Maid&Butler café thread!

These think will never take off in the west. Too many ugly weebs who do it for themselves. In Japan, it's all about the customer.

In an attempt to revive this dead thread.

What is everyone's opinions on the cafes that are local in their area? Where I'm from most cafes can barely start up, and the ones that are just cringe and terrible.

>>9121143
Where I'm from there's two popular cafes. The head maids hate each other even though they're actually quite similar personality wise.

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>>9121143
All the girls are ugly weebs or obnoxious tumblr cancer.
They should just hire normal girls instead of weebs and tell them to act cute and let them be aware of who the target demographic is.

>>9121143
weeb trash. that sums it up t b h

>>9121197
Got any more details on that anon?

>>9121227
Most cafes recruit girls that are the really bad weeb style. It's pretty rare for a cafe to have qualifications that the girls must meet. The ones that are seem far in between.

>>9121143
Really awful

>>9121143
We only have one at a local con. The snacks and drinks are very cheap quality and overpriced and the maids are dirty looking weeb girls in badly styled cosplay wigs. The fedora disappointment level is always funny.

>>9121143
The con maid cafes do well but there's been two permanent maid cafes here that have been shut down pretty quickly, despite having some cute girls. There's just no market for this kind of stuff here for the long term, once the novelty wears off they just become dead

In most places there aren't enough otaku with enough money to make these profitable. Attraction to moe isn't a well developed enough concept here for many people to really be interested in cute maid girls. Guys here would mostly rather go to Hooters, Tilted Kilt or similar if they like 'cute waitresses', and strip bars if they want sexy.

As a girl myself, I think an elegant cat cafe with maids and butlers and a more refined tea and light snack and drink menu would be wonderful and might have a wider appeal.

>>9121487

I think the reason why maid cafes who try to be a business never do well because they are too busy trying to be "kawaii (*^◯^*)" instead of you know...running a damn business.

I agree completely with your idea, it sounds nice. The cafes are never big ever time I see maid cafes in the west. Which leaves no excuse not to decorate it according to the feel of the cafe instead of bland white tables and chair. The same with the cheap food, if you're going to charge a lot atleast make it seems that you're charging so much for the experience and decor.

I never understood why maid cafes didn't just work hand and hand with local business who could buy their food or baked goods and sell them at their cafe.

The costumes seem to always be cheap looking as well, just invest in a really nice maid costume if that's the main selling point of the place.

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>>9119302
I absolutely adore maid outfits. I agree with the rest of the anons in saying they will most likely not take off in america or anywhere other than japan. The girls are simply too weeby and only care about being kawaii. Which is a factor in maid cafes but you have to give good service as well.

In order for a maid cafe to turn out good you need structure and a strict leader. Not sloppy weeaboos running around.

I'm sorry but a maid cafe needs girls who are actually cute and have or can fake a good attitude and personality.

>Do you gulls have any preferred store to buy your uniforms from?
If you dig you can find really cute dresses on ebay.

>>9122188
>If you dig you can find really cute dresses on ebay.

Please share anon all I can find a cheap, ugly costumes or Bodyline reseller.

>>9121810

The cafes don't wanna look like a novelty cafe since most of the time they cater to regular high school students and tech who does not want to sit down at a girly looking coffee shop for their daily jolt. Unless your intention is to covert a esteemed high tea salon to a maid cafe which is certainly gonna alienate the older crowd.

Actually that is the perfect place for a Maid Cafe to be held, a downtown area where pretty maids and charming butlers serve you high tea and even can sit down with you for the High Tea service for a service charge.

Gonna need more hired help for the latter though and that is gonna eat into costs.

>>9122188
>>9122191
Yes pls share cute finds. Only thing I've found so far was lalamaid on taobao, but some of their designs are a bit too much...

I'm having a meeting soon regarding a convention maidcafé for next year. Any advice will be appreciated.

>>9122197

Actually that's exactly what I'm thinking, not the kawaii short maid costumes but the long ones. And a very Victorian themed cafe.

Teens aren't the ones with the money anyways, that's why maid cafes never work here. Im thinking a more elegant novelty experience because face it they are coming for the get up, so the decor might as well match.

Hire actual cooks if you want to serve more then sandwiches and finger foods. Maid cafes neve hire people that know how to run things, even if you want the cutesy fun maid cafe style instead at least hire people who know what they are doing you know?

>>9122212
>Actually that's exactly what I'm thinking, not the kawaii short maid costumes but the long ones. And a very Victorian themed cafe.
>Teens aren't the ones with the money anyways, that's why maid cafes never work here. I'm thinking a more elegant novelty experience because face it they are coming for the get up, so the decor might as well match.
>Hire actual cooks if you want to serve more then sandwiches and finger foods. Maid cafes never hire people that know how to run things, even if you want the cutesy fun maid cafe style instead at least hire people who know what they are doing you know?

