Observation exercise ! (Hospitality)

Paid a visit at one of those trendy Coffee Shop, in Regent Street, at 18:00 on a usual Monday. This place surprisingly always remains nearly full whenever I pass by. Despite its rather sloppy service and mediocre food, the coffee itself is outstanding, which almost makes up for everything else. A variety of sandwiches and cakes are poorly displayed at the front window, which to my surprise does not keep customers away. On contrary, tables turn rather quickly with customers coming in and out every few minutes. Although one has enough argument to complete an essay on bad food and service, the main reason for this place to be the choice of this exercise is its staff. I am very familiar with them as I visit the shop at least three times a week. Staff turnover seems to be quite high as I witness new faces at every visit I paid which also makes it difficult for them to recognise regular customers.
I am sitting upstairs where I can have a better view of all front of house staff, from the front door to the cashier. The waiter who is taking my order is a Caucasian young Italian who displays a poor grooming while his facial hair is certainly not well trimmed and his uniform illustrates the whole scenario of how not to be recruited. Although one might argue that the gentleman in the discussion might be having a rather challenging day, which could perhaps explain such lack of care, however, poor grooming seems quite common among the other five members of staff who also display such clumsy outlook. A uniform is worn by nearly all members of staff appeared to be the wrong size and most shockingly not as clean as one would expect. Ties also have a similar look like the ones worn by bankers and office workers during “happy hours” at pubs after a long day in the office.
For few minutes, I observed the waiters in between running tables and getting lost in their own environment which left me feeling that I would never know who was to look after my table, therefore I thought I would never receive my order or even shouldn’t have risked placing the order in the first place. That feeling seemed equally common among those surrounding me as, on my right-hand side, a couple of customers were weaving for attention and while another one was nearly begging desperately for his bill so they could finally exit the place. On my left-hand side, a mixed race, middle-aged tall gent is trying to make a conversation in broken Italian with a young waitress. His body language and gestures were quite explicitly expressing his intentions. Unfortunately, his attempts did not achieve a good result as the waitress simply and coldly, replied in English that she could not make any sense of his words. It must have devastated him, as he remained silence throughout the rest of my visit, trying to pay attention exclusively to his book and making no eye contact with anyone around him anymore. It was perhaps the saddest scene of my visit.
Back to the saloon, I could often hear staff unnecessarily shouting customer’s orders to each other such as “single or double shot” of coffees or asking them “in or take away”? The volume of the staff’s voice remained consistently loud and time-to-time I questioned myself about what would be the reasons for such over-reaction and why they couldn't communicate in a calm and collected manner. Around 18:30, the waiter passing by informed me that the section where I am located would be closed in a half-hour. I jokingly replied that it would not take that long for me to finish my water, as I was nearly done anyway. However, the joke was not understood and suddenly I experienced how my neighbour on my left-hand side felt earlier when his attempt of changing the atmosphere suddenly failed.
All sorts of people, students, the elderly, tourists, and workers from around the area visit the coffee shop. I would assume that most of its clientele would be from middle class and up, due to product pricing and location; the coffee prices are slightly higher than most coffee shops around here such as: “Costa” or “Pret A Manger”. Its prime location plays a massive role in its success and perhaps this is the main reason for such a place not facing bankruptcy, as there is so many areas need drastic improvements. Moreover, I expect that the aim of coffee shops would be building a hub for communities and connect people, however; I noticed that at this place none of its customers interacted with each other. Everyone was mainly busy on their gadgets, proving that they were here only physically. Staff also kept themselves to themselves and hardly managed to make any conversation outside their choirs, apart from taking orders and return changes to customers.