At 6:30 a.m., the drive to work has already started, the travel mug is empty and the café windows along the route are still dark. That is the scene a TikToker described in July, and the complaint has since split social media into two camps. TODAY’s food reporter Joseph Lamour covered the argument in an Oct. 16, 2026, story.
The TikToker, @mgante17, said coffee shops “should open at a bare minimum of 5:30 in the morning,” TODAY reported. Baristas and shop owners pushed back with a short answer. Max De Los Santos, a New York City barista known online as Maxie the Barista, answered in a July video, as TODAY quoted her: “Y’all say this and then y’all never actually show up to the cafe at 5:30 in the morning.” The rest of the story is a back-and-forth about hours, staffing and who is really on the street at that time.
The Customers’ Case for a 5:30 Opening
In a July TikTok video, @mgante17 asked what kind of coffee shop does not open until 7 a.m., TODAY reported. He said that by 6:30 he is already on his way to work and no cafes are open. He went further, saying shops that do not open before 7 should close to “make way for the ones that do.” In the same video, according to TODAY, he said a shop owner who is not ready to open at 5:30 does not really want to run a coffee shop.
A second TikToker, @roetheone, complained in a separate video about a shop that opens at 9 a.m., TODAY reported. The creator said someone had recommended the shop, but its posted hours had it opening at 9 a.m., well after the commute. TODAY said many commenters sided with these TikTokers. Note that the 5:30 figure comes from @mgante17, while the 9 a.m. complaint is @roetheone’s.
The Barista’s Case: Bed by 7 P.M., Up at 2 or 3 A.M.
De Los Santos, who TODAY says has spent 12 years in craft coffee after a stint at Starbucks, laid out her reasoning in that video. She is also a latte art artist, café consultant and coffee cart owner, according to the story. She described what a 5:30 opening would demand: workers who might need to be asleep by around 7 p.m. and awake at 2 or 3 a.m., and an owner whose costs for labor, supplies, taxes, permits, water and electricity would all go up.
She said the plan falls apart for a local café without the backing Starbucks has, because the early crowd never arrives, and she concluded that she does not understand what the complaint is, according to TODAY. She posts as @maxiethebarista on Instagram, the account TODAY credited for the photo at the top of its story.
An Owner Points to One-Person Shifts
Sabrina Kaylor, who owns the Bizarre Coffee chain, said in a July TikTok video that some independent shops have far fewer employees than she does, TODAY reported. Her own shops are open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. She noted that a shop with one person working can only be open for as many hours as that one person can work.
By that logic, the math changes for a small shop. A single employee cannot cover a 5:30 a.m. opening and an afternoon close without a long shift, and a second hire raises the payroll before the first early customer walks in. Another small food business run from home is the subject of a story about a laid-off San Diego man who bakes 15 pizzas a week in his apartment.
Shoppers who need coffee before a shop opens have options at home. Frenz Hub compared machines for early mornings in its Keurig K-Express and Ninja Fresh Brew showdown, a corner of the kitchen can double as a café, as Frenz Hub’s 15 creative coffee bar ideas shows, and its list of 15 easy-to-use products for everyday life at home rounds out the gear. For anyone who does stand in line at a local shop, a piece on people who chat with strangers in line looks at the habit of striking up a conversation while waiting.
A Richmond Shop Keeps Hours Like the Ones People Complain About
TODAY also spoke with Patrick Weaver, chief of operations at Le Cache Dulcet, a Richmond, Virginia, coffee shop and record store. It is closed Monday and Tuesday, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Weaver said he has a staff of four people.
“My focus is the community aspect, having this be an experience and focusing on quality,” Weaver told TODAY. He said the late opening is the cost of that choice. “Every coffee shop business is not for everybody,” he said, and for people who want an early cup, “Starbucks opens at 5:30.” De Los Santos made a related point to TODAY: any change in hours still has to make financial sense for the shop, and she has seen both businesses that closed for lack of foot traffic and businesses that extended their hours when demand appeared.
A Long Line of Coffeehouses That Were Not Built for Commuters
The debate frames the coffee shop mainly as a place to grab a cup on the way to work. Wikipedia’s coffeehouse page tells a wider story. It says coffeehouses began in 15th-century Yemen, reached Europe in the 17th century, that London’s first opened in 1652, and that England had more than 3,000 by 1675. In 17th-century London they were nicknamed “penny universities” because a small entry fee gave access to books and news.
The page describes them as places to meet, talk, read and play games such as chess. A barista, from the Italian word for “bartender,” is described there as a café worker who runs the espresso machine and often learns the craft on the job. Weaver’s description of his shop leans toward that older idea of the café as a destination, while the early-opening crowd wants a faster stop.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