And I also forgot, the college students who are in their anime phase deep.

And definitely the place needs a decent pastry to justify the costs. The morality of making a tourist trap is up to you. But above all a person with connections with some good loose leaf tea retailers (No, David's Tea and Teavana does not count).

I know a place in downtown vancouver called Patisserie fur Elise, they charge about 30 dollars for a single high session and they offer a variety of items from savory croissants to lemon tarts and macaroons. For me that is the starting point of what would look like in a High Tea Salon.

This is just for High Tea, then there is the Yoshoku/Western Japanese Maid Cafe as we see so popular in Japan. Those are the ones that are tricky as hell to run.

>>9121455
One is an ultra weeby fatty-Chan that can't dress herself and the other is an acknowledged lolcow. But they both have that ~everyone is here for me and I'm super kawaii pay attention to me me me~ thing goin on.

Both cafes are just alright. One has some pretty girls and pretty uniforms but they can't seem to get any gigs and most have bad attitudes. The other has OK uniforms and OK girls but even though they get a ton of gigs they dont really focus on the fact they are maids. They almost never wear their uniforms to their events it seems? They take on more than just con cafes but if you call yourself a maid cafe you should still wear your uniform right...?

My state has several maid cafes (like four or five?) There's one up north that's pretty popular and is well run, and another in the south that seems cute from what i see on their social media. They're too far from me to visit, though.
The rest are cringe fests run by weebs who don't seem to know what they're doing

I am dying to have something like Cafe Swallowtail around here that I can go to. I don't care about the weeby shit, but having afternoon tea/a nice dinner in an antique manor-esque setting while being pampered by butlers acting like you're a princess? Yes please.

>>9122273
omfg yes PLEASE

>>9121143
The ones I've seen around here are 'pop up" as in, they literally work with a local store, have 3-5 events a year, besides cons and honestly that works out the best. The local shop is one of those small cafes so they can actually do the full maid cafe experience.

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Thoughts on butler cafe? Also, what would you do if you had a cute maid waifu all to yourself?

HOLY SHIT
I just say this thing and I can't stop giggling

http://howibecametexan.com/2013/10/19/7-reasons-the-shibuya-butler-cafe-in-tokyo-is-awkward/#prettyPhoto

>Waiters get their jobs from Craigslist
>They have to use memorized dialog when interacting with costumers
>Costumers aren't allowed to get up without a waiter to escort them

>>9123822
Yeah I think the bathroom thing is also true for Swallowtail.
It's shit like this that makes me wonder why people here criticize some of the decent/ok western convention maid and butler cafes.
From what I've seen, some maid and butler cafes in Japan are just sad

>>9123800
creepy af f a m

>>9123800
All three of them need a haircut.

>>9121143
We have 2 'con-teams' in my country so far.

One actual non-profit organization that started up last year, independently from any convention and one con-based organization that revived after 2-3 years, this year.

So far, the non-profit one hasn't had any luck getting money for their projects, and rely pretty heavily on their private relations with the organizers of conventions. They want to get slowly, yet securely, into the community. They haven't tried the entertainment-aspect of maid cafés, but they're considering, seeing how the con-based maid café succeeded.
They have a lot of contacts, both in organizer teams as well as bakeries and other food-related partners

Now, the con-based maid café was the first REAL entertainment café in our community. They had nice maids, nice butlers and offered games to rent for free, to be played with your chosen maid/butler that you booked in the door or online. They were open for walk-ins as well, as long as there were open seats available.
Since it was a new thing, this whole entertainment café, the organizers decided that there'd be 6 slots for each available maid/Butler. If a maid had 2 customers and a group of 4 came as walk-ins, they could be seated with said maid. This would only happen if no other maid/butler was available.
The menu was sparse, yet cute. Mainly desserts, coffee, tea, lemonade and smoothies. The cocoa was shit when it arrived, so the organizers actually decided NOT to sell it!

I'm working for both teams actually, as a lesser organizer in the con-based café. The main organizers aren't as structured as I'd like them to be, so I joined to make things go more smoothly next year

>>9123800

I vastly prefer butler cafes to maid cafes. There's just something about the syrupy moe intensity of a maid cafe that makes me recoil, but then I'm there for the experience of being pampered and treated like royalty instead of cute maid/butler waifus/husbandos playing games/flirting with me.

Buuuut the cafe in your pic related, eh...

