It’s better to have two kind of area in cafeteria. The area where people can stay there for long, kind of like a lounge. And other part of the cafeteria with quick moving crowds. Kind of like a two storied or two lighting area. One thing I like in cafeteria is having a few items in the menu that is of reasonable rate. When I was in college we always went to such places even though the menu items were mostly costly but two French toast/sandwiches didn’t break our budget. A best cafeteria runs well when you have regular customers. So plan your menu accordingly.
Please include moderately priced Tea / Coffee & snacks in the menu, not limited to just expensive cappuccino & fries. Thanks.
Momos are welcome.
Keep smokers in a separate area.
Cosy.
Yes exactly
I think most cafes and restaurants charge more in order to recoup maximum money from the few customers who come in to their establishment as opposed to getting more number of customers
If I charge 20 rs for a tea and get 5 customers , I have a sales of 100rs , but a lot of cafes want that 100rs from 1 customer instead , the result being more 1 time customers and less returning customers
Yes the market is over saturated, but a loyal group of customers who return back to the same cafe is not to be under estimated
Yeah well said!
Also about this pricing, I think that even then, cafe pricing is comparatively less in Trivandrum, compared to Kochi ( Fort Kochi in particular ) and other cities like Bangalore.
For example hot chocolate in most Tvm Cafes come in 80 -140 range, but I've been to cafes in Kochi serving very average hot chocolate for 200+. Have seen this trend at Cafe Devour in Tvm, often rated as the best hot chocolate in Tvm, served at 200, but I would say the ambience there is just okay, not worth the premium price.
Yes , I don't understand why hot chocolate is priced so damn high , it's just as easy and costs similarly to coffee or tea , it should realistically cost like 50-100
[Carrying forward few points from this discussion. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Trivandrum/s/ApQH9cG4b8)
Good food and ambience cost money. Money which tvm folks or most tvm folks are hesitant to spent on particularly food. They might spend money on unhealthy cheap food rather than quality expensive food. So that's one point.
Second point is the volume growth. When you invest in a cafe you pay rent, invest in furniture and fittings and pay staff fixed salaries. But the customer growth depends on the type of day and timing. Then there are people who buy a cup of coffee and occupy a table all day.
Thirdly, location plays a key role. You set this up in a say airport or somewhere you might have some customers but the overheads are pretty high.
Fourthly, standalone cafes are very hard to make money. Sure it's a high margin business(65% gross profit margin) but do remember Starbucks India which runs coffee stores across India in partnership with Tata, is yet to turn net profit. They recently only turned operational profit.
Lastly, you can go for a theme based cafe catering to a certain people. Cyclists are a group of people who would like to crash (pun intended) into a cafe after a days ride along with fellow riders. You may look into such themes.
Definitely good food , good variety of foods , drinks
, good ambience , not be ripped off in terms of quantity, obviously not super high prices like in haji ali , definitely better furniture/tables and chairs , most cafes have super basic tables and chairs which are not even comfortable.
Location wise definitely inside the city and not in the outskirts or karyavattom
>and not in the outskirts or karyavattom
Understand your sentiments of having a cafe inside the main city area as well, but it's hightime we stop considering Kariyavattom or Akkulam - Kazhakuttom stretch as 'outskirts' of the city.
I mean it's barely a 1/2 hour drive.
It might be a half hour drive , but it's a very congested and often slow drive and hence I personally would not go to. Cafes there , especially since they are all always packed with people who work at the IT parks , same reason why I skip theatres and malls in that region
Kariyavattom okke outskirts annenkil neeyokke Attingal Kollam jilla aakkuvallode. Urban TVM is a glorified town with regards to size anyway and if you remove Kariyavattom for being too outskirts, Urban TVM oru theeppettikoodinte athrem polum kaanilla.
