A LaSalle Street floor can crush espresso from 8 to 11 and look abandoned by 2 p.m. during a Grant Park festival week. The seat map did not change. People left for the park, for remote work, or for a client site that is easier than fighting the crowd. If we restock like a normal afternoon, opened milk sits and waste climbs.

Ice-bin etiquette is a different Loop problem. This one is the calendar around the park. Cup billing still counts what poured. It should not lock next week’s order from a dead Thursday afternoon.

Split the day on festival weeks

Log early morning, midmorning, and after lunch as three numbers. If after lunch collapses, pull afternoon milk down and keep the morning buffer. Do not “average” the day. Averages hide the waste.

Security and freight still matter. Festival street closures can also slip a dock window. Say so before we sit in traffic with dairy.

Do not trial only on a festival week

A free two-week trial that lands entirely on Taste week will understate ordinary afternoons. Mix one festival day with ordinary Loop days, or note the distortion. The two-week trial FAQ covers what to document. Add street-closure notes next to cup counts.

West Loop offices a few blocks off the park feel this less. Loop towers next to the tracks feel it more. Tell us which you are.

Assign who dumps unused milk

Opened cartons on a ghost afternoon are a food-safety job. Name the person who checks the fridge before leaving. Our next visit should not start with a science experiment.

The Chicago blog has more local notes. Use the break room readiness quiz if facilities already knows which weeks the floor evaporates.

What we need on the call

Whether next week includes a Grant Park event, typical leave-early time, and remaining milk on the last festival Thursday. We will set restock around the morning crush.

Browse more local posts on the Chicago blog, start from the main Break Coffee Co. site, or reach our Chicago team through the contact section. For Loop, River North, West Loop, and surrounding business corridors, call (312) 813-3088 or email patty.carroll@breakcoffeeco.com.