Pros
Some locations have nice bathrooms
Cons
Oh gosh. Where to start? Training: The training process is ridiculous. It's anywhere from 6 to 9 months, during which you have to drive to Gardena and train at "the lab". There are people with 10 years of experience in the caffes themselves, but for some reason only the two trainers located an hour away from LA are allowed to teach you how to steam milk. The first half of each session is spent "warming up", which means you have to spend an hour driving there, 45 minutes warming up, and an hour driving back just to get 45 minutes of practice making a latte. You can't make the drinks until you complete training, so for the first few months you have to tell customers that, at 24 years old, you can't make their coffee because you're still in "milk training". It's embarrassing, it's baffling, it's frustrating and it's time consuming. They pay while you're actively training, but the travel reimbursement doesn't cover the actual cost of gas it takes to get there. Insane. Staffing - The shops are very popular, which is great for profits. Also great for profits: keeping costs down by not hiring enough people. They used to be a niche coffee shop with 2 to 3 people on bar at all times. Now, they're insanely popular, with 2 to 3 people on bar at all times. It's not enough staff, and the entire shift is spent running around like a mad person just so you can hopefully get out just SLIGHTLY late. Also, the customers are incredibly unhappy because they have to wait in a massive line (because you can't work fast enough with the amount of people on bar), so they don't tip and they get rude. It's exhausting, draining, and not the job you want to do while pursuing other endeavors. Flexibility - There is NO flexibility in the schedule. ZERO. You have to request days off months in advance or you'll be screwed. If you don't get your request in, you will have to find coverage. Doesn't sound too bad, but it's completely understaffed and there's no one available to cover your shift. During the holiday season (Nov 1 - Jan 1), you can only get 5 days off and they're never guaranteed. Some people have to cancel their Thanksgiving or Christmas plans because the shop doesn't tell them far enough in advance. Most people are in LA to do something other than make coffee, yet this shop thinks everyone walking thru its doors has always dreamed of being a barista. If you want to make it in a career other than serving people lattes, don't work here. Pay: This shop used to be the highest paying coffee shop in the area, which was the reason people put up with the training and insane problems. Not anymore! It's not even close! Starbucks is $20 an hour, Fully trained Caffe Luxxe baristas make $18.25 an hour. With tips it's higher, but the tips are pooled across shops so you don't get what you earned and GET THIS: MANAGEMENT TAKES MONEY FROM THE TIP POOL. They are extremely sketchy when it comes to tips. They don't tell you what the total pool was each pay period, but when they did, one former employee did the calculations and discovered that management was skimming off the top. Disgusting. Quality - They claim to provide an "artisanal experience", but the meat they use for their sandwiches comes from the same distributor that gives them their plastic gloves. A local butcher isn't cutting the Mortadella, it's coming from the same place as the trash bags and the soap. Doesn't sound very "artisan" to me. Turnover - Probably the best indicator for how awful the place is. The turnover at this place is insane. People are in and out in just a few months. The burnout is real, the training process is insane, the pay is not nearly good enough and the people that stick around are toxic. Don't work here.