If YOU opened a cafe... (on a bus)?

Ficheall

God, no. I'm still doing my postgrad - dreaming of freedom
I'm just curious, really. Ideally I'd prefer if someone else opened this cafe - it's sounding good folks, cheers - it would save me the hassle.
As a nod to the aul' research though, I would have a big blackboard on the wall for use during those conversations. And there'd be shelves of books, I reckon. And chess boards and cards knocking around. Other than that, I reckon any other ideas have been covered in the thread at some point.
All responses much appreciated.

fend

I swear i would actually LOVE IT if someone opened a sushi bar.... like a proper one like Yo Sushi with the conveyer belt and all.... I would actually eat you into profits

lavaghball

FINALLY a thread where i can really vent...

As mentioned several times so far the coffee has to be excellent. But my real pet hate is the cup it comes in. Try to avoid getting those fiddily little cups with the tiny handles that you cannot pick up. A real pain in the backside.

A good all day breakfast is a must. Use the best raw materials and people won't mind paying the extra euro.

There was a lovely cafe on Cross Street a few years back called O'Briens and the food was excellent. Went around the corner one morning for the feed and was gutted to see it had closed. Still upset by that.

There should be some great deals out there now for renting a premesis, but don't get suckered into going for somewhere that is doomed to fail. The ammount of good eateries that have closed in town over the years by thinking they can make a certain location work is a shame. Pick somewhere with plenty of room, that the tables are not on top of each other and i'll be there with bells on.
And hold the egg on the fry!

Robbo

A complete ban on anything that came out of the Pallas foods catalogue and that horrible fake bacon stuff. Real rashers please.

Having looked through the Pallas catalogue before, it's entirely possible to run a restaurant without having anyone able to cook on staff.

steel_spine

To be honest, I almost think galway has a surplus of cafes at the moment, though most of them are pants.
I have a few friends who went to uni here, and they all miss somewhere called 'banana republic' (only the name was in Irish). Ideally somewhere comfy & cosy, mismatched furniture & sofas kind of place, cating to vegans & vegetarians is good, though I'm not either, I love the food.
Proper homecooked food, even if it means a smaller menu. Bought in scones, cakes, chicken strips, paninis etc can feck off.
Really good coffee.
A 'hangout' that is open late and not opposite a poxy nightclub like javas is - somewhere you can go with your mates, buy coffee, food and chill out for hours happily, not somewhere with no atmosphere where you grab a sandwich, sit at a wobbly metal table & feck off. There's a serious dearth of non-pub related places to go after work in the evenings in Galway.
No tv screens.
A bookcase filled with 2nd hand odds & ends is a great addition or alternative to newspapers.
Glasgow has an amazing veggy/vegan cafe/bar called mono under some old railway arches. Everything is homemade and amazing, comfy saggy old furniture, friendly staff, bookcases, art exhibitions & small music/poetry type events. It also has an inhouse record store and little wholefoods shop corner, and not a hint of a w*nky atmosphere. That's my perfect cafe to be honest. http://www.monocafebar.com/index.php?pid=1

softmee

steel_spine wrote: »

A bookcase filled with 2nd hand odds & ends is a great addition or alternative to newspapers.
Glasgow has an amazing veggy/vegan cafe/bar called mono under some old railway arches. Everything is homemade and amazing, comfy saggy old furniture, friendly staff, bookcases, art exhibitions & small music/poetry type events.

-it sounds lovely.. and brings to my mind :

http://www.jozefk.pl/galeria/1/index.php

http://www.jozefk.pl/galeria/2/index.php

http://www.jozefk.pl/

-no place like this in Galway...yet

miss home

Fionn MacCool

lavaghball wrote: »

As mentioned several times so far the coffee has to be excellent. But my real pet hate is the cup it comes in. Try to avoid getting those fiddily little cups with the tiny handles that you cannot pick up. A real pain in the backside.

Haha like those really big mugs that have a wee handle at the base of them. F***in ridiculous, don't understand how after the first one of those was made they didn't go "well, that didn't work" and stop making them.

