I'm a barista at damn busy drive thru store, right smack in the middle of a shopping plaza. Usually what works for me is realizing that you can and have to use everything to your advantage. Two espress machines? That means two hot drinks being made at once. Of course it's easier said than done, but you get used to it, and once you get into a rhythm you kind of feel like a conductor and the drinks are your symphony.

Prioritize drive/cafe/mobile that order if busy, ask for a hand or if someone can help on cold bar? A good shift should see if you're drowning a d hop in to help and guide you

I mean, you can only do as much as you can do, you can't be 2-3 people at once. If it's that busy, there's no way that folks aren't gonna notice you're drowning - if you're not given any help, drinks will go out slower, and either that's acceptable, or you get help. Pushing yourself past your limits only tells them "yes, I'm willing and able to do multiple peoples job for the same pay."

I'm not saying that you shouldn't try to find some rhythm to maintain your sanity and keep lines moving, but pushing yourself when you're already overwhelmed is just a recipe for burnout.

I don't have many tips, as I only got my first solo-bar time a few days ago, and I had similar struggles, I'd walk away from one drink, and totally forget it exists while trying to hop between bars. The only thing that seemed to do me any good was putting mobiles last, but even then, I'd lose stickers, lose cups, etc. and someone would have to pop over and help me get caught up every 15 minutes or so. Had it not been for that intermittent help, it would have just stayed backed up the whole shift, because I refuse to push myself that hard for 12 bucks an hour.

Honestly the best way is just to follow the sequencing routine to standard and remember you only ever have two drinks at a time. You might not be the fastest at first, but it’s more important to get the quality right every time, and if you’re following routine the speed will come with more and more practice. Especially if it’s after peak, Im okay with a bit longer wait times if it means the drinks are correct. And as others have said, if you get too backed up (assuming youre staffed appropriately) someone should be able to flex to help you.

When I get overwhelmed I stick to routine, make drinks in the order that the tickets come out (that way you aren’t pushing back mobiles too long), control my breathing and remember it’s just coffee, and I’ll get to clock out and go home regardless of what the wait times were.

If you have two espresso machines use them both at the same time constantly have your shots and milks going and that should give you time to get a frap prepped or blending to come back finish the drink you had on the bar. Finish those drinks up cue the next shots and back to cold bar to finish your frap and keep going in the back and forth cycle. Also what helps me is pulling a bunch of stickers and putting them on the bean hoppers to see everything that’s in the cue.

If you are able to- use the dpm app on your stores iPad lean it on the top of the bar or somewhere on the counter. Turn the setting on to see drive, cafe and mobile orders puts it all in order of who ordered what first as well as shows you everything that’s in cue which is helpful.
I used to hate using the iPad but literally it is the best tool I can use especially when I’m solo baring.

It also tells you how many current orders there are and sometimes yelling to the cafe there is x many drinks in cue right now thank you for your patience can help them remember they arnt the only person in the world. Also is nice bc you can say so and so is being worked on now and person 1, 2 and 3 are up next.

I’m at a very high traffic 24/7 store so I get your pain but just relax people can wait- I know they yell but people yelling over their coffee taking 8 minutes to come out instead of 30 seconds really reflects more about their character if anything

At my store, our general protocol for solo bar-ing is to pull stickers 2-1 with drive getting priority, but that can always change based on how many mobiles or cafe drinks there are.

I try to think about drinks logically, like, if I have a frap and an espresso drink, i can get the shots pulling (and milk steaming if needed) and start the frap, put the frap in to blend, and sometimes even have time to finish the frap before the shots are done depending on the amt of shots.
another example would be - if you have an espresso drink that has foam, and a frap, start your shots and or milk, and go start frap and foam so they’re done.

And remember your basic hot bar sequencing, it is actually helpful even if in training it doesn’t seem like it.

It’s a lot of thinking ahead and in a logical order. It doesn’t always go as planned of course, but you just do the best you can. And, you can always ask for help, they can’t get mad at you if there’s a gazillion drinks and only one person.

Honestly, just remember to keep breathing and don’t get flustered, as hard as it sounds to not panic, it makes the process feel worse.
At the end of the day it’s just coffee and those people in the cafe don’t understand how you’re feeling in that moment so ignore them. Focus the most on making drinks you’d want to be served - good quality over quantity any day for me.

Edit: Grammar

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