The Roasted Bean Café & Roastery: Small-Town Coffee, Big Flavour in Thessalon, Ontario

As a world traveller, Melissa Hughes loves to bring her culinary influences back to her food businesses, and her customers love it in return. She is a woman with a passion for food and travel. When she is travelling, her businesses are in the capable hands of her loyal staff, of whom she says, “I couldn’t do any of this without them.”  

I had an opportunity to sit down with Melissa recently, having met a few years previously after she opened The Copper Bean Café in Bruce Mines, Ontario (you can read that article here).

Just a few years later, and with business flourishing, Melissa wanted to expand, and another café in Thessalon made sense. The Roasted Bean Café and Roastery is on Main Street, Thessalon, Ontario. “I already had a lot of customers from Thessalon businesses, organizations and residents, and there wasn’t much here to begin with, so when this location became available, I jumped on it. That was in February, 2025, and in April, 2025, after a lot of renovations and the installation of a kitchen, we were ready to go.”

A Cozy, Vintage-Inspired Café in the Heart of Downtown Thessalon

Much like the café in Bruce Mines, The Roasted Bean includes furnishings made up of antique tables and chairs, and previously loved furniture. On the walls is a collection of old donated tools, and along the long wall as you walk in is an original, beautiful mural, painted by local artist Dawn Allard. Even the dishes the café uses are vintage, and everything put together makes a cozy, inviting space.

In this latest business venture, an impressive coffee bean roaster has a dominant presence inside the café.  It was recently imported brand new, directly from Turkey. “It can roast several kilograms of beans per day. The plan is to put this roaster into production and supply not only my own businesses, but also sell custom roasted coffee beans sold in area grocery stores, trading posts and more,” said Melissa.  

All-Day Breakfast, Lunch Classics, House-Made Baking and Drinks for Every Taste

I asked about the menu offerings at the café, and Melissa explained that “We offer pretty much the same menu here as we do at the Copper Bean. My staff work in both locations, so having the same food and beverage offerings makes it easy for everyone, and of course, it works for our customers because they love what we offer. From an all-day breakfast with items like breakfast panini, breakfast wrap, bagels, or a BELT (bagel, egg or cheese, tomato, lettuce) to lunch with house-made soups and sandwich offerings like the “Dagwood” (ham, turkey, pickles, provolone, tomato, mustard, roast beef, corned beef, cheddar, lettuce and mayo), or the “Reuben” (Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and corned beef). How about the “Copper Bean Wrap”, with turkey, bacon, lettuce, pesto and tomato? There are so many more offerings on the menu. Many of the fresh ingredients are purchased from local farms when in season.”    

The drink menu covers everything from the popular Lavender Lemonade to (of course) coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, espresso, and a variety of teas and cold drinks. 

And the pastries! There is so much to choose from. “Some of our baking is made in-house, the rest is purchased from Canadian suppliers in Sudbury, and our cheesecakes are from Daboom Desserts in Quebec. 

The reception of the residents and travellers has been amazing. 

Serving Algoma Beyond the Café Walls

In addition to the two cafés, Melissa has a busy catering business and also has a contract to run the canteen at the Desbarats arena, as well as the newly opened “Fry Bean Chip Truck”.  It’s easy to see Melissa’s passion and enthusiasm for her work and the way she attracts that enthusiasm back from her customers and her over twenty staff members. She is a woman who values hard work and isn’t afraid to go after what she wants and have fun while doing it. Congratulations Melissa!

The Roasted Bean Café and Roastery

Owner: Melissa Hughes
210 Main Street, Thessalon
Hours of Operation: open 7 days per week, 8 am to 3 pm
Facebook: The Roasted Bean Cafe

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