It's always been a dream of mine to open a no-nonsense cafe/restaurant. No pretentious French names for normal dishes, no stupid morsel of salad on the side unless they ask for it, no including sh*t in the dish that wasn't specified on the menu, just good honest scran at decent prices.

Mrs OBumble

inisboffin wrote: »

I realise that the place is probably run at a loss, and for that reason, feels less like a coffee shop to me, but more like a Christian resource...with coffee. I stress *feels* as no one was preaching, like I said, and one friend hangs out there a lot, though he is quite involved in the Christian community.

The American kids who work there are (were, maybe it's changed since I last talked to one) unpaid: they're here on a mission to convert the pagans of Ireland. They live under some pretty tough rules: in their off-duty hours, they're not allowed to drink alcohol or even go to places that sell it, or travel with people of the opposite sex.

So though I like cheap coffee, it's not somewhere I go often.

Seaneh

JustMary wrote: »

The American kids who work there are (were, maybe it's changed since I last talked to one) unpaid: they're here on a mission to convert the pagans of Ireland. They live under some pretty tough rules: in their off-duty hours, they're not allowed to drink alcohol or even go to places that sell it, or travel with people of the opposite sex.

So though I like cheap coffee, it's not somewhere I go often.

They are unpaid HERE. They aren't living in poverty either though,they have support from back home/the foundation and they choose to come here, almost every volunteer/intern who worked there over the last 10 years wanted to do an extra year but because of Visa/financial issues etc they couldn't.

They are allowed drink, they are not allowed to get drunk/be seen to get drunk, they work with kids from the local schools a lot and are meant to be setting an example, it makes sense when you think about it. They are of course allowed go to bars etc, they aren't allowed to get ****faced and score random boys/girls, which also makes sense when you think about it.
The two current girls have gone to a few gigs in town and The last batch (2 girls and a lad) all went out with me a few times to gigs etc.

They aren't on a mission to convert anyone. The café is an out reach and resource, they don't approach randomers and start preaching at them. The thing about not travelling with males isn't a rule, they do have rules about staff not dating each other and the interns/volunteers are asked not to date locals, for various reasons, but what you are saying is fairly off the mark... It's not like they come here and live a life of solitude locked up in their rooms. They live in a really nice appartment rent free in the centre of Galway, have at least 2 days a week off to do as they wish.

DonnieScribbles

steel_spine wrote: »

To be honest, I almost think galway has a surplus of cafes at the moment, though most of them are pants.
I have a few friends who went to uni here, and they all miss somewhere called 'banana republic' (only the name was in Irish). Ideally somewhere comfy & cosy, mismatched furniture & sofas kind of place, cating to vegans & vegetarians is good, though I'm not either, I love the food.
Proper homecooked food, even if it means a smaller menu. Bought in scones, cakes, chicken strips, paninis etc can feck off.
Really good coffee.
A 'hangout' that is open late and not opposite a poxy nightclub like javas is - somewhere you can go with your mates, buy coffee, food and chill out for hours happily, not somewhere with no atmosphere where you grab a sandwich, sit at a wobbly metal table & feck off. There's a serious dearth of non-pub related places to go after work in the evenings in Galway.
No tv screens.
A bookcase filled with 2nd hand odds & ends is a great addition or alternative to newspapers.
Glasgow has an amazing veggy/vegan cafe/bar called mono under some old railway arches. Everything is homemade and amazing, comfy saggy old furniture, friendly staff, bookcases, art exhibitions & small music/poetry type events. It also has an inhouse record store and little wholefoods shop corner, and not a hint of a w*nky atmosphere. That's my perfect cafe to be honest. http://www.monocafebar.com/index.php?pid=1

All of this!

Tis true, so many cafés in Galway yet hardly an interesting one among them.

