My cafe is the best in the city. Coffee has nothing to do with it

February 25, 2026 — 4:00am

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There are cafes that make good coffee, and then there are cafes that make good days. The difference is rarely the beans. (Sorry, beans.)

We love to argue about grind size, obscure blends and pour-overs, but too rarely talk about the thing that actually determines whether a cafe matters. The people behind the counter.

Some cafe staff don’t just hand you a drink. They notice you. They remember your order. They clock when you’re flat, offer a wisecrack and make you laugh. They don’t fix your life, but they soften the edges. They make a humble room feel as rich as Aladdin’s cave.

There’s a particular kind of cafe staffer who understands timing. They know when to chat and when to just smile and let you vibe to a rogue ABBA song on their playlist. They sense the regular who’s there for caffeine, and the one who’s there because being seen for 30 seconds is the difference between coping or emailing something unhinged to their boss.

In these cafes the workers remember the........

© Brisbane Times