Is it still cool to grab a cup of coffee and a croissant and hang out at a coffee shop? Not cool as in stylish, but cool as in socially acceptable or appropriate. It’s a question that confuses remote workers in San Francisco looking for locations for WFH away from, ahem, home, and it’s driving a wedge between potential customers and coffee shop owners and employees. As the Bay Area continues to emerge from under the long shadow of COVID, the way you simply exist in a coffee shop seems to have gotten lost in the crowds — though the overall message from Bay Area coffee shops is pretty clear: get it Grab your coffee and get the hell out.
Across the Bay Area, businesses seem to be trying anything and everything to get customers moving on. Starbucks got the chairs and tables from its “Bearbucks” location on 18th Street in Castro, a move that SFGATE reports said was roundly tapped by local employees and customers. The Duboce Triangle location at Café Reveille was recently roasted for being so overrun with remote workers it felt like zombieland. Meanwhile, specialty coffee pioneer and Bay Area-based Peet’s is opening its first takeout-only store in San Francisco’s Civic Center neighborhood.
The warmed-up Peet’s store will be the same size and style as its signature cafes, but without indoor seating. Eric Lauterbach, CEO of Peet’s, a San Francisco native, says he’s never seen downtown so empty, and as a company, Peet’s has to respond to these ebbs and flows. While residential and convenience stores remain the same, the Montgomery to-go location offers downtown coffee drinkers what they’re looking for these days: a place to grab a quick drink on their infrequent trips to the office. “After the pandemic, people use coffee shops differently,” says Lauterbach. “I’ve been at Peet’s for 13 years and I used to be told the chairs weren’t comfortable enough because people wanted to stay for a while. Now our mobile transactions are over 20 percent.”
The reasons for all the energy going to the right are as varied as the negative impact of the pandemic, although most – including Lauterbach – believe COVID has accelerated these changes already in the works. In San Francisco, the service industry workforce shrank 55 percent from 2019 to 2021, meaning there are fewer people making that morning coffee. City of San Francisco economist Ted Egan noted that the city ranks 24th out of the 25 major metropolitan areas in terms of recovery from COVID, and that lag is certainly being felt in the restaurant and service industries.
But not only in San Francisco: According to the international coffee magazine Standart, the rules for café culture are changing worldwide. First the obvious: Sales of homebrew equipment and bagged beans soared during the pandemic, when no one was going anywhere. That need bred adoration, and many coffee fans stayed in that DIY camp — see: the 2020 Dalgona coffee trend. Additionally, Lauterbach says even consumers who come into the office could now come later — say, 9 a.m., long after they have done the first cup at home.
So where are the rules of café culture these days? In short, buy a little more than you think and maybe more than you’d like. Don’t assume that WiFi or table space will be provided or available. Standart writes that a 60-minute rule is accepted almost universally, especially in a money-savvy city like San Francisco, where it’s important for old-established and new cafes alike to keep up with a high volume of orders. Respect baristas and of course treat them like people, followed by respect for the space itself. It’s not your home office, and if there’s no outlet don’t be offended; Bring a portable battery or hotspot.
“People use coffeeshops differently after the pandemic”
Lauterbach points out that the original Peet’s allowed customers to get the code for the WiFi, which turned off after 45 minutes. And although the Montgomery store has a few tables outside, the to-go approach eliminates all of those concerns for the company. “We have to understand the trends and needs of the future,” says Lauterbach. “Peet has been too rigid in the past, and now we’re adapting on the fly.”
A longtime barista, who preferred to remain anonymous rather than risk losing tips, said the rule in his mind is to buy an item or coffee every two hours. “If they can afford it,” said the barista. “If it’s super crowded or someone asks you to leave, that’s different.”
However, Joshua James Kaplowitz, a veteran Bay Area barista and founder of pop-up Better Half Coffee, is reluctant to believe that Bay Area cafe culture instills Sonic the Hedgehog vibes. He says it’s more about convenience than conversation, the energy many love about cafe culture. “Consumers will gravitate toward what brought them to stores in the first place,” says James Kaplowitz. He may be right. And if not, there’s always the library.
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