A lot of people at my store just leave the blenders on the bar and I can’t stand it. I hate that I’m cleaning up after someone else because to me once you pour out a frap you should immediately rinse the blender especially when it busy. It’s my biggest pet peeve at my new store.

Our refresher/iced tea station is adjacent to DTO and ice melts and flows to DTO where warming throws prepared food in warming bags and the bags get wet. I keep saying I’m going to bring a squeegee and squeegee all that counter liquid down to the floor drains

Yes!!! Yes to everything you said. I’m going to add another pet peeve: When they leave the ice drawer open. 🙄 And then they go to pump some syrups into a cup and it’s right over the ice drawer and they don’t care if the syrups (or anything for that matter) gets in. Disgusting. A lot of this stuff is not only common courtesy, but common sense. And unfortunately, a lot of people (I guess people even in the food industry 🤢) don’t have it.

The ice is my other thing. I can’t stand when people scoop ice and then leave a bunch of cubes on the counter. Even happens when we’re slow and don’t have many customers. How hard is it, when you finish your drinks and have some free time, to clean up after yourself?!? That’s why once peak starts our bar area often looks a mess and is hard to work with because now there’s puddles on the counters. We have a bucket of sani and sani wipes everywhere!!!! I don’t get it at ALL.

another thing! i tell all my baristas if they leave bar then the last thing they should do is be completely wiping it down for the next person. it’s courtesy!!!

i don't function very well when my area is messy so it slows me down because i don't have time to clean while making drinks, but then almost all my focus is on how much i wanna wipe the counters and the espresso machine and syrups!! the moment i'm able to wipe everything and put the steaming pitchers and shaker is when so much of my stress is relieved

Also, it’s so gross when they’ve made a mess, and they’ve let it sit for so long that it’s stuck to the counter and takes scrubbing to remove. Can. Not. Stand. It.

I only care that they’re cleaning up in a manner that actually helps with speed. Like I’ve had another supervisor before who wouldn’t clean pitchers or blenders until she needed them again. So everything was just sitting out on the bar crowding together and being messy as hell. It was impossible to even hop on to help her, even though she would want you to. The situation was so annoying.

However if people aren’t cleaning the counters or leave the 2% or whole milk out when they know they’re gonna need them again soon I’m totally fine with that I don’t care. I mean it’s nice when they keep everything clean but I understand doing bar all the time or for long periods gets exhausting and I’m not gonna fuss. If I’m on customer support I’ll wipe the counters down from time to time or do a little clean up for them.

I got to come in at 9:30 in the morning to to get placed on bar to see it completely flooded with milk to the point where it was literally dripping all over the floor. I feel like they put me in there as a janitor more than a barista lol

Ummm. Are you…me?

I legit read this thinking “….did I write this and just not remember…”

Also. Transfer to my store pleaseandthankyou.

Not only do I feel the same way but it literally makes us more efficient workers. Not only are we knocking out crazy amounts of drinks by sequencing so many, but our recovery between rushes is way easier so we can actually get more than just wiping counters done in down time. You’re not OCD; you’re a good worker and I see you.

at my old store i was always in bar because i hd the best times, i followed drink standards, didn’t keep 6 milks out at a time (1 2% and that was it, unless i was using a shit tom of another milk. but they went right back in the fridge when i didn’t need them as much) and my bar was pristine. i would sequence several drinks (up to 5 sometimes) and while shots were pulling/milk was steaming, i would do a quick wipe down. once it slowed down that’s when i would wipe the counter and fridge better, as well as clean up the espresso machine and syrup bottles if i had time.

my new store will work in a counter FULL of spilled milk and 6273728782 full, as well as empty, milk cartons. even when it’s slow they will not grab a damn rag and even try to clean their area. they also leave ice bins open which is a major no no for me. i genuinely don’t understand how people can work with a messy bar, bc i will literally have a panic attack if i do. taking over for messy baristas on bar is my worst nightmare

there’s 3 important things to being on bar and that is quality, quantity and cleanliness. Quality is obviously ensuring drink quality such as pumping your syrups all the way down the appropriate amount of times, swirling your sauces in with your espresso, not letting shots dye, etc. Quantity is only part of your routine when you don’t have a dedicated Customer Support and it’s to ensure you are stocked up on milks, ice, cups, lids, beans, teas and more so you do not mess up your drink sequence by having to stop and change out something or go grab a milk. And Finally, cleanliness, which is what most people don’t do or do it to scarcely. But you should always be clean and wipe down your bar when you have even the slightest downtime especially when a customer has a good view of your bar because I believe they can call you out on that in our customer connection surveys. And by standard as well, whenever you are handing off the bar to somebody else because your play caller is changing the play or you are going on a break etc., please wipe down your bar for the next person.
Hope this was a little helpful :-)

I am still relatively new to it but I’ve always been around food and drinks and firmly believe in clean as you go. Keeps things organized and clean

i cannot rely as I never had to do manual labour. but it sounds really gross to work at your bar 😱

I agree with everything being said about cold bar— like I clean my blenders and wipe those counters down every 5-10 minutes because of how quickly it can get messy. When I’m on hot bar I tend to be a little messier… not intentionally it just happens. Nothing crazy like it never interferes with the quality or condition of drinks. I probably clean it and wipe things down every 30 minutes if the partner who’s on support doesn’t do it. And when I leave bar to go to another position or clock out I clean it up for the next person. Like there are obviously requirements for sanitation but my shifts never put an expectation on us that we have to keep our bar clean. Partners are there to support each other so people help me keep my bar clean and I help them when they’re baring. OP obviously has their personal preferences for when they’re on bar, but I don’t think that should be confused with expectations for others.

I 100% get this, I have had 2 or 3 panic attacks on the floor because I wasn't able to clean the mess other partners left before I hop onto bar. I now let my shifts know that I have to have a couple minutes to get the area clean and dry before I start making drinks. I would love if other partners shared the same need for cleanliness.

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ughh!!!! my biggest pet peeve is being anywhere near mobile and cafe bar! my store is so crowded so i feel like i can barely breathe and very little people at my store clean and maintain their area! i would for real come back after my 10 and there’d be a whole layer of splashed espresso on the machine and the counter like there isn’t a rag literally within 10 inches of your hand at all times!! there’s this one partner that i feel bad for because he’s always on cafe mobile and drive in the morning but when i get there all the syrup bottles are coated in a thick layer of hard sugar and the hot bar pumps are all splashed with syrup. i seriously can’t work or sequence correctly, sometimes i can’t even breathe, if my bar is nasty. that’s why prefer drive bar now because it’s far away from the newer partners who probably don’t know better but i wish they did :(