Is it bad taste to bring in other food into a locally owned coffee shop?

It is the pinnacle of rudeness to do so. If the coffee shop sells food, buy their food, don’t bring someone else’s food in. This is their business, their livelihood. Especially if it’s a small local business.
Let me repeat, THIS IS NOT OK!

If you want their coffee, but someone else’s food, get takeout from both places and go to a public space.

Isn’t it their job to make good tasting food for their customers? If they don’t care about their food, then why should they expect me to waste my money?

Many establishments flat out prohibit it.

It’s a laid back place where college kids do their homework and meet friends without buying anything though

Has more to do with potential liability issues though. They can’t control what’s in food that comes in from outside. Basically the age-old legal principal of “cover your ass”.

Really, @rockfan, are you 16? It’s a business, not part of a mall food court! If their food sucks (a rather subjective designation, by the way) don’t plan to eat there. Maybe make nice suggestions to the owner, but don’t bring in stuff from another restaurant. Learn a manner.

Yes. Yes it is.

Yes, it is in bad taste. And as has already been mentioned, most establishments will prohibit you from bringing in outside food because it imposes an extra legal liability on them. It’s basically saying “not only am I not going to pay you, I might actually cost you money!” No sane business owner would put up with that.

Then don’t waste your money in their establishment. Go somewhere else, but don’t be rude enough to take other food in their place of business.

Would this be an issue if they only sold coffee?

Also, I go there 2 or 3 times a week and buy 2 cups of coffee every time I go. So it’s not like I’m treating it as a food court.

I would never think about doing this in any sit down restaraunt or a restaraunt that has a large menu. This coffee shop only offers a very limited amount of food. It’s all about the coffe

Yes. You had to ask??

If you’re a regular, why don’t you just ask the owner how they feel about you bringing
a snack with you?

That’s a good idea, I really should have done that in the first place. The shop caters to college students and he knows I’m a regular, so there’s a chance the manager wouldn’t mind it.

Hopefully the manager will have the good sense to ask what you don’t like about their food. If they aren’t getting much repeat food business, they should want to know why.

It seems to me that you’re better off and less obtrusive transporting the superior coffee to a good eatery than hauling food to the coffee shop.

i would definitely ask before doing it and think it would possibly be more acceptable if you say you need to brown bag a sandwich for health or financial reasons and do that.

I think it depends on the place and what their rules are, and what you bring in. Particularly in a casual coffee shop / hangout, I think it is often acceptable on occasion, though it would be good to ask.

You can, but you should be sure to tip well.

@filmfann brings up a good point. Your bringing in outside food means they are cleaning up after you for something from another place. I don’t care if you clean up your trash, they have to clean the tables, chairs, and floors, and haul your garbage to the garbage container.

@canidmajor

I agree, my post was really immature, kind of embarrased about that….

Sorry I was so harsh, @rockfan, I have friends trying to get small local shops like that going, I get a little overprotective.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to you as well :)

Recently I was traveling, and my lady and I got breakfast. I took a container for my leftovers. At lunch, we stopped at a casual coffee hangout which was busy but had more tables than it needed, including an inconspicuous one in the back. She suggested I bring my leftovers and I felt slightly uncomfortable about doing so. But we bought two drinks and food for her. We bussed our own table. Contrary to @canidmajor ‘s suggestion, I would say there was zero cleaning impact of our stay, and we bought two drinks and a food item. I just also ate my leftover bit of breakfast, without asking. If we had decided it was a problem to do that, we probably would have gone someplace else and the shop would have lost three sales and incurred no more cost.

So, in addition to other examples, including the impact of a regular coffee-buying guest choosing to stop coming to the cafe, I’d say the economic arguments about how it always needs to be a rule to prevent costing the cafe money, are highly inaccurate (and even, shortsighted and liable to reduce business) in many cases.

I can’t take credit for the cleaning comment, @Zaku, but it’s a valid point. Even if you clean up your table, someone will likely come and check it and wipe it down. And it was appropriate to buy some food, yes, but bringing in your own was still bad form, no matter how you choose to justify it.

@canidmajor Oh right, your point was “This is their business, their livelihood. Especially if it’s a small local business.”

It seems clear to me that their business will do far better if they sell three items rather than zero. Your argument reminds me of the calculations of companies claiming that every time someone shares their content/book/software/video/album, it costs them a full-price sale of their product due to should-be-illegal piracy.

