In a coffee shop, every square foot counts—from the bar where espresso shots are pulled to the seating areas where customers linger.
That’s especially true for coffee businesses that want to offer a food program to complement their drinks. But building a menu that can be executed quickly, without compromising quality, is no simple task in a small space.
“People walk into a coffee shop, and they don’t expect to wait,” says Rich Jambor, the owner of Maddie & Bella Coffee Roasters in Toledo, Ohio. “They want to get in and out.” Jambor explains that small cafes need food items that are fast to prepare, easy to train the staff on, and don’t require a whole extra kitchen crew. “It’s a tricky balance,” he says.
Can a coffee shop with limited kitchen space still serve elevated, made-to-order food that keeps customers coming back? With a little creativity—and a thoughtful menu that maximizes both flavor and efficiency—it’s more than possible.
Why Less Is More
At Naysayer Coffee Roasters in Napa, California,culinary director Alex Jacinto has designed a seasonal food menu that can be incorporated easily into baristas’ workflows. “I wanted to design a menu that our baristas would feel confident approaching, even with a limited background in food experience,” he says.
Jacinto believes that simplicity is what sells, especially for customers on the go. Meanwhile, keeping the food menu limited also helps the team manage both logistics and demand.
At Maddie & Bella, every pastry that hits the counter is baked either that morning or the night before. And “once we’re out, we’re out,” says Jambor. “It creates a demand—people want to get here early because they know those bacon cheddar scones might be gone by 10:45.”
In the early days, the idea of customers showing up and finding their favorite treats sold out wasn’t easy for Jambor to accept. “It took a long time for me to convince myself that running out of product wasn’t a bad thing,” he says, adding that cafes never want to run out of staples like lattes. But over time, he learned to see selling out of items as a sign of success rather than failure. It meant people were enjoying the food, and helped create a buzz. “Once we embraced that mentality, it helped the menu take shape,” he says.
This shift in mindset didn’t come immediately. When Maddie & Bella opened, the team experimented with different food suppliers, and even worked with a local chef to prepare sandwiches. But Jambor quickly realized that this wasn’t a sustainable approach. “We’d get breakfast burritos from a local spot, try to sell them, and end up wasting food we couldn’t sell,” he says. “That eats into your profits.”
As the business evolved, it leaned into a rotating menu to keep customers returning for new items. Today, baristas prepare everything from cappuccinos to made-to-order avocado toast. “These aren’t just breakfast sandwiches you pop in the microwave,” Jambor says, emphasizing that each menu item is made fresh.
Jambor explains that once customers realize a shop isn’t a chain—where everything is the same every day—it becomes easier to embrace the rotating menu. “You might come to our shop on a Tuesday or a Thursday and have the opportunity to get totally different things,” he says.
Behind the Counter
At Naysayer, Jacinto focuses on grab-and-go menu items that cater to busy commuters. The menu includes staples like chia seed pudding and overnight oats, but the team rotates the toppings each season to keep things fresh. Right now, the overnight oats come topped with a caramelized apple compote made in-house. “As soon as berries come in season, it turns into a fresh berry topping with cacao nibs and a drizzle of honey,” says Jacinto.
Seasonal toast options also make an appearance, like beet hummus toast with roasted garlic that’s served in February for Valentine’s Day. Jacinto was inspired by Naysayer’s signature beet latte, made with beetroot powder and maple cinnamon syrup.
Naysayer operates out of a compact, 650-square-foot space, and the small kitchen requires strategic prep work to keep up with customer demand. “Because we operate in such a small space, there needs to be prep time after hours of operations,” Jacinto says.
Jacinto and his team prep heavily on Wednesdays and Sundays, preparing everything from cream cheese bases, pickles, and seasonal syrups to dressings, salads, overnight oats, and chia seed puddings. “Everything is constantly in fresh rotation,” he says.
According to Jacinto, the key to standing out, especially when the menu is small, is getting creative with the ingredients. “I want to stick within a familiar realm with a unique approach,” he says.
With that goal in mind, the cafe offers twists on the classics. Take its smashed banana toast, a sweet and savory combo of banana, tahini, maple syrup, cinnamon, and a dash of Maldon salt.
One of Naysayer’s bestsellers is its miso avocado toast. It’s a fresh take on a classic avocado toast, featuring creamy miso butter and ripe avocado, topped with tangy housemade pickles, Maldon salt, and a sprinkle of espelette pepper. “Avocado toast is everywhere, but I wanted to make it fun and different,” says Jacinto.
Creativity in Small Spaces
Most coffee shops have limited space and access to equipment—for many, that’s when the creative process really kicks in. In addition to a rotating toast menu, Maddie & Bella also serves sandwiches like a grilled PB&J, grilled cheese, and egg sandwich on a housemade biscuit.
The small space meant thinking outside the box. “We don’t have a hood, so we can’t use open flames,” Jambor says. “We had to make do with what we had.”
Jambor is quick to add that sometimes less is more. “We had a panini press for a while, but we got rid of it because it was heavy and took up a lot of counter space,” he says. Instead, the business now uses small countertop ovens to bake everything from muffins to cookies and scones. The dough is made from scratch, baked in half-sheet pans to fit the tiny oven.
The team also tries to avoid ordering ingredients that will only be used for a single menu item. “If we’re ordering blueberries for a toast then we’re also going to use them in a yogurt parfait or a muffin,” Jambor says.
A Taste of the Season
At Maddie & Bella, the menu is constantly evolving. “We have a few staples that stay on year-round, and then we have one or two that are seasonal,” Jambor says. “A lot of times, they’re so well-received that we bring them back the following year.”
But the seasonal changes never completely overshadow the classics that keep customers coming back. The avocado toast, a fan favorite, remains a constant on the menu, as does the pesto parm toast, which combines pesto, cream cheese, and shaved parmesan for a savory bite. Another consistent hit is the Elvis toast, featuring almond butter, banana, and a drizzle of local honey.
Ultimately, coffee shop owners don’t need a vast kitchen or a long menu to make a real impact. By getting creative with limited space and focusing on quality, simplicity, and local ingredients, cafes like Maddie & Bella and Naysayer have built popular food programs. With the right balance, a limited menu can still drive traffic, increase sales, and keep customers returning for more.