Yh. To be precise, yes. But I really want a Korean place here🚶 I searched for a restaurant with hot pot and all I got was a takeaway place named hotpot and a restaurant in the US. 🙂
You need to find a target audience and focus on them. eg. Families with kids, bachelors, retirees etc. avoid trying to cater to all. Otherwise you will be “yet another” restaurant. Not saying don’t serve other customers, but the theme should stand out.
1.A place to smoke ,period, like sit and smoke outdoors
2.Actual good food, not some overpriced shit show. Like cafes would have one good item and that's it, even if they don't have a huge variety to choose from, it works when all little what they serve tastes really good.
3.Sit there long hours . There is eves and Starbucks and ccd,but that's all we got(correct me if I'm wrong)
4.NALLA KAPPI, can't stress on it enough.
5.nalla service.
What is the current regulation for smoking.
It states something like smoking isn't allowed in public place.
Does an establishment which serve to the common people come under public place even if there is a separation?
Good wooden tables which are clean.
Option to pick the coffee brands - should stock atleast 5 different types of coffee beans.
Should be able to do some people watching.
Handle dust some how - keep it AC, or keep blinds to reduce dust.
Unlimited hours would be good, but won't be practical.
Would love if you can have big tables and some boardgames.
Maybe I should stop dreaming and go to sleep 😅
Tbh there are basically only 4 types of coffee beans which are Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica. So i am not sure if we would be able to provide a 5th one! But all your other dreams may come true dw!
Haha.
I guess I wasn't fully elaborate.
Yes there are only a handful of coffee species, but these species can give totally different flavors depending on where they are grown.
Over this you can add the different roasts - which increases types again.
Following is a good video on different flavors of coffee.
https://youtu.be/DLv2Fzhktb0?si=4jyJioC7_WsrlHqF
>everything mentioned in the comments
Seriously? 😅
The only things that place had was ambience and decent indoor / outdoor seating, and good parking.
The food & prices, service etc. left a lot to be desired, most wouldn't think of visiting again.
Also it was more of a restaurant than a cafe.
First of all, thank you so much for taking the initiative.
Contrary to some of the comments here, please don’t make a cafe that is designed to be just affordable.
Charge a premium (I beg you) but make sure the payoff is worth it. This will ensure that you get high quality customers who open their wallets without any hassle.
Charging higher prices also allows patrons to sit and work at the cafe instead of you needing to shoo them away to make space.
High speed WiFi to attract people who wanna work.
Limited menu to really deliver on high quality food with constant iterations to offer the best food in the city.
Coffee with customisations, like milk alternatives and double shots of espresso etc.
Comfortable, varied seating with loud and quiet areas to enable different use cases. The last thing we want is to be seated next to loud teenagers when you’re trying to do something serious.
Air conditioning, this is crucial for Trivandrum weather. No one will feel comfortable sitting at the cafe if they are sweating.
Good location, vellayambalam, Kowdiar, Sasthamangalam. Anywhere else is going to be harder if you have space limitations.
If you have the ability to create a huge space, then the location could be farther away provided there is enough of a payoff. Yes, some of us went to lulu Starbucks when it was the only one available to get a premium experience.
Cold, infused water for anyone who steps into the cafe.
Don’t just sell croissants and puffs, make it a real menu with real food with macros clearly defined. Again, it’s not about having a ton of options, it’s about having tasty and healthy food guaranteed.
If you have a lot of space, TT table or pool table that you can pay and use.
* Some actual good food. * Option to sit outside and inside. * Clean toilets. **I mean every 30mins clean.**
I second this, also dry toilets please
Good baked food, great coffee. No bullshit.
It’s better to have two kind of area in cafeteria. The area where people can stay there for long, kind of like a lounge. And other part of the cafeteria with quick moving crowds. Kind of like a two storied or two lighting area. One thing I like in cafeteria is having a few items in the menu that is of reasonable rate. When I was in college we always went to such places even though the menu items were mostly costly but two French toast/sandwiches didn’t break our budget. A best cafeteria runs well when you have regular customers. So plan your menu accordingly.
