Photo via beansandbarley.com
Beans & Barley
East Side staple Beans & Barley began as a small health food store in 1973. They began serving hot to-go food in 1979. After a fire demolished the original building in 1993, owners secured funding and in 1994 rebuilt the store and café that stands today at 1901 E. North Ave.
Over the years, the café-deli-market has become a standard for consistent healthy foods and vegetarian/vegan appetizers, salads, soups, hot and cold sandwiches, entrées and brunch. When the COVID-19 pandemic sucker-punched the bar and restaurant industry, along with the rest of society, Beans & Barley persevered.
Polly Kaplan, along with James Neumeyer, bought the business in 2012. She was a new hire at Beans & Barley when the business reopened after the fire. She recalls it being chaotic due to problems with a lot of new, inexperienced staff, and management being stretched thin. Over the years the business became financially stable, so they had some breathing room when the pandemic hit.
Focus on Milwaukee
For a brief time, Beans & Barely had a second location at the Mequon Public Market. That location closed and did not reopen, with Kaplan and Neumeyer instead choosing to concentrate on their Milwaukee location.
“We retained all of our managers on the East Side throughout the pandemic, so we have a lot of experience still on hand,” Kaplan says. “Our biggest struggle is hiring and retaining kitchen employees. I don't believe that was the case after the fire.”
Beans & Barely closed during March 2020, as required by law. They reopened the dining room in the summer of 2020 with limited seating. Food was served cafeteria style; it was ordered from the deli and eaten as a carryout order. Kaplan says they closed the dining room as a cafeteria in October of 2020 as COVID-19 cases rose again.
Full Service, In-Person
Beans & Barley reopened for full-service, in person dining Feb. 23, 2021. Social distanced seating is in place. When the weather got warmer in spring, they opened their patio and increased seating while still limiting the number of tables inside. “We are currently seating two-thirds of our dining room. The bar area remains closed,” Kaplan explains.
Beans & Barley had a strong carryout model already in place prior to the 2020 shutdowns. Kaplan says carryout orders accounted for approximately one-quarter of their business pre-pandemic, and it is currently accounting for about 35% of their business.
Kaplan adds they were very lucky to be able to run the market side of the business during the shutdown. Grocery stores were considered essential businesses and were allowed to operate with safety protocols in place.
Most Menu Favorites Still Available
Kaplan says they did not make many changes to the menu, but they had to remove a couple of items that were labor intensive to make but didn’t sell well. Staff shortages caused them to tighten up the bakery offerings such as quick breads, and there’s no more biscotti with espresso drinks. Likewise with the hot deli rotation, which has been reduced because of less staff available to prepare foods. Features are on hold, but Kaplan hopes to resume those in December.
Customers can still find favorites on Beans & Barley’s menu such as their renowned vegetarian chili, a perennial favorite in WMSE’s Rockabilly Chili Cookoff, T.L.T. (tempeh, lettuce and tomato), portobello & hummus sandwich, the Reuben, Cajun chicken, burritos, smoothies and appetizers.
Beans & Barley currently follows Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. They strongly encourage employees to get vaccinated and to mask up, regardless of vaccination status, along with social distancing and extra sanitation measures in the dining area.
“Our customers were truly remarkable and generous in their support of us and the staff,” Kaplan concludes. “Early in the pandemic we saw a huge swelling in gift card purchases to put money in our pockets. The PPP (payroll protection program) loans that were available were a life saver.”
For more information, visit beansandbarley.com.
