The client sees something unusual in a coffee shop in his neighborhood: “Do you guys see what I’m seeing?”
- Cafe with ‘confusing’ signage left coffee drinkers ‘frustrated’
- Manna Coffee Shop in Adelaide does not sell coffee
- The owner of the café shares a simple explanation
Customers in front of the “café” were baffled after a small sign in the window informed them that no coffee was actually sold there.
Tyson, a father from Adelaide, visited the nearby Mana Café only to be let down after discovering that the small café did not serve any drinks.
“Today I saw this place and specifically stopped by to get a coffee,” he wrote, alongside a photo of the facility.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed a sign on the glass storefront that read, “Sorry, we don’t sell coffee here.”
The shop is housed in an Asian restaurant serving authentic home cooked Asian and Western dishes ‘Made with Love’.
An Adelaide man was “disappointed” after discovering that a local coffee shop was not selling coffee, despite a shop front sign with the word “cafe” written on it.
After sharing a photo of the storefront on Facebook, others were also left initially baffled by the signs.
“Maybe they mean coffee in bulk?” one asked.
“I guess they bought the shop and haven’t been able to remove the sign writing yet?” Another reflection.
Once Tyson explained what the company was selling, many were frustrated by the “false advertising.”
“Then why are they a coffee shop if they don’t sell coffee!?” someone wrote.
Another suggested “Then call it an internet café”, and a third added: “Yeah, Adelaide is a funny place”.
Upon closer inspection, Tyson noticed a note at the bottom of the sign saying, “Sorry, we don’t sell coffee here.” Mana Coffee Shop is actually an Asian restaurant serving authentic home cooked Asian and Western dishes
Tyson added in the comments: “It’s no big deal. It’s just a funny situation. Just one of those weird things in life to laugh at.”
“At the moment they probably can’t afford to remove the ‘cafe’ part of the sign,” he wrote.
Many small businesses in Australia are seriously struggling right now because of the cost of living (inflation), mortgage interest rates, and unaffordable rents.
“No one is at a loss to stop for a few minutes and find out they don’t serve coffee, then head off to find a place that does coffee. It’s just a minor inconvenience.
However, there is a perfectly good explanation as to the origin of the café’s name – and why it wasn’t changed.
Karen, co-founder of the business, told FEMAIL that the logic behind having “cafe” in the name carries over into traditional Singapore culture, where Singaporean coffee shops sell both food and coffee.
At first, Café Mana served coffee to customers, but with so many Italian cafés in the same vicinity, profits were low.
I admit we don’t make the best coffee – customers may complain it’s too watery – And when we were selling it we only sold three or four cups a day, so it wasn’t worth the cost.
The shop itself is small and only seats less than 15 people, so the brand prefers customers for food rather than just coffee.
Karen co-founded the business seven years ago and hasn’t sold coffee in years, and is aware of the complaints, but is unable to remove the words “cafe” for legal reasons.
“Manna” is already in use, along with other alternatives like “Manna Kitchen,” leaving the company with few options to choose from.
“We’ve been around for years and people know our business name, so we don’t want to change it completely,” Karen said.
“We are known for our food made with love and we enjoy what we do.”
