The Mandolin Café is ever changing, yet always staying the same. Although it has changed hands in ownership, the ambiance of being a cozy, warm coffee shop will always remain pumping through the restaurant’s veins. Over the past few years the Mandolin Café community has witnessed its library walls come down, their live music scene grow, and menu items flourish tremendously.



As I ravenously chow on the best Strawberry Chicken Salad I’ve ever had (which you can read about on the Weekly Volcano Spew blog), I bounce to Amy Winehouse piping throughout the café’s speakers and hammers pounding away at their soon-to-be-full-service kitchen area. With newly expanded hours, Mandolin Café jumps into the game, ready to compete with bigger breakfasts, better pasta entrees, and plenty of excitement.

Sounds like a great place to work, huh? I thought so too, so I asked Mandolin Café manager Sarah Jane to fill me in on what it’s like.



STEPH DEROSA: It’s 11:30 a.m. on a Monday and you guys are busy! Does it get busier as the week goes on?



SARAH JANE: Oh, we’re always busy. Sometimes it can be very challenging.



DEROSA: Yeah, it’s pretty challenging where I work, too. Think about it, I work with Matt Driscoll. Things can get pretty gross when he’s around.


JANE: Oh, I’ve seen gross. One really busy Saturday I was frantically trying to bus a table where its recent occupants had left every piece of trash imaginable for me to pick up. There was gum, cigarette packs, and the worst part was the cup of chew spit I accidentally put my finger in as I mistook it for coffee.



DEROSA: Ewww! How long did you have to scrub your hands to erase that memory from your brain?



JANE: A couple of days, at least.



DEROSA: You have to be a pretty strong person to work in the service industry. What do you look for when interviewing new hires?



JANE: They must have a good personality, and be REAL.



DEROSA: What’s the tell-all sign on the “be real” part of the interview?


JANE: When they give me textbook answers. I can ask, “What do you like to do in your free time?” And they will say, “I love to work in my free time!”



DEROSA: Wow, that’s a bunch of crap. You know they’re lying. How do you tell them they’re not hired?



JANE: We get a ton of applicants, so when I am interviewing something like 40 people, I tell them that I have a lot of other people to talk to and that I’ll get back to them. Then, unfortunately, I don’t get back to them.



DEROSA: I completely understand. Thanks for the interview, Sarah Jane. May I shake your hand?



JANE: No, I don’t think so. From what I read about you, it will take me more than a couple of days to scrub off the memory of THAT handshake.

[Mandolin Cafe, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, 253.761.3482]