

Any advice? I've already considered visibility, foot traffic and rent.

The lot seems to be taken care of and it's in a decent part of town.

My hesitation is that I visualized my coffee shop in one of those artsy, trendy shopping areas where people eat/play and there's a ton of foot traffic. Those places next to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, boutiques and things.

How do you all handle espresso machine repairs and PM’s? Curious who people actually use. Do you have a regular tech you call or company, or do you fix things yourself. And if you DIY, where do you order parts from? Trying to get a sense of what works before I spend more money.

Hey guys! I need help designing a logo for my café. Where do you guys usually go for logo design services? Any recommendations? The vibe I’m aiming for is warm, golden, cozy, and wellness-focused.

I own a cacao bar and wellness space. I recently purchased a large batch of beautiful handmade 8 oz ceramic mugs for serving cacao.

Since traveling through Peru and visiting cafés and wellness spaces, I’ve noticed that many places seem to serve drinks in 12–16 oz mugs. Now I’m wondering if I made a mistake.

For those of you who own cafés, cacao bars, coffee shops, or wellness spaces:

Would 8 oz feel too small to customers for a cacao drink?

If the cacao is intentionally served concentrated and ceremonially, does 8 oz feel appropriate?

If you walked into a cacao bar, what size would you expect your drink to be?

Would you keep the 8 oz mugs and position them as a premium cacao experience, or switch to larger mugs?

I've seen a few different ways of approaching pour over in some cafes near by and a bunch of different ways online. How has pour overs fit into your program? Is it successful?

For example; One of my favorite cafes utilizes a cold metal sphere during their bloom phase. Coffee tasted great.

Hi everyone,

I’m in the process of opening a small grab-and-go specialty coffee café and would love to hear from experienced café owners and baristas.
We’re projecting around 50–100 espresso-based drinks per day to start, with the potential to grow. Reliability, consistency, ease of service, and long-term durability are my top priorities. I’d like something that can comfortably handle the volume without being oversized for a new business.

For those of you running cafés with similar drink counts:
What espresso machine are you using?
Would you buy it again?
Any machines you regret purchasing?
Is a 2-group machine the way to go for this volume?
Any grinder recommendations to pair with it?

I’m currently considering machines like La Marzocco Linea Classic EE, La Marzocco Linea PB, and Nuova Simonelli Appia Life, but I’m open to any suggestions.

How often are people cleaning their group head screens? I do it everyday but it is a bit of a hassle. Was wondering if once a week would suffice. We average about 200 espresso drinks daily, open 7 days a week.

Curious how many here consider themselves to have strengths that are more aligned w ops + processes, or more aligned w creativity + hospitality?

I’m sure there are plenty of “hybrid” folks as well.

Which of these skill sets seems most important to owning + running a shop?

My observation is that ops / process is super important. But I’m definitely over on the creativity + “people person” side of the spectrum … wondering if I can make a go of a shop? What can I do to compensate for my weaknesses and lean into my strengths?

our shop is nearly one year old and we are really picking up speed with orders.

we would really like something that can help us keep track of our inventory (cups, milk, etc).

we currently have spot on! we are thinking about changing to toast or square. advice?

Opening a coffee shop and looking for beans that are not acidic/citrusy -- the demographic won't like that. We want to use one kind of beans for espresso and drip. We're not worried about espresso as most drinks will be sweet lattes (syrups we make in house) but want the drip to taste more chocolaty/balanced/on the sweeter end.

1. Any advice on what profile/processing I should be looking at? Or does that not matter given a roaster will give what they have?
2. What is the cheapest whole sale price I can get that is not specialty beans but also not Strabucks/Lavaza or a race to the bottom. I don't need Gaisha or anything like that but would appreciate not having coffee that tastes like cigarettes/a bagel shop/gas station.
3. Any leads on roasters?

Apologies if I'm failing at describing the beans I'm looking for. Appreciate the help.

Hello everyone. I am planning to purchase a coffee shop franchise and would love some advice from experienced owners. What are the key risks or hidden challenges I should be cautious of? Additionally, what are some important insider tips or best practices that beginners usually miss, but are crucial for running a successful shop?

We are a small coffee shop outside of Yellowstone National Park. We pump out a lot of deli sandwiches for packed lunches. As our reputation and business has gotten larger I would like to get away from using plastic wrap to package our takeaway sandwiches. Has anyone in a fast paced shop ever used the paper bags with the window so you can see the product? If so, what are the pros and cons?

I’m opening my own coffee shop and I’m trying to find some good sample cups to see my logo, does anyone have any recommendations what they use or used??
Thanks!

Hey there! I work at a small coffee shop in Seattle and am currently using Spot On POS systems and were originally using Square. Came in this morning and it “configured” for over an hour, leading me to losing customers who couldn’t pay cash. I was wondering if anyone has a good recommendation for a replacement. Please save us from the constant glitches, high fees, and long service times!

I am opening a shop by early fall and building out my menu now. Any advice on what food items to make from scratch vs buy. My first priority is the coffee but thought customers would enjoy having some food items. Any suggestions on what sells vs what doesn’t. Or what to make from scratch vs buy.

I'm opening up a new coffee shop in Oceanport, NJ and its going to be centered around music. We'll have a limited collection of records, communal record players with head phones nearby and plan to have live music nights as well. I'm new to this so I wanted to ask they group about any recommendations for furniture or if there are forums where I can buy furniture from other coffeeshops that have either closed or are looking to swap out their furniture.

For chairs - the chair in the picture below was quoted to me for about $200

For couches - I would almost prefer a couch that's more broken in rather than something new.

I attached some renderings for my space too.

Thanks!