I always thought somewhere like Mono would do really well in Galway. I'd do it myself if only I had the cash

I really like Stereo in Glasgow too, think the food is a bit better. Mono kind of has that scruffy thing going for it though, whereas Stereo would be a bit 'tidier' which is not the right word at all but anyway.

ArtSmart

Ficheall wrote: »

To avoid asking a question which might wander too far off-topic in another thread:

Supposing, hypothetically, I were toying with the idea of opening some sort of cafe/eatery in Galway some time in the future - what would you folks regard as good value for money / worthwhile? Seeing as many of you have so many complaints about prices, poor quality, poor choice, even poor service etc - if you had the opportunity to offer some constructive advice and have some input - is there anything ye'd like to see?

there is no 'toying' with opening a business, esp a coffee shop in Galway. and as it will have to be your own money, i'd do a hell of a lot of detailed research first . best of luck, that said.

inisboffin

Seaneh wrote: »

They do have rules about staff not dating each other and the interns/volunteers are asked not to date locals, for various reasons, wish.

Dating pool is limited then, hope they drink Chamomile tea!

Nah - everyone to their own, but I prefer my coffee a bit pagan.

moonflower

steel_spine wrote: »

To be honest, I almost think galway has a surplus of cafes at the moment, though most of them are pants.
I have a few friends who went to uni here, and they all miss somewhere called 'banana republic' (only the name was in Irish). [/url]

You missed out on a great cafe. I only really started drinking coffee around the time they closed but they did the best hot chocolate ever. It was a glass mug of really foamy milk with chunks of chocolate dropped in and left to melt and iirc some more little bits of chocolate sprinkled on top. They had great food too, I was so upset when they closed.

Quench was a decent cafe too, it was my go-to place for a while. Again they did great hot chocolate's, and their coffee was excelled. They obviously had really skilled people working there because the coffee looked fantastic in the glasses. It was served with a biscuit too, which was a nice touch. Ooh, and they did this cake called lumpy bumpy cake and it was amazing! They had this lovely little tomato and cheese toasted thing too, which I always had for lunch.

Fionn MacCool

That Orange Cafe or whatever it's called down near the 'other' Charcoal Grill is alrite. They do a lovely panini although what you get with it seems to range from loads of chips, to crisps, a bit of salad, or feck all. The size of the panini seems to change too.

Last coffee I got in there was terrible, really milky, but they've been grand other than that.

beagle001

Had soup and sandwich plus latte in there during the summer.
Really disappointed with soup,sanding was greasy and she burnt the milk in the coffee.
Went back fir takeaway coffee it was bitter as f-ck not returned since.

Ficheall

Right - I was thinking of opening a cafe on a bus (not just a stationary one, but one that actually drove around - probably a double-decker) , and wanted to make it as much like a normal cafe as possible. So just looking at what you'd like from a normal cafe, I believe most things you've mentioned should be possible.

Late night opening - yes, the plan would be for the bus to run in and around Galway at night, with perhaps weekly trips to somewhere further afield. Destination would have to be voted on in advance of course, by members in some online poll. Perhaps on a regular night the members (to avoid pranksters) could request the bus to come pick them up wherever in Galway, thus setting the route for an evening.

Food/Meals would obviously be difficult to prepare on a bus, so perhaps, aside from a few small pre-prepared snacks, the bus would stop off at Tesco or somesuch where people could buy whatever food they wished and eat it on the bus. There would be tables on the bus - rather like the setup they have on the local trains. Perhaps for one stop each night we could organise with some cafe that at a given time some twenty people or whatever would be dropping in for a full Irish if they could have that prepared - I'm sure one would find a willing cafe-owner somewhere.

Hangout space - clearly this would be the buses main function, and the predominant reasoning behind the idea in the first place - very few places open at night as it is.

Stage - again, entertainment was one of the main ideas behind the venture - some small stage for an acoustic performance or a comedian or some other performer not requiring any installed equipment. Perhaps a projector/screen for some film to be shown. Only on one floor so people cuold avoid it if they chose.

Cozy - a top priority - this bus is for people to enjoy being on, not a bus whose function is merely to transport people from A to B.