I've read the review mentioned in >>9123822 and it kind of skeeves me out. If everything she said is true, I don't think that's a very well done cafe. Swallowtail seems to have nailed it, though, even if you have to be escorted to the ladies' room (which I don't blame them for doing).

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I was wondering if anyone had any experience with bodyline's maid dress sizing (specifically pic related).

I'm slightly over the L size's bust measurement, but I'm worried 2L will be very baggy around my waist. My measurements are 91/92 - 69 - 93 cm (36 - 27 / 37")

I'd appreciate any advice!

>>9129315
Are there any butler cafe's besides Swallowtail that's got it going on? I know Swallowtail has trainee periods before getting to actually work in the café, I appreciate this system.

Which ones are the best maid uniforms from Bodyline? Any recommendations?

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>>9129982
I've ordered from them before and it was pretty true to size. I was a couple centimeters over the bust measurement though since I ordered more with my waist/hips in mind, but it didn't look horribly boobloafy or anything. Be advised that some the dresses, (pic related is the worst about this) run a little short even on shorter girls so you'll need cheer shorts and additional petti/s if you plan on going outside. Also the petti that comes with all(most?) of these maid outfits is kind of shitty and not very fluffy despite the site's model pics, so look at getting like a Leg Avenue one from ebay or something to layer over it for qt poof.
I ordered pic related and I'm 5'-5'1'', if I bend over my ass is on display p much unless I wear more than just what came with the order.

>>9130065
"Best" would honestly be kind of relative to personal taste. From what I've gathered the quality is basically the same across the site, look at the pics and that's what you'll get p much, just pick what you like. Pic related is what I ordered and I absolutely love it even if it runs a little short, because personally I love the "lots of floof sticking out" look.
http://bodyline.jp/en/costume574.html is also really popular and doesn't have the shortness problem as much. Again though, get a petti from ebay or something to layer over the one that comes with whatever you order as the one that comes with them is pretty shitty on its own. Leg Avenue is cheap and does the trick perfectly, so you don't really need an expensive Classical Puppets one or anything.

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Hey guys, I'm working at an event maid cafe soon and I'm looking for a short petti that'll give me the best poof for my uniform.

I'm aiming for the very cutesy/akihibara level of poofyness, can anyone reccomend a good petti/good site to browse? I've got an ebay one for cosplay atm that i'll probably use to layer, but i'd like something nicer quality regardless.

I can't use Malco modes etc. as i'm out of the US and I'm not looking to use an SS. Any help is super appreciated!

>pic related is poof level i'm going for

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>>9130094
I live in northen Europe and I bought this
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LOLITA-TUTU-Skirt-COS-Underskirt-Mesh-Layer-Dance-Costume-Petticoat-PUFFY-Skirts/32465208187.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.80.gUPfjM
For Akiba lvl poof you prob want to layer it. I took a pic with 1 on and 2 on. Sorry for weird clothing I just threw the pettis on for demonstration haha.
It's nice quality, but I don't have much petti experience, so you could prob get something better for the price of 2 of these. But this is a nice plan b I guess?
When are you working as a maid? The delivery time can be a bit ..... since it's a chinese seller.
I also got 2 taobao pettis on their way in the mail. If there's still time, I'll review them as wel

>>9130090
Awesome, thanks a lot! I'm your height so hopefully with some bike shorts and tights it'll be ok. I'll look into getting another petti to layer too

>>9130120
Not them but please review them when you can! I also aim for akihabara poof

>>9130045

Not that I know of honestly. There was one that looked decent called Butler Lounge Refleurir but it closed. From all I know (and I'd love to be told otherwise), Swallowtail is pretty much as good as it gets. Even the "fancier" maid cafes don't seem to quite compare- the food and presentation of it just isn't on the same level.

>>9122197
A high tea maid salon with full length skirts and long sleeved uniforms might actually attract the older crowd. Possibly even some other fandoms, like Sherlock or Downton Abbey. You wouldn't be able to do any jpop dancing or omurice drawing or game playing, unless it was something like bridge.

>>9130120
Original anon here, thankyou!

I'm an idiot and I've left it later than j should've, the cafe is at the end of the month. The layering you've done looks good though, so I'm thinking that's my best option for now.

I'd also like to see the taobao reviews though when you get them!

>>9131252
This is a coolish idea, but it pretty much throws the whole maid cafe concept out the window. It would be more of a period drama theme cafe, as it lacks all the games and Japanese centric themes that really make a maid cafe.

