Courtesy of Cris Mendoza
Classic drinks like lattes are popular at Facebook's Saint Frank café.
- Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters is also home to a Saint Frank Coffee location.
- Baristas say that Facebook employees gravitate towards traditional beverages, like lattes.
- Facebook employees also get to enjoy a few menu items exclusive to Saint Frank's Menlo Park location.
Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters has its own specialty coffee joint: Saint Frank Coffee.
Saint Frank is actually a chain, with two other locations in San Francisco. Because the Saint Frank in Menlo Park is located within Facebook's headquarters, it's accessible only to employees and guests of the tech giant.
Business Insider spoke with baristas Cris Mendoza and Jason Yeo about what it's like to work at Saint Frank's Menlo Park café. They told us about their positive interactions and close relationships with café regulars. They also described the coffee culture at Facebook as "classic," "simple," and "traditional."
As it turns out, Facebook employees love lattes, cappuccinos, and cortados, according to the baristas.
Mendoza added that Saint Frank beverages tend to be bigger and include more coffee than those at other specialty cafés. For example, he said that most coffee spots that he's been to in California will add an ounce of espresso to a drink. At Saint Frank, you're getting two ounces.
But the amount of caffeine is too much for some frequent customers.
"We do have a good amount of customers who will actually order singles to kind of mitigate that," he said.
Beyond the traditional orders, a number of other pick-me-ups have emerged as popular options, like the Café Nico. That beverage consists of orange, cinnamon, vanilla syrup, espresso, and steamed milk.
"That's been a huge hit among people who visit in the afternoons, just because it's short and sweet - literally and figuratively," Yeo said.
Mendoza cited also Saint Frank's "creamy and great" espresso milkshake, made with Straus organic vanilla ice cream, while Yeo said the Nashville iced tea - sparkling iced tea with tonic water - is also popular.
Facebook employees also are treated to nitro iced coffee - a Menlo Park-exclusive item, thanks to the café's kegerator.
"It comes out creamy and velvety, kind of like a Guinness Stout," Mendoza said of the beverage.