Coffee is often treated as an afterthought in restaurants. It sits at the bottom of the menu, gains little interest from the kitchen, and is rarely positioned as a revenue opportunity.
In reality, coffee can be one of the highest-margin items on your menu. With relatively low ingredient cost and quick service time, it has the potential to significantly increase spend per head with minimal operational strain.
In casual dining, £3–£4 is a typical and comfortable price for guests to pay for a coffee, whilst £4–£5 is easy to command in premium restaurants particularly for milk-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos.
Customers are increasingly comfortable paying these prices, especially when the quality matches expectations.
Whilst the opportunity is there, many restaurants are underperforming on coffee sales. So, here are five quick ideas for increasing the number of coffee orders in your restaurant to easily boost spend per head.
1. Add Coffee to Your Dessert Menu
This is one of the simplest and most effective changes.
Many customers want something after their meal but don’t necessarily want a full dessert. A well-timed offer of an espresso or milk-based coffee gives them a lighter alternative, or something to pair with a dessert they’ve already ordered.
If coffee isn’t positioned clearly on your dessert menu, you rely entirely on staff remembering to upsell it. That’s inconsistent. By listing it alongside desserts, you make it part of the natural decision-making process.
Even a modest uptake can make a meaningful difference. A table that declines dessert entirely might still accept two coffees. That’s incremental revenue that would otherwise be lost.
2. Become Known for High-Quality Coffee
Restaurant coffee has a bad reputation - too often, even in premium restaurants, the coffee tastes burnt, bitter, or of nothing at all.
By partnering with a high-quality specialty coffee roaster, you can turn coffee from a weak point into a differentiator. Better beans, dialled-in recipes, and consistent preparation can transform the experience.
More importantly, quality gives you a story to tell. Origin, roast profile, sustainability, and flavour notes all become part of your brand narrative. That’s valuable, particularly for customers who already care about food provenance and quality.
If your food is premium but your coffee isn’t, there’s a disconnect. Closing that gap strengthens your overall proposition and can help guests recognise coffee as being a key part of your restaurants experience.
3. Actively Recommend Coffee to Guests
Coffee doesn’t sell itself. It needs to be prompted at the right moment.
The most effective point is immediately after clearing mains or presenting the dessert menu. A simple, confident recommendation from staff can materially increase uptake.
This isn’t about hard selling. It’s about making coffee part of the expected flow of service. For example:
- “Can I get you an espresso or cappuccino to finish?”
- “Our flat whites are really popular after dessert, would you like one?”
That small shift in behaviour can have a measurable impact. Without it, many customers simply won’t think about ordering coffee.
Consistency is key here. Training staff to treat coffee as a standard part of service, rather than an optional extra, is what drives results.
4. Put Coffee on Show
In many restaurants, coffee is made out of sight. It happens in the background, away from the guest, which reinforces the idea that it’s an afterthought.
Bringing coffee into the dining experience changes that entirely.
One approach is a dedicated coffee cart that’s rolled into the dining room. Serving coffee tableside using a pour-over method adds a sense of theatre and craftsmanship. Guests can see the process, smell the coffee, and engage with it in a way that simply isn’t possible when it’s made behind the bar.
It also naturally creates conversation. A server or barista can talk through the coffee, where it’s from, what it tastes like, and why it’s being prepared in that way.
Alternatively, positioning your espresso machine in a prominent place, investing in a clean, well-designed coffee bar, or even having a dedicated barista during peak times all signal that coffee matters in your business.
The principle is straightforward: what customers can see, they value more.
5. Collaborate with a Wholesale Coffee Company
Most restaurants treat coffee as a commodity. That’s exactly why it rarely stands out.
Working with a premium roaster changes the dynamic. You’re not just buying coffee, you’re buying into expertise, quality control, and a story you can share with your guests.
A good roaster can help you:
- Select coffees that suit your menu and customer base
- Dial in recipes for consistency
- Train your team to serve it properly
- Provide seasonal or guest coffees to keep things fresh
More importantly, it gives you something to talk about. Origin, sourcing, flavour notes, and sustainability all become part of your offering, aligning coffee with the same level of care as your food.
If you’re charging £4 – £5 for a coffee, it needs to feel justified. A strong roaster partnership helps you deliver on that expectation and positions coffee as a considered part of the experience, not an afterthought.
