The Bean Cafe

Rip off! Overcharges without explanation. Caveat emptor
We like to get a small coffee in a large cup and add more milk. He charged for a
Large but no warning.

Love the vibe. Lots of hot and iced coffee options. Playlist great. The guy behind the counter is super friendly and helpful.

Decent hot chocolate, too sweet pastries, and decent service. I have no complaints, besides the music being too loud to read. This is a perfectly fine café, but there is nothing special about it.

I’m a huge fan of phó and, consequently, Vietnamese iced coffee. Their coffee was made using unsweetened condensed milk. The entire point of the sweetened condensed milk is to get a specific and delicious flavor that you can’t acquire by just adding sugar afterwards. EVERY Thai/​Vietnamese restaurant I’m been to has used sweetened milk. They’re a coffee shop. How could they get that wrong? Majorly disappointed.

Vietnamese iced coffee was used with unsweetened condensed milk. :(

Great service on a very quite Sunday morning. The coffee and iced teas were very good. They also have some bagel sandwiches and sliced cakes.

Went there twice, liked the atmosphere. Easy going kind of place. The drinks were made to order and delicious.

Not really a review more of a comment/​complaint. Says it’s open on Sunday mornings at 7am. Drove off of 95 to visit at 8am and it was shut.

We get coffee here every day. The lady there is very nice. Prices are low, coffee is fresh and the seating is comfy.

Idk what people are thinking with this place. I had such a strange experience here. I felt like I had walked into someone’s weird apartment and they just kind of had some leftover coffee that they were like «sure you could have this three day old coffee.»
The coffee was TERRIBLE, I threw it out the second I walked out. It was definitely over priced too considering it wasn’t even worth drinking for more than a sip.
I will say that the cashier was super friendly, but service can only do so much when there’s nothing else going for this place. I won’t be returning.

2015 review: After getting a new owner The Bean has become one of the greatest coffee shop experiences my friends & I have had!
I came there with my boyfriend before in 2007 & if wasn’t a very welcoming environment. When I arrived in August of 2014 I was amazed as to how much the place has improved! But not be fooled by renovations I ordered a «Butterfinger latte» paired with homemade Banana Bread. My friend got a chai iced latte with a homemade brownie. We were so infatuated with The Bean that we vowed to always choose it over any chain coffee shop nearby!
After coming here so frequently I could tell you a thing or two about the place!
When you come in you’re always greeted with a charming & friendly familiar face! Either the owner or morning barista who will be happy to assist you with any of your caffeine, decaf, latte, mocha, iced coffee, hot coco, bean freeze and plenty other needs. (they also have a verity of chilled Mexican sodas, Pelloginos, Aloe Water as well as many other hard to find soft drinks & juices offered at a very low price)
As for food they have croissants, verity bagels; you can add bacon, eggs and or cream cheese to. Baked goods such as homemade dessert breads, cookies, muffins, apple turnovers. The options are endless.
Now what the bean itself has to offer: they have internet wifi which is useful on days you have to study, get work done, or just get some emails out. They have free dog treats when you walk in if you have a pup with you!
One of the most underrated things about this place I think is the endless PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES! The Beans bathroom stairs are filled with eye catching art & witty graffiti placed by regulars as well as locals! (If you have a poem you want to get off your chest there’s a place to write it!) The main area is more conservative with framed art all around the walls that’s switched out every other month. Sometimes the owner will place interesting conversation pieces around that’ll leave your mind blown, nostalgic or having you wonder «what’s next»!

The people who work here are very friendly and talkative. I enjoyed going in there and talking to the staff about the Giants/​Eagles rivalry.
I tried the iced pumpkin coffee and it was delicious. They have many different flavors to add in your coffee which is wonderful.

Popped in for a quick Italian soda to get out of the heat. The barista was super nice and chatted with me while he was preparing my drink. He also let me taste my drink before so I could judge whether it was too sweet or whatever… AND I got to keep the rest of the S. pellegrino! Will def come back when it’s colder and I can try the hot drinks!

Good location and cute branding. I had an iced tea that was pretty bitter and had a hint of lemon, but not enough to make it good. The employees were talking too loud to each other for me to concentrate on reading. If I had gotten coffee it may have been a better experience.