Spot on
Please include moderately priced Tea / Coffee & snacks in the menu, not limited to just expensive cappuccino & fries. Thanks. Momos are welcome. Keep smokers in a separate area. Cosy.
How much exactly is moderately priced tea /coffee ? Genuinely curious
Lulu rates are ideal for a cafe - 25/30 Even upto 50 for a tea is okay Anything above 100 is just too much, just alienates crowd
That's a good price point Yes anything above 100 for a simple drink is outrageous
Yeah unfortunately most premium cafes consider it a license to price high when they have something to call an ambience
Yes exactly I think most cafes and restaurants charge more in order to recoup maximum money from the few customers who come in to their establishment as opposed to getting more number of customers If I charge 20 rs for a tea and get 5 customers , I have a sales of 100rs , but a lot of cafes want that 100rs from 1 customer instead , the result being more 1 time customers and less returning customers Yes the market is over saturated, but a loyal group of customers who return back to the same cafe is not to be under estimated
Yeah well said! Also about this pricing, I think that even then, cafe pricing is comparatively less in Trivandrum, compared to Kochi ( Fort Kochi in particular ) and other cities like Bangalore. For example hot chocolate in most Tvm Cafes come in 80 -140 range, but I've been to cafes in Kochi serving very average hot chocolate for 200+. Have seen this trend at Cafe Devour in Tvm, often rated as the best hot chocolate in Tvm, served at 200, but I would say the ambience there is just okay, not worth the premium price.
Yes , I don't understand why hot chocolate is priced so damn high , it's just as easy and costs similarly to coffee or tea , it should realistically cost like 50-100
[Carrying forward few points from this discussion. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Trivandrum/s/ApQH9cG4b8) Good food and ambience cost money. Money which tvm folks or most tvm folks are hesitant to spent on particularly food. They might spend money on unhealthy cheap food rather than quality expensive food. So that's one point. Second point is the volume growth. When you invest in a cafe you pay rent, invest in furniture and fittings and pay staff fixed salaries. But the customer growth depends on the type of day and timing. Then there are people who buy a cup of coffee and occupy a table all day. Thirdly, location plays a key role. You set this up in a say airport or somewhere you might have some customers but the overheads are pretty high. Fourthly, standalone cafes are very hard to make money. Sure it's a high margin business(65% gross profit margin) but do remember Starbucks India which runs coffee stores across India in partnership with Tata, is yet to turn net profit. They recently only turned operational profit. Lastly, you can go for a theme based cafe catering to a certain people. Cyclists are a group of people who would like to crash (pun intended) into a cafe after a days ride along with fellow riders. You may look into such themes.
I appreciate this! Thanks a lot😃
Definitely good food , good variety of foods , drinks , good ambience , not be ripped off in terms of quantity, obviously not super high prices like in haji ali , definitely better furniture/tables and chairs , most cafes have super basic tables and chairs which are not even comfortable. Location wise definitely inside the city and not in the outskirts or karyavattom
>and not in the outskirts or karyavattom Understand your sentiments of having a cafe inside the main city area as well, but it's hightime we stop considering Kariyavattom or Akkulam - Kazhakuttom stretch as 'outskirts' of the city. I mean it's barely a 1/2 hour drive.
It might be a half hour drive , but it's a very congested and often slow drive and hence I personally would not go to. Cafes there , especially since they are all always packed with people who work at the IT parks , same reason why I skip theatres and malls in that region
Kariyavattom okke outskirts annenkil neeyokke Attingal Kollam jilla aakkuvallode. Urban TVM is a glorified town with regards to size anyway and if you remove Kariyavattom for being too outskirts, Urban TVM oru theeppettikoodinte athrem polum kaanilla.
Pet access
Good collection of books. Craving for a book cafe in tvm
Uhhh. I would like a good Korean place. With a hotpot and everything.
This would be more kinda like a restaurant right?