Cornflakes all day - this is probably one of the foodstuffs that could be managed, there will need to be a fridge on the bus anyway, and cornflakes are easily storable.

Prices - I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure how that part'll work yet. We'll see. But obviously while one wouldn't want it to be too expensive, it will cost more than an ordinary bus fare - one would probably have to purchase a ticket that entitled them to the entire night's travelling, and then they have the option to leave whenever they wish. I've done no in-depth analysis of the costing of such yet.

Friendly service - I'm a super friendly person and I'm sure anyone who would work for me would be friendly too.

Bakery - probably not feasible on a bus, I'm afraid. Though one could have baked goods/pastries/whatever available.

Salad buffet pick 'n mix table - again probably not feasible on a bus, but one would be welcome to purchase whatever one liked in Tesco or wherever one stopped off and eat it on the bus.

Smoking - the bus would be non-smoking, obviously, as it's generally acknowledged to be a pretty filthy habit - however there could be a small "porch"(?) at the rear of the bus on the top floor so one would hope all the smelly smoke would be left behind.

Poles - there can be poles on the bus, for holding onto whilst standing, though the bus would generally be for seated passengers only. (Not Polish poles, obviously...)

Coffee etc. - There would be freshly made coffees/teas/hot chocolate/non-alcoholic beverages available.

Simplicity in a menu - our menu would be as limited and simplistic as you could wish for.

Quality & value - of course...

Location - anywhere!

Quirky - a quirky cafe on a bus shouldn't be too hard.

Powerpoints - I'm not sure about this one. Not that I disagree with the idea - just not sure how much power the bus would be able to generate, and one wouldn't want to risk a flat battery in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Home-cooked traditional food - I'm with you all the way on this one, there's a definite shortage in Galway, but again, probably not feasible for a bus. Though a massive pot of stew and spuds every night would be nice. Or bacon and cabbage... mmm....

Parents with kids - hmm... it'd be night time so there'd be no need to actively discourage that. I'd imagine a crying baby would be flung out the window by some of the other passengers before too long.

Cheapskates - free papers to read and refills shouldn't be a problem. Though if people are going to be on the bus all night, there'd have to be some charge for the refills, perhaps. Also, there'd be books to read.

Wifi Access - shouldn't be too much of a problem, plenty of other buses seem to have it.

Music - would be generally a quiet live act if there were any music. Unpaid showcasing, one would hope, so they could theoretically be ****, but members would again have the option, hopefully to vote online somewhere as to what acts they'd like to see back again etc.

Inebriation - one of the major concerns would be drunken louts on the bus - simplest solution to that would be to not let them on, one would need a 'bouncer' who could double as a 'waiter' I suppose. Drinking on the bus would also be frowned upon - I know many people would have a quiet drink, but there are plenty of places to do that, and it's just simplest not to have to make a call between who would be responsible and who not.

Irish language hang-out - well, Irish wouldn't be discouraged, but neither would English etc... if a load of Irish people want to come on the bus regularly, we wouldn't discourage them!

Hidden location - not to worry, people probably won't have a clue where we are most of the time. It'll be like a ninja bus. Although no, there'll be an online map of where the bus is at any given time, and where it's headed. I'm not sure if we'd have a scheduled route yet - whether to go with that or collecting members called out to would be better, we'd have to see. Maybe a little of both, in which case timetables would of course be provided.

The ability to evict other customers by popular vote - intriguing... Well, most customers would have to be members, so we could refuse people in that regard. Members would of course be entitled to advise us of any 'issues', and we would see what we could do...

Sushi - probably not feasible to run a sushi bar on the bus... though maybe the stuff would be easy to store. It's not something I'd thought of.

Cup-size - cups would be much larger than necessary to avoid spillage while the bus was moving. Espresso in a mug.. why not...


So...

Smaointe?


edit: seems I can't edit the title. Perhaps a mod could add an "on a bus" ?

