There’s a new cafe in Village Books. Here’s what you can get there for $25
In our On a Budget series, a Bellingham reporter visits popular spots around town every month to tell readers what they can get or do there on a budget of $25.
Shortly after Evolve Chocolate + Cafe closed its shop on the second (or third, depending which side of the store you enter) floor of Fairhaven’s Village Books, a new cafe moved in.
Next Chapter Cafe, which opened in June, is the result of a collaboration between a pair of local restaurants: Bry’s Filipino Cuisine and It’s The Sweet Things bakery.
Whether you’re hoping to get a coffee on your next trip to Village Books, or you’re looking for a new place to get lunch in Fairhaven, here’s what the new restaurant has to offer.
Next Chapter Cafe menu
Next Chapter Cafe features items from both Bry’s and It’s The Sweet Things. In the morning, the cafe offers a variety of breakfast sandwiches, including vegan and gluten-free options. At 11 a.m., it switches to its lunch menu, which features adobo, sandwiches, soups and salads.
A rotating list of pastries and deserts is available as well – on my visit, the pastry list included croissants, brownies, lemon bar, apple caramel tart and ube cookies.
The drink menu mostly consists of coffee, but it does feature some flavor combinations you won’t find everywhere. There’s a blackberry dark chocolate mocha, and the latte flavors include ube, vanilla lavender and almond anise. Next Chapter also serves affogato and milkshakes that are vegan.
What I got for $25 at Next Chapter Cafe
There are a few ways you can spend a $25 budget at Next Chapter. The lunch items tend to be more expensive, so to leave room in the budget for a coffee and pastry, I opted to go for breakfast.
I ordered the pandesal breakfast sandwich – egg, cheese, avocado, tomato and your choice of protein on pandesal, a soft and slightly sweet Filipino roll. It also came with a side of yogurt, blueberries and strawberries.
The pandesal sandwich was $12, as opposed to the bagel and croissant options which were $14. It was plenty of food, though, especially with the side of fruit and yogurt.
I also got an iced latte as well, which was $5, along with a blueberry lemon bar for $6.
The lemon bar was the highlight, although the breakfast sandwich was almost every bit as good. It wasn’t the easiest place to stay under budget, but the portions were big and the food was filling.
The main seating area looks out over Fairhaven while you can also eat at the seats overlooking the always-busy main floor of the bookstore. Either way, the views and atmosphere help set the cafe apart as well. It’s not hard to imagine passing an entire afternoon there with a drink and a pastry, reading the book you just bought downstairs, but I guess that’s why bookstores and coffee shops seem to go hand-in-hand.
If you were given $25 where would you go? Drop your suggestions in the form below and we’ll put it on our list of affordable Bellingham activities to try.