You thinking that the cleaning comment is a valid point and arguing for it even in the case of my example makes me think your thinking on this detail is warped beyond the point of rationality.

I’m certain no extra staff wiping down was done on our account, and it would have been done whether or not I added some non-bought-there food or not. Even if they did, how much do you think one wiping down impacts a business? How does that compare to the alternative lost business of selling three cafe items, or to customers not feeling welcome to do what works for them even if it slightly breaks the rules, as opposed to feeling shamed or having a couple split up to eat, or more likely, not bother with your cafe because it’s not going to let them do what works for them?

Oh, good grief. Do whatever you want, it’s still rude. And expand your thinking just a bit. One person, doing something one time obviously makes no difference. But if you have a small business, and one person, then another and such does this, it makes a difference. I’ve had a small business, it matters.
If you are very slightly inconvenienced by the choices they offer, or the fact that you didn’t finish your other breakfast, I guess that absolves you from all courtesy. And the other guy that sees you do it so thinks it’s OK. Or those kids who like Dunkin Donuts better. Or whatever.

@Zaku If you really want to focus on cost, I have already mentioned one way that bringing outside food into a restaurant can potentially cost them: it imposes an extra liability on the establishment, and liability can be expensive. This is true even if there is never an incident involving the outside food. An insurer that knows you allow people to bring in outside food can increase your rates in response to the increased risk, and the restaurant owner will have little to no recourse.

Furthermore, it is illegal in some jurisdictions for a restaurant to allow someone in with outside food. Any restaurant that is caught allowing it in such a locality can be subjected to various fines on top of whatever response their insurance company decides on when it is informed of the code violation. So if what we’re concerned with is cost, there are plenty of costs that a restaurant owner might be trying to avoid by prohibiting outside food from entering their establishment.

In any case, the question is whether or not bringing in outside food is in bad taste (i.e., rude). Rudeness does not require intent. It doesn’t even require actual harm. This is because rudeness is a particular sort of norm breaking that has to do with strongly contextual structures of etiquette. Something that is considered the mark of refinement in one place can be considered the very height of rudeness in another. But in all of the social contexts relevant to this question that I am familiar with, this behavior would undoubtedly be considered rude (in the absence of prior permission, at least).

What’s your opinion on people bringing snacks in movie theaters? It hurts their business even more

@rockfan My opinion is that cost is not the actual issue, so your question is a non sequitur.

What’s the actual issue then? I thought the issue is that bringing in outside food hurts the business financially?

@rockfan I was thinking of asking that as a separate question. Not sure I’m in the mood to wade into these fiery issues today!

@Zaku So in your example, what if people decided they would rather drink Starbucks coffee or McDonalds coffee? Because this café is a hangout for college kids, they want to hang there, but bring their own food and drinks. So in essence, this café is offering a place to hang out and paying all the expenses. No establishment is going to do that.

@canidmajor I know it’s somewhat rude. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable. But it wasn’t “the pinnacle of rudeness”.

Ideally, I would ask, or there would have been a simpler solution that didn’t call for doing that. The next simplest solution seemed to be to not go there at all. It seemed like buying three more of their overpriced not-so-great items and doing it inconspicuously was more than enough compensation and probably what everyone including the owner would prefer, as opposed to not going there at all.

@chyna That’s not my example at all. That’s a new example you’re making up. Did you mean to write “So in your opinion”?

Except you don’t seem to even be really asking my opinion. You’re just stating an extreme imagined case and stating “No establishment is going to do that.”

@rockfan The actual issue is the question you asked: is it in bad taste?

If they only sell coffee and you want to eat snacks, or if they only sell snacks but you want sandwiches, then not in bad taste. If you want to bring comparable products, then yes.

Sorry, @RocketGuy, but do you believe it’s OK to bring your Chinese take-out into a seafood restaurant? A coffee shop is not a public-use space, like a park or a library.

If you are buying their coffee and want something they don’t have then what is the problem?

Oh, never mind. Go ask the owner of a coffee shop. Or the seafood restaurant. Or any small-business person who offers a service/product but you want them to let you do what you want within their setup. This doesn’t only apply to coffee shops, BTW.
“Because I want to” is just entitlement.

So if they don’t offer alcohol it’s cool if I bring in a 6-pack and start drinking at their table? I mean as long as I buy a coffee from them it’s all good, right?

@RocketGuy Have you actually read any of the previous responses? Because several potential problems have already been mentioned.