While Recharge Coffee Co. has left the building, coffee is still on the menu at 47 1/2 W. Second St. in Manteno.
The Well in Manteno celebrated its grand opening in October and sold a whopping 669 drinks over the course of 12 hours. For those who like math, that equates to nearly 56 drinks per hour — just shy of one drink per minute.
“We felt overwhelmed with gratitude,” said Tiffany Parpart, who owns the business with her husband, Shawn. With help and input from their three kids, Parpart described it as “a family affair.”
“[The kids] sacrificed a lot for this, too,” Parpart said. “My son wants to be a barista and help.”
Parpart has had the dream of opening a coffee shop for the greater part of a decade. After Recharge moved into different markets, leaving the space in Manteno open, she knew it was time to take the plunge.
“When they decided to leave, I just knew I had to make a concept for the community,” she said, sharing that construction was about a nine-month process.
When it came to naming the business, Parpart shared that she looked to God for inspiration. Eventually, she decided to base the name off a Bible story of a “woman at the well.”
“In that time, a well signified a place where people would gather,” Parpart said, noting that is what she wanted for the shop. “We wanted it to be a place where people gather and can fill their cups.”
And when talking about those 669 cups from opening day, Parpart said that the most popular options at the time were standard lattes, caramel lattes and cold brew. When asked about her favorite, she named the lavender hot chocolate.
“We’re grateful for the acceptance we’ve received, and the outpouring of support we’ve received from everybody is just amazing,” Parpart said. “The community has done so much to support us and share [content] on Facebook and Instagram.”
<strong>SPRINGING AHEAD</strong>
Since opening weekend, the coffee shop has continued to have success in the form of customer feedback.
“So far [the feedback has] been really great. Sometimes I wish someone would give us something to work on,” Parpart said with a laugh, noting that the occasional constructive criticism comes through.
“The community has really supported us and has given us really great feedback. We’re always trying to work on things and do our best.”
Currently having eight employees, the owners also look to their staff for ideas and feedback, as Parpart noted that an employee recently came up with the idea for a strawberry chai drink.
With the change in season comes a change in menu, and for spring and summer, The Well is focusing on lemonade and lotus drinks while still offering coffee and tea.
From January through March, The Well held an Around the World challenge where different drinks from different countries were on the menu. Customers would get a stamp each time they tried a new option, and if they filled their whole card, they would earn a free drink.
“I think people enjoyed the ‘competitionish’ of getting stamps,” Parpart said, adding that the shop might do something similar in the summer.
Additionally, The Well is hoping to hold more Mocktails & Music nights similar to an event they held in March. With warmer weather on tap, Parpart looks forward to more of these events.
“I look forward to the summer and having tables outside and having the garage door open and just a place where people can come and go and enjoy the Square in Manteno,” she said.
The aforementioned garage door opens from inside the shop’s seating area, which Parpart said gives “a cool vibe with the park [across the street].”
Within the indoor seating area is a large floral wall mural by Melissa Mesenbring, of Eye Alone Art, and an inspirational bulletin board where customers can fill the proverbial cup.
“The inspiration behind that is to leave notes to other people to brighten their day or ‘fill their cups,’” Parpart said, sharing that people leave scripture, nice quotes and encouraging sayings.
More information on the coffee shop and its upcoming events can be found at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thewellmanteno" target="_blank">facebook.com/thewellmanteno</a> or on Instagram @thewellmanteno.
Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.