Brewed Awakenings is coming to Cranston

Brewed Awakenings, a neighborhood coffee shop currently located in Johnston and South Kingstown, is coming to Cranston.

David J. Levesque, the Johnston-based company’s founder and owner, this week announced that construction would soon begin on a Brewed Awakenings that will replace a former gas station at 1200 Pontiac Avenue that his firm purchased from Alliance Energy.

“We’re very, very excited about Cranston,” Levesque said. “If all goes well, we hope to be open this August.”

Brewed Awakenings recently received unanimous approval from the Cranston Zoning Board to begin the project, which will cost $1.6 million.

“Part of the building will stay, but most of what’s there now is coming down,” Levesque said of the vacant gas station. “We’re going to put on a 600- to 800-foot addition. There will be seating for 50 to 60 people. We’ll also have a drive thru. This will probably be one of the nicest designs we’ve done.”

While much of the design plan came from Levesque’s combined experience of having three other stores, it was put into the final drawings and design by Frank Karpowicz, an architect from Wakefield.

Levesque said the project also includes parking for 25 to 30 cars and a sign nearly 80 feet tall that will feature a coffee cup on top.

Brewed Awakenings will employ upwards of 35 people. One-third of that, Levesque said, will be full-time positions.

“When the Cranston store is done, it will be beautiful,” Levesque said. “We hope to be a good addition to the city and the entire business community.”

Brewed Awakenings has been a good neighbor at its other three locations, two of which are located within one mile of each other in Johnston and the other in the South County Commons, located off Route 1 in South Kingstown.

As an example of how well received Brewed Awakenings has been in Johnston and South Kingstown, the presidents of the Chambers of Commerce in those communities – as well as the one in Cranston – spoke at a recent Planning Board meeting in support of the business.

“All three of our current locations are always busy,” Levesque said. “They have become the neighborhood meeting and gathering place. And we’re confident that our Cranston location will be the same type of place.”

“Our Cranston location will be a very classy and elegant coffee shop,” Levesque said. “We will have a fireplace, and we’ve brought back the bar area concept.”

The Cranston location will also have a bigger kitchen than previous locations.

“We’ve learned to improve upon what you already have and ways we can make our operation better. I value ever customer that comes into our stores. We want to make their stay – and purchase – as nice as possible,” Levesque said.

When asked why he chose to build another location in Cranston, Levesque said, “I always wanted to go to Cranston. It’s a great city…there are some great businesses and people there. The location is on one of the busiest roads in Rhode Island. There are 32,000 cars a day going through there.”

The Cranston location will serve breakfast and lunch from a newly designed menu, featuring sandwiches, soups and salads, as well as desserts from the Cheesecake Factory.

There are several other things that won’t change.

“Brewed Awakenings has proven to be a good neighbor in two other communities,” Levesque said. “We pride ourselves in great customer service. That’s something I insist upon from each and every employee. It’s also something I learned from my father. He was the best in customer service.”

His father, Joseph Levesque, was a bartender at Capriccio’s Restaurant in Providence.

“My dad had quite the following,” Levesque said. “People would come into the bar and ask for my dad. If he wasn’t there at the time, they said they’d wait for Joe. He was that good. And we’ve taken what he stood for and put it into our operation.”

Levesque’s business is not connected to the former Brewed Awakenings in Warwick.

“When we were trying to come up with a name, someone suggested Brewed Awakenings,” Levesque said. “I really liked the name. I went to the Secretary of State’s office to see if it was being used. They told me there used to be a Brewed Awakenings in Warwick, but it went out of business. They told me we could, in fact, use the name.”

In the future, a Warwick location could be a possibility.

“I’m always looking for other spots,” Levesque said. “Right now we’re in some nice neighborhoods. And as long as they support us, we’ll keep going and looking.”

Brewed Awakenings will be open Sunday through Thursday from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.