What’s Brewin’ Cafe

We love this place!!! Every time we’re in town we are sure to stop by at What’s Brewin solely to see my boys Neil and Nate!!! They are the BEST!!! Don’t waste your time at the other local coffee shops! They are not worth it! We’ll be back soon!

I had heard this place wasn’t bad, so my friend and I tried it a few weeks ago (Apr. 2016). I would never go back to this place. Firstly, I don’t know they could possibly be licensed to have as many tables and chairs in that small space as they do, there is no room at all in there. Secondly, places that are cash only seem suspect to me, and it’s a huge inconvenience to me to not be able to use a card to pay. I could have got past those things, but the food just isn’t very good. I ordered a bagel sandwich with sausage, and a toasted onion bagel with scallion cream cheese. I was told that they don’t have a regular scallion cream cheese, and that theirs has bacon in it. I love bacon, so I gave it a try, and was extremely disappointed. It tastes like those disgusting bacon bits that come in a jar in the spice aisle of the supermarket, and there weren’t just a few of them, there was tons of them. And the sausage in my bagel sandwich was not very good either. If you want run of the mill, microwaved crap, I would suggest the dunkins next door, as its about half the price of this place.

This place is okay. But paying $ 3.75 for a buttered bagel with grape jelly is a rip off. Also, what’s up with places in Massachusetts not using fresh eggs for breakfast sandwiches. It would make the food taste so much better instead of using microwaveable egg patties. Gross.

Went this morning for a quick bite. GF got a chocolate donut. I got a bagel sandwich. Sandwich was very good. Egg and cheese with tomato. A small place with 7 or 8 tables. It got real busy quick. and I was impressed that the staff kept up with all the coffee and sandwich orders
Drop in for quality foods for a good price

Everything about this place is awesome. The food, coffee and service. Everytime I go in there the people are friendly and quick, and my food/​coffee has always been right.

Ice lattes are so fun and different if you don’t mind sweet. Egg and meat sandwiches also delish. Look over the menu before ordering there are a lot of options. Cash only.

We moved office over to Beverly recently and needless to say hit the coffee places pretty hard. After a couple of months of trying I settled on «What’s Brewin’?» as my go to. While I think you can get better coffee and better sandwiches in town, these guys get all the factors right: quality, cost and service.
Gusto — probably has better coffee but it is more expensive and the service is a bit awkward.
Atomic — food and coffee is great but you wait too long, wait staff don’t really seem to care, too many hipsters ;)
What’s Brewin
— coffee is good quality and reasonably priced (large iced $ 2.75)
— breakfast sandwiches are awesome. Simple and fresh, and again reasonably priced ($ 3.50 ish). Only available on bagel and croissant, a roll, wrap and english muffin option would be very welcome.
— other food: I haven’t really tried but donuts and sandwiches look great.
— service: the owners and staff really care and are always in unobtrusive good spirits. The main guy quickly learned my order, is always grateful for the business without being awkward or excessive, and the experience is FAST easy and friendly.
This is 5 stars for the complete experience, and for being my absolute go do every day place.
Thanks very much, What’s Brewin’, I really appreciate it. Can I start a tab?

I really like this place so far. I end up going a bit after the rush, so I’ve only been in there with four other people tops. The guys are nice, and I feel like the people commenting that they aren’t probably try barking their order at them like they would at dunks. I love the coffee, never mixed raspberry & mocha before, but now it’s my regular order. Bottom line: remember that this is a small business, so they don’t have to be nice to you if you aren’t to them. Also remember to bring cash, and tip.

I love this place. Great food, great coffee. But after today, I’ll probably never go back since I had to wait 45 minutes for 2 bagels. People who ordered 30 minutes after me got their food before me. If you get slammed with people on the weekend, maybe hire a second person to handle the food (and organizing the orders based on who ordered first would probably help too). I’ve never gone in during the week so it may be a lot better than weekends. But I’ll be finding a new place to go from now on because waiting 45 minutes for a bagel isn’t worth it.

The service here is great! By far the best latte and pastries I’ve ever had. Amazingly delicious flavors that are made perfect every time. I will absolutely be back again and again!

They have excellent sandwiches, both panini and breakfast styles. Friendly staff. And their apple cider doughnuts in the fall are amazing.
My one complaint: I wish they had liquid sugar for my iced coffee. I prefer that over melted sugar (which is what I had there) since the sugar doesn’t always melt completely when they do it. Not a complaint about their melting skills, either; everywhere I’ve ever tried «melted sugar» in my iced coffee has done it like that, with sugar crystals left over on the bottom.
Cash only here, by the way. I came in once before they had «cash only» signs hung up and was embarrassed by it.

This little place has some serious doughnuts. These are manly doughnuts. These are man-​nuts. And haven’t you always craved some heavy man-​nuts in your mouth ladies? Or guys? (It’s 2015, you can admit it if it’s true– you may even get a parade to celebrate it.)
They were only offering chcocolate/​chocolate-​covered and chocolate coconut, but these things were behemoths. Huge, moist, cakey, homemade and super fresh. I can eat some industrial-​grade doughnuts, and one of these filled me up. We ordered a dozen for our group the morning after a birthday night of drinking and debauchery and they were hugely popular. I wished I’d tried some of the giant cinnamon rolls or delicious looking muffins.
The bagels were great when I fell back on my Boston bagel standards and you’ll find all the usual options. By New York standards, they were a bit too soft and chewy. But look, who really cares– these guys were so friendly, the coffee so good, the doughnuts so decadent and the prices so inexpensive they could have slapped my sweet mother across the face with a couple of hot, hefty man– nuts and I still would have left singing their praises. Well done.

