The Chill Bean Coffee House
140 W. Main StreetWe have spent a lot of time in St. Joseph County the last several years because J’s parents moved from the Chicago suburbs to a lake near Centreville. We have our favorite pizza place (The Local) and they have their standard rotation of bars and restaurants.
We don’t venture outside that too often. Occasionally, I’ll go in to Sturgis to go grocery shopping and stop some place but we do a lot of grilling when we can and pizza when we can’t.
We also don’t take M-86 to get to Centreville. We have this weird way we weave through the country and go through Mendon to get to where we’re going. So when new restaurants do pop up in Three Rivers or Centreville, we don’t always notice them.
I ended up in Centreville last week for work. We had a couple of things to do then head back to Kalamazoo.
I noticed a coffee shop in town that I had never seen before. I quickly looked them up while I was pumping gas and saw they had sandwiches. When we got down with our tasks for the day, I asked my co-worker if it was alright if we stopped and grabbed something really quick.
The Chill Bean Coffee House is on Main Street (M-86) near the corner with N. Clark Street across from the St. Joseph County Courthouse. The building has been a coffee shop for quite a while. It was Kirby & Lehman’s Courtyard and The Centre Hub after that. I had never stopped at either of those. The Chill Bean opened up in this space late last year.
The restaurant is not very big and we stopped in during peak lunch hours. Most of the tables were full. I’m assuming they do pretty well with employees from the courthouse. There’s not a lot of options in the area and this is about the only one walkable open for lunch. The space has that coffee house vibe with old hardwood floors, exposed brick wall and a cool vibe.
The menu is written on a chalkboard on the wall near the order area. They also have daily specials listed on their Facebook page. I’m not a coffee drinker and I had just grabbed a couple of Pepsi’s from the gas station down the street. I just wanted a sandwich and to get back on the road.
I picked the Grilled Ham and Cheese while my co-worker got a breakfast burrito. The cost of my sandwich was about $6.25. The cashier said she’d bring it out when it was done.
My co-worker and I ordered back to back and his burrito came out quicker. Not a huge deal. I figured the burritos were easier to make and possibly pre-made. We sat there for another ten minutes waiting on my sandwich when I noticed a to-go container sitting on the counter. There was no one else that had ordered after us so I got curious. It could have been a call in order, but when I walked up to the counter, I noticed my name on the ticket. I asked if I could take it and got a funny look . She asked if I was (my name) and I said yes, so she handed it over.
That was a little weird but I forgot about all of that when I bit in to the sandwich. It was really good.
The Grilled Ham and Cheese is exactly what it sounds like. Grilled cheese with ham on sourdough bread….and there’s a lot of ham. The bread had a delicious, buttery crust from being pressed and the cheese flowed out around the thick layer of ham. The ham didn’t appear to be grilled but that wasn’t a big concern for me. The sandwich was exactly what I was hoping for when I stopped in to this place.
So, the length of time it took me to get my sandwich was annoying but, on the other hand, the sandwich was delicious. It was just an oversight as the front of house staff was starting to clean up from the lunch rush.
I don’t go to Centreville too often during the week but if I did, I’d hit this place more often. I know it usually sucks when you have business at the courthouse but if you’re in the area anyway, stop and get a sandwich….and a coffee if you like that kind of thing.
SW Michigan Dining 