We ventured to South Street in Philadelphia. It was a bit of a trendier area. We had been walking a ton, so it was time for a break.
While in the coffee shop, we discovered that they had Italian sodas. G had a mango cream soda. An Italian soda is sparkling water and flavored syrup. A cream one has obviously a bit of cream.
I went with a strawberry one. The barista recommended a small bit of lime soda to enhance the flavor, so I followed his recommendation. It was refreshing.
Then we sat outside and enjoyed the people watching.

The woman behind the counter was possibly one of the sweetest women I could hope to encounter in the city. Helpful, attentive, and just overall good vibes —
And she makes a mean chai and chocolate mint latte also.
I’ll be paying her kindness forward and I’ll also be stopping by whenever I’m in the area.

Great little coffee spot on South Street.
We popped in here during our recent trip to Philly after wandering around and deciding coffee was in order. Behind the counter is a separate menu that is based off candy bars. I went with the peppermint and a cinnamon bun. The coffee was good and strong but it lacked any real peppermint flavor. The cinnamon bun was one of the best I have ever had. The icing was light and not super sweet and the pastry itself pulled apart easily. The seating is cute and very retro. Prices are fair and the staff is funny.

I have been hanging down South Street for years and this is the first time I stopped in this place. The barista behind the counter was friendly, so customer service is awesome. The Iced Americano was strong and great way to give me that jolt, but you must get the pumpkin bread. That bread was tasty, sweet, and some good fall spice. This is a cool coffee shop to sit back and chill out for a bit.

We had a bit of time to kill before going to dinner at Bistrot La Minette around the corner, so the fiancée and I popped in from the freezing weather outside and had a leisurely drink at this shop. It’s got a chill atmosphere, a decent number of seats given the shop is pretty small, and crayons! (no idea why, but there are pictures with color codes and a box of Crayola at the counter if that is your thing) The tea was pretty standard, while I was a fan of the steamer — vanilla-​flavored, and no part where it really tasted bland (which can happen sometimes). That said, the vanilla was a syrup, so it tasted mildly artificial and a bit sweeter than I would have preferred.
That said, it’s a very laid-​back joint; if you’re looking for a place to get some work done or surf the interwebs while enjoying a drink, it’s not a bad place. The alt-​rock soundtrack adds to the ambiance as well.

We stopped in to the Bean Café one afternoon last week looking for a quick cup. It’s a cute little coffee shop and I had high hopes. I was immediately annoyed because the gentleman behind the bar and a young lady who worked there but was on her way out the door carried a conversation on for about three minutes before either of them acknowledged the fact that we were standing there in front of them. Apparently, the young man is in a band and the woman was going to come see him play. He was going to put her name on a list so she could get in free, and I did not give a crap. And yet I had to sit there and listen to them discuss it for awhile.
Once he did acknowledge us, he told us they were out of the advertised daily special. We wound up ordering a mocha for me and a latte for my husband. My mocha was lukewarm and the cup wasn’t even full. I didn’t bother asking about the latte.
My guess is that we shall not be returning unless we are in a pinch. A cup of Dunkin or Wawa would have been far more satisfactory at half the price.

If you’re thinking of the Bean Café, think hipster-​divey. The place is tiny and has very few tables, but it’s got great character and it’s clean. If you don’t believe me, go downstairs and check out the bathrooms. Absolutely covered in graffiti and stickers. See if you can spot yours truly on the ceiling! hahaha.
While the ambiance of this place is great, I have to admit that the coffee is nothing special. It’s prepared carefully, but it’s not anything that I would rave about. The baked goods section is pretty good– I’ve ordered the Irish cream cupcake before and it was really tasty! Overall, a better choice than Starbucks, but not the alpha and omega of my coffee existence.

An interesting coffee place on a cool street in Philly, with many little stores and places for a quick bite. They serve good iced coffee, along with the Vietnamese variety with condensed milk.
I enjoyed the hippie feel of the place. Towards the front, there are flyers for concerts and exhibitions to check out. Look for some local events if you’re from the area or visiting for a few days.