At Bean Here Coffee, when customers sit at the bar they can expect a barista or owner Mike Ouano to strike up a conversation. “This is kind of like ‘Cheers’ in real life,” Ouano said. “It’s a really cool environment, and it makes it really easy for us to work here. My baristas love it here. I love it here.” One way Bean Here caters to its guests is with a menu board featuring drinks named after customers. “That right now is taking over everything because they themselves want [the drink]; their friends want it, and people who come in for traditional stuff look at it and want to try it and fall in love with it,” Ouano said. In addition to coffee, the Bean Here menu features tea, frappuccinos, smoothies and food, Ouano said. Bean Here opened in Sienna Plantation two weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit the Greater Houston area in August 2017, and Ouano offered free coffee and water to anyone who could get to the shop. “We tried to stay open as long as our supplies lasted,” Ouano said. “During that time a lot of stores started shutting down. A lot of people were stuck at home for days and cabin fever sets in at some point.” Coming from a family of bakers and restaurant owners, Ouano always had a dream of opening his own coffee shop. Before opening Bean Here, Ouano sold his own home-roasted coffee at local farmers markets. Ouano has been a resident of Sienna Plantation in Missouri City for 15 years. When deciding where to open Bean Here, he gathered his own traffic data at several locations before settling on Sienna Parkway. “I decided I really want to be a community coffee shop,” he said. “I have to be in the neighborhood. So far, the neighborhood has been great. Everybody’s been very supportive. We try our best to give back any way that we can.” Ouano hopes to open more Bean Here Coffee locations in the future, he said. “The hardest thing to replicate is my baristas and me,” he said. “I’m definitely trying to make these guys take ownership and be proud of what they’re doing.”

Bean Here Coffee

4340 Sienna Parkway, Ste. 102, Missouri City 713-568-6582 www.beanherecoffee.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. 6 a.m.- 8 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.