Coffee: Bitty & Beau’s
Sarah Sheldon reviews the coffee at the South End shop of Wilmington, N.C.-based coffee chain Bitty & Beau’s, and learns that rainbow sprinkles are free as she dispels myths about the service industry
Much has been written about Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, so I admit I’m late to the party.
The Wilmington, N.C.-based coffee shop - named after owner Amy Wright’s two children with Down syndrome - opened in 2016. The chain employs scores of people living with physical and intellectual disabilities across its 24 locations in 12 states, including a storefront on Camden Road in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood.
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee
1930 Camden Rd Ste 236
Charlotte, NC 28203
Hours:
Weekdays: 7 AM - 5 PM
Saturdays: 8 AM - 7 PM
Sundays: 8 AM - 6 PM
Website
Local outlets, Good Morning America, and Forbes have a wealth of content celebrating the business with the tagline “A Human Rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.” Rachel Ray named the coffee the official cup of joe of her syndicated television show.
There are also some criticisms of the business I believe miss the mark - I’ll get to that later.
But first, coffee.
Bitty & Beau’s Hits the Right (flavor) Notes
I learned about the coffee shop and their mission while visiting Three Bone Theater for Andy and the Orphans, and was excited to check it out. The coffee shop is nestled between Hawkers and Shake Shack in the heart of South End. Parking was a breeze on a Monday afternoon. During higher volume times, I would recommend hopping on the light rail and getting off at East/West Station.
The café features roll-up garage doors and an outdoor patio, as well as inside seating. There’s a great selection of merch for sale with logo’ed teddy bears, tumblers, t-shirts, and more.
I was lured by the promise of the very Instagram-able “Lucky Leprechaun Frappe”. It seemed like the perfect thing for one of those magical first warm spring days in Charlotte, and I couldn’t resist. Bitty and Beau’s delivered, with rainbow sprinkles on top.
I was served quickly and was greeted with warm, thoughtful hospitality. The barista was friendly and made sure to ask my preferences for my frappe and excitedly informed me that rainbow sprinkles were an option and made sure I wanted those and whipped cream. I ordered the large Lucky Leprechaun Frappé.
I browsed a small pastry case with cookies, bagels, muffins, instant oatmeal and gigantic Rice Krispies treats. I opted for a smaller peanut butter cookie. The barista handed over a playing card and let me know they’d use this to let me know when my order was ready.
There were plenty spaces for coffee bar seating, leather chairs tucked in the back that looked like they would be ideal for professional meetings, outside patio tables, and a bar. There were ample outlets and clearly posted directions for hopping on the Wi-Fi. I selected this location and settled into a great view of a bustling South End scene, complete with trees that seemed to have sprouted a sparse coat of white buds overnight.
My frappe ($7.05) came up quickly. I was excited, but a little apprehensive. What had I just done? I don’t even like mint anymore, and I’m not much of a fan of sweet creamy beverages.
All worry quickly melted away as I took my first sips.
It was excitingly delicious. It definitely hit the nostalgia notes of a “clover” shake, but with more complexity of flavor from the coffee infusion and the excellent decision to include vanilla. None of the flavors were too loud. The mint was there, but subtle. It was sweet, but not too sweet.
Imagine being in a state of frappe-induced bliss and then reading “Have a Great Day!!” Feels pretty nice. I am awarding further points for the compostable straw.
My cookie ($3.95) was gluten-free, as well as delicious, soft, and chewy with a modest but perfectly present peanut butter flavor. I kind of felt like a kid, with my order of sweets on sweets, but in a way that felt nice. Like maybe this is what indulging your inner child feels like.
I was excited to get to writing this piece and hung out for a little less than an hour outlining and making notes, but also people-watching. There was a nice mix of people inside and out from two regulars and a fellow remote worker, to two women who seemed to being having an extended catch-up. I personally liked the 2000’s hits filtering across the front patio from next door, but I assume if I didn’t, the back inside tables would have been a better fit for me.
It dawned on me that they had coffee to go, so I got some ($16.00) to take home. We enjoyed the coffee almost daily for the next week. The light roast delivered the zippy wake up call I need and was as advertised: bright, tangy with warmer notes on the nose. I will be buying more and I think I’ll bookmark it for the Y’all Weekly gift guide.
Service Work is Skilled Labor
As I mentioned at the beginning, there has been some online criticism for Bitty and Beau’s, namely:
Concern that coffee shop work is not fully integrated work for disabled people and this kind of work creates a bad stereotype that people with intellectual disabilities can only do unskilled work.
The business owner was named CNN’s Hero of the Year, taking away visibility from the actual disabled community.
In 2020, the New York Times wrote the company had only promoted one autistic employee to a management role.
In the case of the award, I agree that we should not put able-bodied white folks in the spotlight and make them our heroes, but we do. The fact is the brand is approachable coming from the perspective of owner Amy Wright’s easy to digest image, and it might be what helped garner initial support.
Perhaps a tough pill to swallow, but true.
Wright used her appeal and platform to draw attention to her mission and said directly into the camera to her children: “I wouldn’t change you for the world, but I will change the world for you.” This struck me as powerful and authentic to the highest degree. Textbook for how to use your privilege for good. She said to the world, there is nothing to change about disabled people, it’s us that need to change. Beyond that, the brand’s actual name centers two people with disabilities and they seem to be a force in the world for paving a path for that kind of visibility. It’s not won over night.
To the point that coffee shop work might undervalue people with disabilities, I think this is a valid criticism and we should keep the conversation going for accountability's sake, but it discredits that this might just be a first step along a longer career path. It could be an opportunity to learn soft skills in a safe environment in a job market that excludes people with disabilities from having these early opportunities for resume-building work experience.
However, as mentioned by the Times, “workers with disabilities should be provided good salaries, benefits and a fair shot at promotions and raises — in other words, the same opportunities that nondisabled people have.”
Finally, let me step on my soapbox for a moment: stop assuming that service and hospitality work is easy and unskilled and a career dead end. Further, there’s the online documentation of ownership promising to beat state minimum wage, which was confirmed when I called to check in on this point and I was assured that meaningful compensation is a cornerstone to the business.
Final Sip
It’s a relief to find what seems to be a great coffee shop doing good work in the community, because I want to go back. Lots. I want to hang out here. I want to explore flavor categories toasted marshmallow, brown sugar cinnamon, and chocolate Milano. I want a smoothie and a cotton candy frappe and I want to add bags of Bitty and Beau’s coffee to my normal gift rotation.
I want to do a really run of the mill thing, like visit a coffee shop in South End before strolling around at a place just like this because it’s good quality and great service and it deserves my money for that alone. It is a nice bonus that the business model gives me a glimmer of hope for Radical Inclusivity.
Stay on that soapbox! Years of barista work under my belt and it can be a multi-faceted, complex job. Also, you get out of things what you put into them. So if folks think slinging fries is just a paycheck, think again - you reap what you sow. <3