Beow's Books & Brews

My kids and I wanted to try a new coffee shop to us. We were up in the North Raleigh area, so we figured we'd give this one a shot. This place is definitely much less of an actual book store and more of a coffee/brew shop. Cool atmosphere and location. It was packed when we were in there on a Sunday, so that's a good sign that it's a popular spot. They do offer Oat milk as a plant based option for their coffee drinks, which I definitely appreciated. They have some in house tea drinks as an alternative to coffee, which was great because I don't give coffee to the youngest teenager yet. Two of us got the Blood Orange iced tea drink and the other two got lattes. We really enjoyed the teas and one of the teens loved the latte. The other teen wasn't impressed with her mocha latte because she said the powder was stuck in the bottom. So my guess is that the mocha latte doesn't work well as an iced option. I did ask about their food options. While they do offer quite a few gluten free options to all of their food options, they don't offer any vegan options, which is really disappointing. Therefore, I couldn't try any of their food to give feedback on that. In today's day and age, it seems a bit odd to not have any vegan options, so I wasn't thrilled with them from that perspective. Overall, the place is cool, but they really need to expand their offerings to cater to more dietary restrictions in order for someone like me to rate them higher.

Fun place. They have gluten free biscuit and food options! Food is named after hobbit - A+ haha. Not too many books - a little section near the front. Totally worth going for the food and drinks. Lots of people relaxing, reading, working, chatting... Good vibes!

Beow's (short for Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles) is a uniquely-differentiated offering in our community. It serves as a family-friendly coffee shop/bar/lounge/book store/forum/event space. The staff are down-to-earth and accommodating--you won't find pretense or dramatics here. The environment is serene, and when it is lively it can be from live music, Trivia Night (about every two weeks on a Friday or Saturday), Comedy Night (first Saturday of each month), a Tuesday-night educational presentation, or different groups meeting (book clubs, Bible study, birthday celebrations, etc). The menu offers sandwiches and salads, from vegetarian to meaty (they can accommodate vegan and gluten-free). Breakfast before 11am is tasty and satisfying--the biscuits are generously portioned and scrambled eggs are always cooked just right. Counter Culture coffee and espresso, and The Tea Spot loose-leaf teas (English Breakfast is my favorite) fill the pick-me-up need with a robust quality. The beer offerings periodically change and rotate, and always feature light ales and fruit ciders to aged porters.