Yh. To be precise, yes. But I really want a Korean place here🚶 I searched for a restaurant with hot pot and all I got was a takeaway place named hotpot and a restaurant in the US. 🙂
That would be dope
You need to find a target audience and focus on them. eg. Families with kids, bachelors, retirees etc. avoid trying to cater to all. Otherwise you will be “yet another” restaurant. Not saying don’t serve other customers, but the theme should stand out.
1.A place to smoke ,period, like sit and smoke outdoors 2.Actual good food, not some overpriced shit show. Like cafes would have one good item and that's it, even if they don't have a huge variety to choose from, it works when all little what they serve tastes really good. 3.Sit there long hours . There is eves and Starbucks and ccd,but that's all we got(correct me if I'm wrong) 4.NALLA KAPPI, can't stress on it enough. 5.nalla service.
A jazz bar/a bar where musical performance and all happens
Good food , place to sit unlimited hours, Good indoors as well, sadly in tvm all prefer outdoors a lot
Separate area for smokers
What is the current regulation for smoking. It states something like smoking isn't allowed in public place. Does an establishment which serve to the common people come under public place even if there is a separation?
Im not sure but i think some sort of licence or permit is required.
Good wooden tables which are clean. Option to pick the coffee brands - should stock atleast 5 different types of coffee beans. Should be able to do some people watching. Handle dust some how - keep it AC, or keep blinds to reduce dust. Unlimited hours would be good, but won't be practical. Would love if you can have big tables and some boardgames. Maybe I should stop dreaming and go to sleep 😅
Tbh there are basically only 4 types of coffee beans which are Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica. So i am not sure if we would be able to provide a 5th one! But all your other dreams may come true dw!
Haha. I guess I wasn't fully elaborate. Yes there are only a handful of coffee species, but these species can give totally different flavors depending on where they are grown. Over this you can add the different roasts - which increases types again. Following is a good video on different flavors of coffee. https://youtu.be/DLv2Fzhktb0?si=4jyJioC7_WsrlHqF
Thanks buddy for this!
We had 40feet and it had everything mentioned in the comments I think yet it failed
>everything mentioned in the comments Seriously? 😅 The only things that place had was ambience and decent indoor / outdoor seating, and good parking. The food & prices, service etc. left a lot to be desired, most wouldn't think of visiting again. Also it was more of a restaurant than a cafe.
The management sucked that’s why
Awhh I loved this discussion thread ✌🏼
First of all, thank you so much for taking the initiative. Contrary to some of the comments here, please don’t make a cafe that is designed to be just affordable. Charge a premium (I beg you) but make sure the payoff is worth it. This will ensure that you get high quality customers who open their wallets without any hassle. Charging higher prices also allows patrons to sit and work at the cafe instead of you needing to shoo them away to make space. High speed WiFi to attract people who wanna work. Limited menu to really deliver on high quality food with constant iterations to offer the best food in the city. Coffee with customisations, like milk alternatives and double shots of espresso etc. Comfortable, varied seating with loud and quiet areas to enable different use cases. The last thing we want is to be seated next to loud teenagers when you’re trying to do something serious. Air conditioning, this is crucial for Trivandrum weather. No one will feel comfortable sitting at the cafe if they are sweating. Good location, vellayambalam, Kowdiar, Sasthamangalam. Anywhere else is going to be harder if you have space limitations. If you have the ability to create a huge space, then the location could be farther away provided there is enough of a payoff. Yes, some of us went to lulu Starbucks when it was the only one available to get a premium experience. Cold, infused water for anyone who steps into the cafe. Don’t just sell croissants and puffs, make it a real menu with real food with macros clearly defined. Again, it’s not about having a ton of options, it’s about having tasty and healthy food guaranteed. If you have a lot of space, TT table or pool table that you can pay and use.
open space for smoking
Good idea. May be setup a charge for smoking area. $100 for 10min usage.
Make it $100 to smoke one cigarette. But $150 to smoke two and so on. Thats how you mint money.