10/2/2024
| HOPE MURRAY TREMBLAY
Category:
The Better Bean in Monson celebrated its one-year anniversary over the summer and owner Amanda Roy said it’s been a great year and even better things are coming to the café.
Located at 186 Main St. 1 R, Better Bean is Monson’s hot spot for coffee, tea and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch.
Roy went to school for marketing and management and worked in sales before opening her first coffee shop.
“I owned a coffee shop in Plymouth for about 10 years and thankfully sold it six months before Covid,” said Roy. “That taught me so much – mostly so much of what I didn’t want to do again. It was a much larger, bigger menu and it completely took over my life. The business was doing phenomenal, but I was a shell of a human because the business ran me. Without that experience I would not know exactly how I would do it over again, which is much more simply.”
Armed with the knowledge and experience gained from that first café, Roy returned to her hometown of Monson and began looking for a space for her new business. When she found her current location, she knew it was right.
“This space has always caught my eye,” said Roy. “I am from Monson and my father was a realtor in this exact space when I was growing up. I used to play ‘office’ there while he was at work. It’s the front window and double doors that do it for me — it’s so quaint, so inviting.” Roy said it was a twist of fate — literally — that brought her back home.
“It was an unfortunate/fortunate misstep [that] brought me back to my hometown,” said Roy. “I have been living in Plymouth for the last 19 years with no plans on moving back until I slipped off the last step at my house. Five surgeries, a total ankle replacement, a hometown boy and this new business . . . I guess I am staying in Monson
now.”
Roy always thought Monson could support a good specialty coffee and bagel shop and envisioned a simple shop offering quality products. The small shop is just 800 square feet and offers take-out only with street parking right outside.
“We are located across from the Dave Grieve Park, which offers benches, Adirondack chairs and a gazebo that was built as a Rotary project in memory of a past Rotary President,” said Roy, “which is fitting as I was a member of the Plymouth Sunrise Rotary Club for moving back ‘home.’ Everything was starting to feel a bit ‘Hallmark-y’ as my life began to fall into place again here in Monson, that translated into what I envisioned The Better Bean to look like. Always cute, inviting and a place that you really looked forward to coming to.”
The Better Bean specializes in coffee, of course, and Roy said she started drinking coffee in college but never had “good” coffee until one of her best friends opened Sturbridge Coffee House.
“I took the first sip and I was hooked on ‘good coffee,’” she said. “While I am a coffee drinker and a coffee shop owner, I am super sensitive to caffeine — one small cup a day.”
Roy’s coffee of choice is iced with a little hazelnut and chocolate with oat milk, which she said tastes just like a Ferrero Rocher candy. Roy’s staff is heavily involved in creating the monthly drink specials, which recently played on Monson’s quaint small-town vibe.
“My crew takes turns creating the monthly drinks,” shared Roy. “Every single one of the baristas is a coffee enthusiast and they have a really good time taking ownership of this task. This month, Atlantis Castro came up with a whole ‘Gilmore Girls’ themed menu of drinks: The Yale Dropout, Luke to my Lorelai, Stars Hollow, The Gilmores, Dragonfly Inn and Doose’s Market are the names of this month’s specials. One of my other baristas, Chloe Fitzgerald, has a super talent with making sign boards — she matched Atlantis’ vision for this so well. People have been traveling from afar to get these specials. We have now met two people that have named their daughter Rory after the show.”
Roy also includes the community when creating her food menu, which she said will soon be offered for online ordering at betterbeancafe.com. Roy changes the menu often and hosted a contest that pit local brothers Chris and Kevin Haley, who own Squier Lumber, against one another.
“The Chris Panini is a version of an Italian and Kevin’s Tuna Wrap is a tuna lover’s dream. If you know Kevin, he cannot handle losing and has been talking a lot of smack,” said Roy. “I, myself, am not a tuna fan so there might be some persuading of people to buy The Chris if the decision is left up to me. I made Team Chris and Team Kevin handheld signs and all of our customers have really gotten into this friendly competition.”
She continued, “The boys don’t know it yet, but by the time this article is published Kevin will know that The Chris won the competition by selling 14 more sandwiches.”
The Better Bean currently has a line of refreshers that features the Monson Highway Department.
“They were our taste testers, suggestion givers and the ones to name them,” said Roy. “The drink names are fittingly called Operator, Caution Ahead, Pothole, Detour, Road Closed and Men Working.”
Roy said she enjoys cooking, but baking is not her thing because she doesn’t like to be told what to put in a bowl. “Baking is so strict,” she said.
The Better Bean sources products from wholesale bakeries that are able to provide a large and varied menu.
“We currently have 13 different flavors of homemade cream cheese available, bacon scallion being our best seller with maple syrup cinnamon coming in with a close second,” she said. “Our maple syrup comes from trees just down the road at Bryson’s Maple Syrup on Lower Hampden Road. Every morning, we fill up our grab and go cooler with housemade sandwich wraps, overnight oats, fruit and yogurt parfaits, salads, breakfast casserole [and] many more items.”
Roy said she is increasing customer service with online ordering, which she said will help cut down on the time customers have to wait in line on their way to work.
“We would also love to become everyone’s go to for breakfast and lunch office catering,” said Roy. “We can put together a bagel, pastry or box of wraps for your event.” Roy said her hometown has welcomed her home with open arms.
“We could not do this without the support of the town and our customers,” shared Roy. “We appreciate every penny they spend, every time they tell their friends about us and when they interact with us on our social media platforms.”
THE BETTER BEAN IS LOCATED AT 186 MAIN STREET IN MONSON AND IS OPEN MONDAY – FRIDAY, 6:30 A.M. TO 2 P.M., SATURDAY, 7 A.M. TO 1 P.M. AND SUNDAY, 8 A.M. TO NOON.