Excellent breakfast sandwiches, a wide variety of yummy iced coffees and lattes, and great service! I also like the rewards card they offer. The only way this place would be even better would be if they accepted cards. Although I no longer live in Beverly, I make sure to stop in to What’s Brewin whenever I am in the area!

Best breakfast sandwiches in town. Specifically bacon egg & cheese on everything bagel. I wish I could order ‘light ice’ in my iced coffee here but they don’t like that very much. Very friendly service. Not a place to sit down and eat — I prefer to take my food & drinks to go.

I am working down the road on a movie and found this little gem of a coffee shop. Hand made donuts?! Sold.
Coffees good. What really stood out was the smiles and service.
Im sending everyone on our crew here.

What’s Brewin offers fresh made bagels and breakfast pastries, as well as sandwiches, and the most extensive list of flavored coffees I’ve ever seen anywhere. I have not yet tried the coffee but I have ordered 2 bagel sandwiches. The first one was perfect, and made on a Wednesday I believe with all guys in the shop. I don’t know which one made it but they were very patient, friendly, and brought my order out to me. I was very pleased with the amount of time it took to make 3 sandwiches. My sandwich was sooo delicious and filled with meat, it was hard to eat but worth it. My friend was disappointed that they don’t carry roast beef and that for as big as the sandwiches are, they don’t cut them in half. The lunch sandwiches come with utz chips, and although the price is okay I think they could reduce it by a dollar based on my second visit. Based on my first visit I would gladly pay $ 6 every day for that service and sandwich. My second visit on a Sat, the women were nice enough. They were out of plain bagels at 2 pm so I ordered my sandwich on a wheat, which normally is not a big difference but I didn’t really like this wheat bagel. The tomato slices were way too thick to fit on the sandwich and they put on less than half the meat from the first visit. They have a lot of baked goods and coffees I look forward to trying in the future. I’d say 3.5 stars.

It’s cozy and cute. The breakfast sandwich was delicious. However: they «can’t» give you a glass of water (only bottled) — with no explanation. Also, they have a decent variety of teas but no honey.: (

This place is my go to for coffee in Beverly! They have an amazing selection of flavors to choose from. Personal favorite is an Iced Cinnamon Sticky Bun coffee. Not only are the drinks amazing, but they also have a wonderful selection of food for breakfast and lunch! The staff is friendly as well. Whenever I walk in, Neil immediately starts whipping up my coffee of choice. Excellent service all around! Honestly, my only complaint is that they usually close around 3 or 4 so I’m not able to ever go after work! If you’re in the area definitely check this place out and bring cash, because it’s cash only!

Such mixed feelings here. On one hand, this is first and foremost a coffee shop, and the coffee is frankly not good at all. You can’t put your own cream or sugar in the coffee, so what you get is entirely at the discretion of the grumpy-​looking-​guy making your coffee. As for me, I got bland tasting coffee with literally none of undertones that make a good cup of coffee with a crap ton of cream and enough sugar to put me in a diabetic coma. Yuck.
The woman behind the counter taking my order tried her best to seem sweet, but it came off as that all-​too-​fake sort of sweet where you can tell she’s probably daydreaming about snapping and hurling the customer out the window. I ordered an «iced coffee and a wheat bagel with cream cheese», not aware that I had to specify cream and sugar preferences while ordering. The look and attitude she gave me for not knowing that was astounding. She followed up with «cream and sugar?» — but what she really wanted to say was «cream and sugar, you moron?» Yuck x2.
That said, the bagel was really, really good; perhaps a wee bit burnt, but still one of the better bagels I’ve gotten in the North Shore area. Service was a little slow — I waited a little under 10 minutes for my coffee and bagel, which seemed excessive given that the place was basically empty.
Be aware, this place is absolutely CASH ONLY despite not having a sign advertising the fact. I did not know that going in and sure enough I ended up having to run to a nearby ATM. This isn’t a deal breaker, but come on, it’s 2014 — I can literally pay with my smartphone now, and these guys won’t even let me pay with my debit card.
So basically — TL;DR — if you like good coffee, go to either Atomic Café or Gusto Café, both a 2 minute walk down the street. If you’re after a good bagel, feel free to come on in. But be prepared to wait a while, and make sure you have cash.

What’s Brewin’, you ask? Fabosh breakfast sandwiches and limitless flavor options fo yo coffee.
Neil does a great job with this place, turning an otherwise tricky space (long, narrow) into a well-​oiled breakfast assembly line that keeps the hungry traffic moving toward the register. The fact that you can call ahead and have your order waiting for you upon arrival doesn’t hurt either.
I have found service here to be pretty consistent. Neil always greets his patrons with a smile and knows my mother by name and order, which I know she appreciates. His staff is quick and to-​the-​point, not a lot of small talk going on, which is okay because this place is typically slammed.
In terms of the food… #getinmybelly. I usually get an everything bagel with turkey, egg, and extra cheese. One reviewer commented that the eggs are microwaved — I think it’s one of those turbo ovens, but either way, how else are they supposed to cook your breakfast without holding up the entire operation? If you want a griddle meal, hit up Depot Diner. That’s their gig. Microwaved or not, I have never had an issue with the eggs, bagels, or cheese. The turkey is a TOUCH salty for my taste, but I still order it with abandon (I live on the edge, I know). They also have a ginormous menu board with lunch as well, but I’ve never tried it.
Prices are very reasonable, which is good because it’s cash only. I think the same disgruntled reviewer pointed out that they only take cash, but that’s pretty standard operating procedure for locally-​owned breakfast joints as far as I can tell. My old spot in Medford had the same set up and they’ve been around 30 years. It just means to come prepared. Frankly, I think most people that go to What’s Brewin’ become regulars, so they know to go with dough.
Love my little breakfast spot!