Mean Mug Coffeehouse replacing Hiroshi's on Main Street

One of the men behind local establishments The Terminal, Hair of the Dog and The Honest Pint recently bought the building that formerly housed Hiroshi’s—and he’s planning a coffeehouse for the Main Street location.

“We love competition,” Matt Lewis said. “Competition is not something we are afraid of, but we don’t believe we are going to come and take anybody’s business away. We are trying to create a totally unique environment.”

Lewis and his business partner Monica Smith closed the deal on the building on Oct. 7, purchasing both levels.

The coffee shop portion of the building is about 1,000 square feet, Lewis said.

The business will be downstairs and eventually the couple will move into the upper level.

Mean Mug Coffeehouse will have an open house on Dec. 3, during Main Street’s 24-hour block party—Mainx24.

They expect to officially open soon after that, but Lewis wants some time in the business once construction is complete to make sure everything works smoothly.

“If you can’t make a good first impression then you cost yourself more business than you’ve gained by opening early,” he said.

Lewis declined to discuss the cost of the building. It’s a little convoluted, since he bought it, partially, to live in, he said.

But an affidavit of value obtained from the Hamilton County Register of Deeds Office lists a price of $415,000—which is the value of the building or what the purchaser paid for it, whichever is greater.

Lewis and Smith credit The Lyndhurst Foundation and River City Company for development on the Southside and with supporting their ideas. 

Mean Mug will have breakfast and lunch options, such as sandwiches, oatmeal, yogurt and granola, which will be made in-house, Smith said.

Lewis envisions that he will have a staff of about 10 people and some of those positions are already filled. 

They could potentially hire about four more people, Smith said.

 

“Mean Muggin’”
Smith said the Mean Mug name is the result of much brainstorming and fits in well with Lewis’ style he has used for other menus and restaurant names.

“All the names are kind of a little edgy and a play off something else,” Smith said. “His menu descriptions usually refer to something else. He kind of has some humor and then also a serious note. You can come get a mean mug of coffee and it kind of plays off ‘mean mugging.’”

Mean mugging is a slang term that means glare or stare. 

Lewis and Smith are working with Velo Coffee Roasters, which is a locally-owned micro-roaster, to create a house blend.

Andrew Gage opened Velo in April 2010 and he said partnerships, such as the one with Mean Mug, are exactly what he has been seeking out. 

Velo already has partnerships with Whole Foods and offers demonstrations at Greenlife, Gage said. 

Other partnerships include Sluggos, Hub Endurance and the Main Street Farmers Market, which has been "one of our most rewarding and fruitful relationships," he said. 

He is passionate about what he does and excited to work with Mean Mug, but Gage also has a side agenda, he said. 

"I want to see more businesses operate by bicycle or at least use bikes in some aspect of business," he said via email. "Our bike delivery service is hopefully helping push things in that direction."

As the "busy" coffee season approaches, Velo has increased its roastery hours. 

"We want more people in the door to see how we do things," he said.  "We are also starting to carry more brewing merchandise for people that are passionate about making good coffee at home."

 

The vibe
With exposed brick walls, wooden floors and some steel elements, the duo are working to blend the materials into a comfortable, cozy atmosphere.

A side patio also comes with the property, so there can be outside seating and yard space, which is unique to have in a downtown location, Lewis said.

If the coffeehouse were a bar, it’d be a dive bar, Lewis said.

“But clean,” Smith said, clarifying. 

Dive bar can be pretty subjective, but to Lewis it means local, small, dimly lit and comfortable. He said that Smith put it well. She described it as Hair of the Dog—the coffee shop version.

“The idea behind Hair of The Dog was your local neighborhood bar, where everybody is comfortable and everybody enjoys it, but it still has a really unique and good product," Lewis said.  

 Although he and Smith don’t have years of experience in coffee, they have been working with Velo for months to really understand the different brews.

“Chattanooga has got a really nice roasting community and part of the reason we opted not to roast is to be able to utilize somebody who we feel like is doing a really good job at that and partner with him and provide a shop that can really showcase his talent,” Lewis said.

And Smith and Lewis do understand the Chattanooga market. Between the two of them, they have more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant business.

Service, quality products and a good atmosphere are three major components to success, Lewis said.

Keeping with the local theme, Smith said that Chattanooga artists will have an opportunity to showcase their work in the coffeehouse.

“We are dedicating our wall space to local artwork and are planning on having a new artist once every three months,” she said. “During that time, the artist will be able to display and sell their artwork and possibly have a gallery night for the community to view their artwork.”

Updated @ 9:12 a.m. to add comment from Velo Coffee Roasters. Added link to Mainx24.