When I first started the Crafting in Public night, I wanted to do it outside at a park.  But in the last year, there's only been one night that we could stay outside for any length of time without hand-cramping cold or blustery winds.

The first time we moved our group over to The Grove Cafe (Yerba Buena) I was a little worried about how that would work ... because I like to worry.  I was worried about people being able to afford to buy stuff every time we get together.  I was also worried about our group growing so big that we'd be a nuisance to the cafe.

But to my surprise, I'd already met one of the cafe employees at another craft get together.  He was super nice and welcoming.  The first 6 months or so, he was usually working when we had our craft night.  He'd stop over and say hi and ask us about the projects we were making.  When we'd leave, everyone behind the counter would yell out, "Bye!  Have a nice night."

I don't think he was the manager and he never gave us "permission" to be there, but we felt welcomed.  And everyone who was in the craft group made a purchase every time we'd meet.  I was really happy about that, too, because the food and drinks at The Grove are $1-3 more than equivalent cafes in the area.  But I figured we were paying a premium for the warm and welcoming atmosphere.  

Also, our group never really gets that big.  We have a ton of regulars, but not everyone can come every time, so we end up with around 5-6 people total.

Things started changing a couple months ago.  There were three of us there for crafting.  Two of us bought drinks and one bought food (which is more expensive than drinks).  30 seconds after the busboy cleared the plate, a cafe worker I didn't recognize walked over to my friend and handed her a menu, "Would you like to order something?" in a way that made it sound like my friend was squatting at the table.  It was really weird and uncomfortable, but the woman didn't come back after we explained that my friend had just finished eating, so I thought maybe it was just a fluke  ... a misunderstanding.

But then last week one of the guys that works there walked over to us 15 minutes before we were going to leave anyway and announced to the group, "If you want to hang out here you have to keep ordering food," and then he just walked away.  Since the music there is always WAY too loud, I had to repeat it for everyone.  SO EMBARRASSING.  People had food in front of them.  People had drinks in front of them.  There were free tables in the cafe and we were sitting in part of the conversation area that doesn't even have tables for diners anyway.  I was totally taken aback.

If you read the Yelp reviews for the cafe, this is sadly a common occurrence. And at The Grove's other locations, the staff (and the rules) are even more unfriendly. I'm not sure how we managed to not encounter this before now.  I guess we were just lucky.

It's their business and they are welcome to have whatever rules and policies they want.  No question about it.  But I just want to point out that during the week I'd taken 3 friends there after CCE  on Sunday, I'd popped in for an expensive late night snack (one-person hot tea is $4 ...) on Monday, and then had a $20 dinner there on craft night.  

I also know that others in my craft group go out of their way to patronize the cafe throughout the month and that people not even in the craft group have gone since they heard about it on my blog.  But I will never go back to The Grove ever again.

Sure, you can have your policies, but you can also be friendly and/or up front about them.  Since I moved here in 1992, I've spent an insane amount of time sitting in cafes.  I've never once seen or heard of anyone being told they had to spend a certain amount of money to stay for a certain amount of time.  If you're going to run your cafe differently than all the other cafes in town, you should be up front about it.

I'm not going to make this mistake again.  I felt so awful to be treated like that ... especially after spending so much money there and telling everyone who would listen how wonderful they are.  I want to find a place where I know they are cool with us being there ... or better yet, a public place.  Maybe you can help!

Do you know of a place that is:
- 5-10 minute walk from Montgomery Station
- Open until 8:30 PM on Wednesdays
- Has seating for 5-10 crafters

Supposedly, we're getting an ING Direct cafe soon...ish.  They will have a public meeting space that is free to reserve, but they haven't answered my email about when they plan to open.  It's also sad that Borders is closed, because they had a public meeting space that was free to reserve, too.  The library isn't an option.  Oh, if only we could meet outside!  If you have any ideas, let me know. :)