How I Got My Job Running Cafes Out of Climbing Gyms

"Everyone needs a convenient, accessible place to socialize. But maintaining a cafe, bar, restaurant, or hybrid space that fits the bill has its challenges. Something I've noticed about third spaces—loosely defined as accessible community hubs—is that they tend to take a hybrid approach, like all-day cafes or bars centering an activity, whether it's playing cards or line dancing."

"For operators, retaining regulars this way is obviously a win. But as Eater editor Nick Mancall-Bitel wrote in his piece about category-defying restaurants, maintaining the community feel also requires "negotiat[ing] their spaces and offerings with their customers." Will Mester, from Baltimore's The Wren, is quoted in that piece saying that "you have to turn it over to the public at some point, see what it does, and then see how you can succeed with it.""

"Ng took over Bivy, which caters to climbers on the roof of Vital Brooklyn, with little hospitality experience, figuring out how to prep at a high volume and how to manage a team along the way. When she opened Georgie's a few years later, she hadn't anticipated how the cafe would become so important to non-climbers; now, after it's become a popular remote working spot shared on TikTok, she and the team continue to experiment with making the all-day format the best that it can be."

Accessible third spaces often use hybrid formats that center an activity while remaining open to broader community use. Maintaining a community feel requires negotiating spaces and offerings with customers and turning operations over to the public to see what works. Joeleen Ng operates Bivy in Brooklyn and Georgie's in Manhattan, both cafes connected to climbing gyms. She took over Bivy with limited hospitality experience, focusing on high-volume prep and team management. When she later opened Georgie's, she did not expect the cafe to become important to non-climbers, especially as a remote working destination popularized on TikTok. The team continues experimenting to improve the all-day format for different types of visitors.

Read at Eater