Cafe Celebrates Successful Grand Opening

A recent addition to the local business scene, the Cool Beans Cafe on Kingstown Road, held a well-attended grand opening celebration Saturday following the Narragansett Mariners' .

"We really didn't know what to expect, we're just thrilled about it," co-owner Janeen Davis said, indicating the full tables and brisk trade in coffee and desserts at the counter.

Davis owns and operates the establishment with friend and business partner Beth Becker. The cafe opened its doors in early August and immediately attracted droves of customers, Becker said.

"It was crazy busy all summer, we opened the door and there was a line, so we kind of jumped into the fire and tried to figure things out as we went," Becker said.

Now that the summer tourist season is over, the owners are concentrating on the immediate community.

"It's kind of evened off now, but we're getting to know more of our local clientele, and getting to know the students too, because they're the ones who stay down here all winter," Becker said.

Becker and Davis are hoping to appeal to a student clientele by offering wireless Internet service and pricing the menu to a student budget.

As part of this effort to reach out to the permanent community, 25 percent of the afternoon's proceeds went to the Narragansett High School PTO.

The cafe itself is small and bright, painted in orange and yellow, and, Saturday, it was filled with loud conversation.

One wall is decorated with drawings in brightly colored chalk.  The lower portion of the mural is a perpetual work in progress as the children of customers add their own artwork. 

Photographs from the proprietors' extensive travels hang by the storefront windows overlooking the street. The idea for the cafe originated in the friends' travels.

"We've done a ton of traveling together," Becker said, indicating the framed photographs from destinations including Prague and Venice. "We always spent a lot of time in coffee shops so we just felt that this area needed one, and we really wanted it to be kind of a community based spot."

Davis, who spends summers at her family's Narragansett summer cottage with her husband Mark and their two children, said the idea was in response to a perceived need in the community.

"For the last eight years we've been complaining that there's nowhere down here to get a good cup of coffee," she said. "We always wanted to walk on the beach with a cup of coffee.  A good cup of coffee."

The ceremonial aspect of the afternoon was realized with a ribbon cutting, but the conversation, briefly interrupted, went on as before.

Sharon Walls, a frequent customer, drove from her home in South Kingstown. 

"I would come here before I would go to a lot of other places," she said. "I like the atmosphere and [Janeen] goes out of her way to please you."

The Di Biasio family, Angelo and Heather with children Andrew, 5, and Sofia, 3, sat at a table by the blackboard wall.  Andrew has contributed to the mural, practicing his spelling along the bottom of the wall, but he and Sofia were also busy spooning gelato out of paper cups.

The family come by occasionally and appreciate the setting and the food. 

"It's great. We love it," Heather said.

"It reminds us of a number of cafes from my father's hometown in Italy," Angelo added.

Anyone making a purchase at the cafe between Saturday's grand opening and Dec. 13 will be entered into a drawing for an iPod Touch.

Looking for more info on the Cool Beans Café? Like the service they provide? Leave them a message on their Facebook page here.