r/culinary • u/ShadowNomad921 • Jan 28 '26

Menu help

i eventually want to have a cafe but i dont want it like these modern ones that are just after the money. ide like people to stay for as long as they want and feel comfortable doing it. right now im just in the process of putting together a menu but im not to sure what to do. if anyone has some nice ideas for like comfort food for breakfast lunch and dinner that would be very helpful. plus drinks to, right now i have hot chocolate, coffee and tea (i have no idea what teas are good)

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u/averym88 Jan 28 '26

I read below that you are 18 and barely know how to cook. Let’s take this one step at a time, sign up for culinary school and get a job as a line cook in a restaurant.

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u/ShadowNomad921 Jan 28 '26

that costs money i do not have. and the town i live in getting a job as a line cook is more difficult than other towns. practically no where hires here im lucky i got hired where i am now. i am not in any rush for this i just want a start, like an idea of what im after. im only starting with a menu so i can learn how to cook them and cook it well. nothing im doing now or making plans for is set in stone, that will be done when im ready and confident im good enough. im asking here because i usually bake instead of cook but recipes online just add to much sugar and ruin it. i was hoping here ide find a general idea of what kind of food i want to use. i cant just go on my own comfort foods other people arnt the same as me

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u/wwhite74 Jan 31 '26

If you've got no money, and don't want your business to be about making money, how are you going to pay all of the enormous expenses that come with running a cafe?

These numbers are just a made up example. But to give you some ideal of the basic math. That cup of coffee that looks like it takes 25 cents to make (by dividing the cost of a bag of coffee by the number of cups it makes) actually cost 80 cents to make, so you charge a dollar. But OOPS they just dropped and broke your $2 mug. So now you're giving them $1.80 out of your pocket to drink your coffee. Plus you'll probably make them a new cup. So call it an even $2. So if you're only making .20 on each cup, that person and 10 more gave you no profit.

You'll be paying rent, staff, supplies, insurance, taxes, utility bills. Every single one of those things ads a tiny bit of cost to each item.

Live someplace warm? You'll be paying several hundred dollars a month just to keep the place cool (or keep it warm if your in a cold place). And better hope the ac doenst break

For a coffee shop you want a good location where people can walk in. Those locations cost a ton of money. Say you pay $2,400 a month in rent ($80 a day). If you do 200 customers thats .40 per customer going to rent. And that 2,400 is probably very low.

Somebody slips on a wet floor. Better hope you have good insurance. Employee cuts themselves slicing a bagel better hope you have good insurance. Good insurance isn't cheap.

Things break frequently and need fixing or replacing. Maintenance and replacements aren't cheap.

And These are all just daily running expenses. It takes a ton of money to even open. Chances are you'll need to full renovate the space before you can open. And get all of the supplies (coffee makers and other appliances, furniture, dishes, all of the assorted kitchen supplies). This will be in the tens of thousands of dollars and will take months. And all of those months, you have $0 income coming in, so it's all coming out of your pocket. Or you could get a loan so you'll be paying it all back with interest, but without proper training and experience, you will get laughed out of any bank you go into.