Laid-back diners getting to like the taste of honesty

Cafés who trust their customers are defying all the odds, writes Nuala Woulfe

Imagine walking into a café or restaurant where there is no cash register, just an ‘honesty box’ for you to pay, or where there is no fixed price, you decide how much your meal was worth? In a world of security cameras and petty thievery, such a scenario seems unimaginable, but in Dublin, Kerry, Tipperary and Belfast, ‘Honesty Cafes’ have shown they can work.

“We’ve been open a year, we’ve soup, salads and scones all the time, but we have different days too where it could be Mexican, Bangladeshi or Austrian,” says Austrian chef, Johanna Taferner who is one of the volunteers who makes and serves the food at the Makery, a craft hub and café in Cloughjordan Tipperary.

The cosy Makery is even on trend and offers gluten free bakes and, though there is a price list, it is only a guide — food comes from a nearby farm or from local businesses. People put their cash in the honesty box before they leave, clear their own cutlery and plates and sometimes even help with the washing up. “This is not just about making money, it is a space for the community but we are getting people coming from other places too, just because they’ve heard of us,” explains Johanna.

In Belfast the Dock is the number 1 must-go eatery on TripAdvisor. Set up as, ‘a space for all’ by Anglican minister, Chris Bennett, the coffee shop, which sells tea, coffee, buns and soup, has been open three years. Although it hasn’t yet made a profit, the eatery, which is run by 60 volunteers, has broken even annually.

A laid back space, where you can even bring in your own food, the Dock also has an indoor garden complete with real trees where people can relax. All the furniture has been donated, which gives a quirky feel and the crockery doesn’t usually match.

“It’s been called the heart of the Titanic Quarter, we get business people, the local community, tourists and, because we’re across the road from a college, a lot of students too.” When I suggest students mightn’t be paying very much for food, Christ says he doesn’t mind. “A lot of students work here as volunteers and maybe they’ll come back as customers when they’ve jobs and remember they were always treated well,” he says.

When carpenter Niall Fitzharris set up his woodwork studio and craft shop, the Hazel House, in Rathfarnham, Dublin he didn’t want to have to run from his workshop every time a customer wanted a cup of tea so he introduced an honesty box which worked brilliantly from day one, the only problems he encountered were that people sometimes overpaid and didn’t take any change.

“I couldn’t afford to pay someone just to stand there, there wasn’t enough trade, but the Honesty Box system became a tourist attraction, we ran it for a full year. We’re part of the community here, we are a space where people meet and we run things like a cinema night every month,” Niall explains.

Six months ago Hazel House upped their eatery into a full breakfast and lunch menu with hot dishes and Niall says it wasn’t feasible then to keep on the Honesty Box. “Two months ago we opened a pet farm and we didn’t want to kill the Honesty Box completely so people pay for the animal feed that way. People like being trusted. The Honesty Box brought people in from all over when we needed them and we’re grateful for that,” he says.

Kerry entrepreneur Rob O’Reilly got the idea for his Pay as You Please eatery when he was in Australia. He brought the idea back to Killarney where Pay as You Please ran for three years. Rob, who appeared on Dragon’s Den and got capital for his rorguitars.com venture only backed out of his restaurant recently due to his other business commitments.

“We employed six paid staff for three years at the height of the recession and we made it to No1 on Trip Advisor for Killarney for a full year with our Honesty Box cafe. Restaurant businesses are always tight, but we turned over good money. We got an incredible mix of people from 17 to 70, on a busy day we’d have 100 people for lunch. We had what I think was incredible, fresh food and we eventually moved to just having tin boxes on the table and people put in their money there. We wanted to make a really cool space and we achieved that,” he says.

However, Rob says his love affair with Honesty Box cafes isn’t over yet. “I always said if I got a load of money out of my other businesses that I’d do it again and hopefully then, for non-profit.”