>>9131252

There's a place here that is touts itself as a British tea room and serves afternoon tea (high tea is actually something very different and low class). The waitresses all wear little black dresses with frilly white maid aprons and it's decorated prettily with antiques and stuff. Obviously they don't do the Japanese maid cafe antics or even approach Butler cafe level of service, but they do look like maids.

The place does very well, even though the owner pretty much ruins all the tea by leaving the bags/leaves in the pot indefinitely and just pouring in more hot water over the stewed leaves once the pot's empty. I am super salty about this yes. But hey, maid-style outfits! And it's working!

>>9122221
Helloooo Arizona.
Waiting for both cafes to disappear honestly.

>>9134451
One of the things I love most about the lolita community is when we try to act all sophisticated and fancy about going to ~high tea~ when most people don't even know that the "high" in high tea doesn't mean high class or high society. That being said, I'd actually really like for someone to host a real high tea meet.

I went to the Nagoya branch of Maidreamin yesterday and holy shit what a cringey mess. Worst customer service experience I've ever had in Japan. You know how American maid cafes have a problem with the staff being egotistical and more interested in being KAWAII AIDORUS than in providing excellent service and a cute, relaxing atmosphere? It was like that. It was like everything that was wrong with Reni, only amplified.

Go to @home instead.

>>9122218
>30 dollars for a single high session
With costs like that I don't see you getting many customers. That is 2 entire meals at a decent restaurant.

>>9123800
They would probably be more successful in the US. Especially if they didn't go for the fucked up hair like in that pic. They would pull in the middleaged and older woman crowd that is already more likely to go to a sit down tea/snack place.

>>9134598
>That is 2 entire meals at a decent restaurant.
you mean like Denny's? kek

>>9134565

I hate that I'm pretty much just being a bitch about it, but every time someone calls it "high tea" meaning the afternoon snack-meal with finger sandwiches and cute pastries and good china, I cringe.

A high tea meet would be interesting, especially if you went with like a country lolita aesthetic.


>>9134598

$30 USD for afternoon tea isn't cheap, certainly, but it's also not unheard of. Afternoon tea at Swallowtail costs at least that much, and several other tea rooms I've been to cost in that range as well.

>>9134630

That is the standard from where I live. They also have a demi tea package where ypu only goet two pots worth of tea for 20 dollars. Given the fact the maid cafe I went to had to use the catering contract costs the same for a full course. I say having high tea service makes me feel like I am getting a bigger bang for the buck since at least I get a unique experience

>>9134451

Very nicely done.

>>9134713

Experience is very important. It's a problem I have with dismissing things as being too expensive because it's double the price of a normal restaurant. You're not just being charged for the food, but also special training, ambience, extra service, presentation, all the little things that add up to make it a special experience.

I just went to a maid cafe in Toronto and the girls there were pretty cute and didn't try hard to out-weeb each other. The service was superb but the food was a bit pricey.

>>9121487
>As a girl myself, I think an elegant cat cafe with maids and butlers and a more refined tea and light snack and drink menu would be wonderful and might have a wider appeal.
I find this such a wonderful idea. It would be a great place to have an excuse to dress a little nicer and relax with friends.

>>9123800
>Also, what would you do if you had a cute maid waifu all to yourself?
Don't get me started anon, pls

>>9121487
>an elegant cat cafe with maids and butlers and a more refined tea and light snack and drink menu
I like this except for the part with cats. I love cats but for one, I wouldn't want to be drinking nice tea while wearing my frills with a bunch of cats everywhere. For two, it would feel like the cafe would be spreading itself thin trying to go in all the different directions, what with the atmosphere, service, food, and animal aspects that they need to consider. Quality would suffer in the end. Not to mention you're already cutting off a part of your market as an elegant cafe, adding cats to it is just committing business suicide imo.

>>9129982
So that's Venus Angelic's measurements! Jokes aside, I like the pink version.

>>9123800
In the Netherlands we have butler cafe called Royal Roulette, and the service is very good. It's actually my favorite from all the maid/butler cafes we have in my country.

Btw can I trade that cute maid waifu for a hot butler husbando? Thanks!

What do you guys think of convention cafés that DON'T offer performances? Only food magic and chit chatting. Is the level of entertainment too low?

>>9134533
AYS is just an ego boost for batty. It's a meh cafe and the maids are all cringy weeb trash. With AYS no longer being at PCC and just at like sabo it will become nothing. With batty down ward spiraling into the sjw feminist tumblr hole, it won't last long. She's too obsessed with her friends in LA any way to even bother with Arizona functions any more. Maybe she will make a maid cafe there full of the efamous lolcows. And leave arizona alone since we don't buy into her whining cries for attention.

>>9121143
They don't exist
So it's probably one of the best areas