The Bean Coffee Shop

The Bean Coffee Shop has been serving coffee, brunch, and desserts in Auburn since 2015, building a reputation around three words the shop uses to describe itself: coffee, community, and collaborative fair trade. Located at 140A North Dean Road, The Bean sources its coffee from LOTH, a fair trade roaster, and pairs that coffee program with an in-house bakery that turns out muffins, cinnamon rolls, and a rotating list of desserts made on site.

The espresso menu covers the standards, from macchiatos and cappuccinos to lattes and mochas, plus specialty flavored lattes such as caramel scotch, s’mores mocha, and pecan pie. Brewed coffee is available as machine drip, cold brew, or a slower Chemex pour-over for anyone who wants to watch their cup made by hand. Beyond coffee, the shop offers loose-leaf teas in herbal, black, green, and oolong varieties, along with tea lattes, smoothies, frappes, hot chocolate, and shaved ice for warmer days.

Food is where The Bean sets itself apart from a typical coffee counter. Breakfast is served all day and includes breakfast casseroles, French toast, waffles, acai bowls, smoothie bowls, and oatmeal bowls, along with a build-your-own toast menu. The shop is also known for its crepes, offered in both savory versions like chicken ranch, Greek, and ham and cheese, and sweet versions such as blueberry cobbler, Nutella delight, and strawberry shortcake. For lunch, there are sandwiches including chicken salad and pimento cheese, wraps, and grilled cheese, plus a dessert case stocked with homemade cheesecake, earthquake cake, chocolate peanut butter pie, and fresh cinnamon rolls.

The Bean rounds out its menu with gift cards, catering for parties and benefits, and online ordering through Square, plus delivery through DoorDash for anyone who cannot make it in. Because the shop adjusts its hours seasonally around Auburn University’s academic calendar and holidays, it directs customers to check its Facebook and Instagram pages for the most current schedule rather than posting a single fixed set of hours year round. That seasonal flexibility, combined with a menu that spans breakfast, lunch, and dessert alongside a full coffee bar, has made The Bean a go-to spot near campus for students and Auburn residents who want more than just a cup of coffee.

The shop’s location on North Dean Road puts it within easy reach of both the Auburn University campus and the surrounding neighborhoods, and the crowd reflects that mix, with students working on laptops at one table and families splitting crepes at another. The fair trade sourcing commitment through LOTH is not just a marketing line either, it shapes the coffee program from the ground up, and it is a point of pride the shop returns to again and again in how it describes itself. Because The Bean bakes its own pastries and desserts in house rather than bringing them in from an outside supplier, the offerings change with what is fresh that day, and regulars often ask what came out of the oven that morning before deciding what to order.

With nearly a decade in business, an emphasis on fair trade sourcing, and a bakery case that changes with the seasons, The Bean has carved out its own identity among Auburn’s independent coffee shops, one that leans as heavily on brunch and dessert as it does on espresso. For visitors trying to distinguish Auburn’s independent coffee scene from the national chains clustered near campus, The Bean stands out as a shop that built its own menu from scratch rather than following a corporate playbook, and that homegrown character is part of why it has held on to a loyal following for close to ten years. Whether the visit is for a quick espresso between classes or a full sit-down brunch with crepes and coffee, The Bean offers a version of the Auburn coffee shop experience that goes well beyond a to-go cup, anchored by a menu built around fair trade beans, house baked desserts, and food made to order rather than reheated from a freezer case.