Hm - interesting idea but.. how popular/successful would it be? The problem I could see with it is that people like to spend hours in a café. It's the one thing I love about Java, you can stay there for hours and just buy the bare minimum and not feel pressured into either leaving or purchasing more. Would this sort of thing be guaranteed on the bus?

mikom

Buses are for proles, so count me out.

inisboffin

I love the idea of stuff on a bus! Probably from watching too much 'Double Deckers' when visiting my auntie.

There are some people already in the process of doing boogie buses with entertainment to some of the more rural pub, but no cafes yet.

One huge problem is that a lot of people get bus-sick, and the roads in Galway are bendy as f*ck. Not the place you'd want to eat. Same for drinking, so I assume the bus would pick you up, maybe drive to somewhere rural, stop, and you could have a chill out. Also loos, more loo 'traffic' than on a commuter bus, and you may run into legalities with this one.
Music on a bus would be heard by all, so it would be all or nothing I'd say. And to be honest, open mic lucky bag in an enclosed space makes me shudder! No escape!

Yeah, don't think you could cater for everyone's whim on the bus cafe, but fair play to you for giving it a lash, and there could be something there.
Travel mugs might be the way to go, head to a different location and have a gig, head back. OR head to a location, be quiet, and head back

Ficheall

Deleted User wrote: »

The problem I could see with it is that people like to spend hours in a café. It's the one thing I love about Java, you can stay there for hours and just buy the bare minimum and not feel pressured into either leaving or purchasing more. Would this sort of thing be guaranteed on the bus?

Absolutely guaranteed, I suspect. The bus would travel at a max of about 40mph, and wander all around the city all night. The difficulty would be in leaving the bus, rather than staying on board. We wouldn't be relying on selling stuff to make a profit, I think, rather charging an 'admittance' or whatever, so there'd be no need for such pestering.

inisboffin wrote: »

One huge problem is that a lot of people get bus-sick, and the roads in Galway are bendy as f*ck.

Hand't occurred to me. We could avoid bringing people who had a tendency to get bus-sick? They probably wouldn't want to come with anyway.

inisboffin wrote: »

Not the place you'd want to eat. Same for drinking, so I assume the bus would pick you up, maybe drive to somewhere rural, stop, and you could have a chill out.

There'd be tables on the bus, and snacks and possibly one 'meal' available, so it'd be up to people themselves what they wanted to eat. But aye, any serious eating would be in whatever eatery we stopped off in to grab food. I know relying on people's common sense is dodgy, but it'd be nice to think they wouldn't eat so much that they'd get sick.

inisboffin wrote: »

Also loos, more loo 'traffic' than on a commuter bus, and you may run into legalities with this one.

Aye, we'd need a couple of loos, and decent functioning ones at that, but what are these legalities of which you speak?

inisboffin wrote: »

Music on a bus would be heard by all, so it would be all or nothing I'd say. And to be honest, open mic lucky bag in an enclosed space makes me shudder! No escape!

I get where you're coming from, but I'd disagree - it'll be unmic'd so it should be fairly easy to avoid the music. Unless the bus is really busy... in which case we'd not complain anyway...

inisboffin

by 'open mic' I meant you are asking for freebie (not sure of the quality) music as opposed to paying a person a few bob. I've been on bus parties, and if someone is playing a guitar upstairs, it is deffo heard downstairs. UNLESS you got some zillionaire to sponsor it all and did amazing soundproofing stuff so it was like a studio. Be no harm to get someone decent and pay them the odd night, and make that the focus, and sell 'tix'.

I love the concept of the bus, but not sure it would make any money.
Re the loos, there are certain rules about how many loos per how many people, sanitary conditions etc. Good to chat to someone who does festival work if you are seriously considering it. Best of luck if you do it!

Ficheall

Fair 'nuf, cheers.

