The Cafeteria: The Heart of the Office

It’s lunchtime. Will you be getting take-out?

Digging into your brown paper bag? Going around the block to the sandwich shop? Or hitting up the cafeteria? Every office has its own specific lunch culture. And in the age of the start up, it seems that more and more businesses are taking meals very seriously.

Many small and up-and-coming businesses have figured out that leaving the office, scouting the neighborhood for a restaurant, and sitting down to order and wait takes up valuable work time. As a way to boost employee moral, encourage worker camaraderie and save time, CEOs and managers are hiring regular lunch catering services to come in every day or a few times a week to feed their employees. Places like Cater2me, Fooda and ZeroCater connect with healthy and local restaurants that create and provide versatile meal options to offices. Fooda has a “rotating cast of restaurant options” and never recruits establishments that are in walking distance of the office. This way, employees are genuinely looking forward to lunch and can expect new and exciting flavors each day.

The cafeteria is the most critical organ of the office. The National Grid Café on the 1st floor of MetroTech knows this. Particularly a hang out for police officers waiting to testify at nearby courts, the café attracts Brooklyn professionals of all walks of life. The Café is mainly considered a secret lunchtime sanctuary. Most of its patrons discovered it through word-of-mouth. “It reminds me of a college cafeteria,” said Erin Barnes, 28, for The New York Times. “No one bothers you. They aren’t going to kick you out, and you feel safe because there are so many cops around.”

At Square, the concept of the cafeteria has been completely revolutionized. They provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for only $1 each meal. “There’s lots of variety. The food is healthy and they provide options for various dietary needs. It’s the sunny, social place in the office that staff are excited to go to,” says Jessica, an employee. Other booming start-ups boast generous staff meal programs. At LinkedIn, there’s an alleged “magic whiteboard” where staff are encouraged to write down what they’d like to see on the lunch menu and days later it appears. Other places like Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor and Dreamworks also provide their staff with multiple daily meals a day, with guaranteed unique flavor every time.