Comment

Comment by Rich Abker on January 3, 2009 at 1:54am

During peak hours, two to three minutes should be fast enough for most people. Generally cafe's with food are going to take a little longer than a drive-thru business. When serving food, one barista be the cashier, as well as getting the food items. The other barista can make and serve the espresso drinks.

Comment by Brian Davey on January 2, 2009 at 2:23pm

Three minutes is more than enough for a good cafe to shoot for. If I am waiting five minutes after ordering a double short Mocha I'm not coming back. Depends on how busy the shop it and how quick they are flipping drinks. If the line is that bad put on more staff. A dedicated barista behind the machine should be able to do a drink a minute. If you are slow enough to have only one staff member then they should be proficient in making conversation while making espresso. Just make sure the conversation is open and the others in line feel acknowledged and able to be included.

Comment by Joe McCarthy on January 2, 2009 at 9:09am

Seems like an important factor would be what else is happening during the wait. If the wait time offers an opportunity for conversation or other kinds of engagement (e.g., looking at interesting photos or artwork), then it won't seem so long.

Comment by Steve Willingham on January 2, 2009 at 8:14am

The old rule we used at Starbucks was 3 minutes, but that's a different situation (super-autos.) It will depend a lot on what they order, but for the usual order I would say 5 minutes is when you're going overboard no matter which venue you are serving from. Hope that's helpful.