Barista Espresso Bar

Barista Espresso Bar is located at G 15 in South Extension. It’s a busy spot because of all the shoppers and people working in the nearby offices. We spend the whole day behind the counter, grinding coffee beans and frothing milk. The sound of the espresso machine is something you just get used to after a while. It’s a lot of steam and noise. We don't have a lot of space back here, so we’re always bumping into each other during the rush. We serve a lot of different people, from students with their laptops to older folks just taking a break from the market. The tables are almost always full in the late afternoons. We spend a lot of time wiping up spills and cleaning out the coffee grounds from the machines. It’s not a glamorous job, your hands always smell like coffee and the floor gets sticky from the sugar. We don't have a big corporate feel at this branch; it’s just us trying to keep up with the orders. Sometimes the line gets out the door and we have to work as fast as we can to keep people happy. We don't use fancy language to describe the drinks. It’s just coffee and milk. South Extension is a loud area, so we play some music to drown out the traffic noise. We’ve seen a lot of people come and go over the months. We just keep the beans coming and the cups clean and ready.