And aye, I'd much rather get people I considered to be decent musicians, but the problem is that it'd be rather difficult to get a decent crowd... There aren't many people who'd think - oh! such and such is playing on a bus at 3 this morning - I must be there.
But yeah, open mic might be more harm than good. It's not like there's any extra equipment going in for it though, so if it has to go, then it makes no odds..

biko

on a bus added to title.

Good luck with it Ficheall

inisboffin

Ficheall wrote: »

Fair 'nuf, cheers.

And aye, I'd much rather get people I considered to be decent musicians, but the problem is that it'd be rather difficult to get a decent crowd... There aren't many people who'd think - oh! such and such is playing on a bus at 3 this morning - I must be there.
But yeah, open mic might be more harm than good. It's not like there's any extra equipment going in for it though, so if it has to go, then it makes no odds..

Ha ha! I would totally be the person to go if I heard 'so and so is playing on a bus at 3am':D
Not talking black eyed peas or anything, just a good local pro or two. You could presell tix, and then take coffee and grub orders on the night. At 3am you ARE more likely to have drunky drunks tho. I'd do it at 7 on a Sunday or something. Tell me if it happens!

BengaLover

a euro saver menu
a breakfast for a fiver
smoothie bar all year round

Ficheall

So much for me thinking it was an original interesting idea that I was surprised no one had done before: http://www.doubledecker.ie/
Mind you, that's not exactly what I was thinking of - we'd have no massive kitchen downstairs, but more seats and tables. It'd be more 'bussy' I reckon. And less eco-friendly.

rivalius13

If you do go for that idea, try not make your website ****e like they have. I was half expecting to see some papyrus on their alongside the comic sans...

Mr.Mister

I get the idea of it,but what if i was on the bus having a coffee,then wanted to get off but was ages away from where i got on? Wouldn't it be a waste of time waiting to get back there?

Mrs OBumble

Seaneh wrote: »

They are of course allowed go to bars etc, ...
They aren't on a mission to convert anyone. The café is an out reach and resource, ... but what you are saying is fairly off the mark... It's not like they come here and live a life of solitude locked up in their rooms.

My comments were based on actual conversations, admittedly two and a half years ago, between me, a couple of their interns and two other (older) friends of mine from home (not the US) who've worked in similar situations elsewhere. Basically the interns were comparing notes with people who understood, so were perhaps more willing to tell the whole story.

At that time, a major challenge was that the rules said they couldn't go to places that sold alcohol, which meant that Java was the ONLY place they could go at night, and even that was stretching things 'cos it did sell wine.

Maybe that's been relaxed since: their current intern handbook (http://www.foundationinchrist.org/docs/Policies%202005.pdf) just says they can't drink alcohol or smoke, nothing about avoiding places where other people are doing so.

I was surprised by how tough the rules were, esp regarding the travel, so did a bit of googling about the organisation. The history section of their website is toned down a lot now, but when I looked then it was very clear about how the founders believed they were called to Galway to address the alcohol and casual-sex culture here.

Mrs OBumble

Ficheall wrote: »

Right - I was thinking of opening a cafe on a bus (not just a stationary one, but one that actually drove around - probably a double-decker) , and wanted to make it as much like a normal cafe as possible.

Sounds like a cool idea, but you've got some challenges ahead.

Not only will you need whatever licencing to be allowed to sell food ... but if you want to take passengers/customers anywhere, you'll also need a bus service licence. I believe it can take a couple of years to iron out all the details to get one of those, there are changes coming to the licencing rules but I don't know much about 'em.

And you'll have all the operational challenges of running a bus as well as a kitchen/food-service. Roadworks, traffic jams, accidents, breakdowns, flat tyres, NCTs (or whatever they're called for commercial vehicles), drivers with the right sort of licence. Etc.

And I shudder to think what sort of employer liability insurance you might end up paying, and what sort of rules they'd insist on. Eg no serving hot drinks when the bus is moving. I know Irish Rail do it, but they're a lot bigger operation so would have more negotiating power with the insurance cos.

I'm not trying to knock the idea, honest. But I suspect you'll need a lot of cunning to figure out a way of making this into a viable business.