January 2024 by Gauthier Quinonez
Great little café in Thornhill. Their coffee is very good. They have a lot of non-dairy milks and vegetarian/vegan snacks. Perfect place to stop to recharge your battery!
September 2023 by Sean
What a nice place to stop for a coffee - there?s non-dairy milk available too. The adjoining room has a whole array of environmentally friendly products to purchase. You can fill your boots with dry goods - nuts, dried fruits, a fantastic range of herbs & spices, cereals and teas - and you can even buy cleaning products too. Just remember to bring your own bags, Tupperware or bottles to put them in. The staff were extremely friendly & helpful and it?s got a nice atmosphere if you plan to stay to drink your tea or eat a piece of their cake. Definitely worth a visit!
August 2023 by Molly Beattie
Best coffee for miles and miles. Great atmosphere. Highly recommend.
May 2023 by S C
We found this lovey little coffee shop on our way to Troon, we had delicious coffee and the owners were friendly and welcoming. Although we never ate there, all that was on display looked very tempting! Well worth a visit.
April 2023 by Peter S
Review of: Lean Bean Café, 43 West Melton Street, Thornhill, Scotland We had the pleasure of a two-night stay in a house partway down West Melton Street in the small town of Thornhill mid-summer. The Lean Bean Café was just a few metres away ? and where better to take our early morning coffee. In fact, we were invited to treat the place like home ? people were that friendly; on our second morning we carried our toast and marmalade on a tray across the road to match the coffees purchased from the café. We had a seat in the sun on the warm pavement outside the café ? it provided life, opened up the neighbourhood and we even got to say ?g?day? to a couple of local people seated at a table close by. But not too close - we remained as wary of Covid-19 as ever. Can?t travel away from home and take the risk of becoming infected. What a hassle that would be. But first the neighbourhood. From the pavement outside the café, you can easily capture the entire length of West Melton Street - it?s wide and lined on either side with turn of the century heritage two-story terraced houses that open directly on to the pavement. The café occupies one of those houses. Occasional scattered trees front the houses, but most of the pavement space was given over to parked cars. It?s a quiet and pleasant neighbourhood. The place felt empty and this notwithstanding there?s >1,800 people living in the town. At one end of West Melton Street there was the roundabout at the intersection with Drumlanrig Street ? the main A76 through road linking the town with Dumfries 25 km south. There?s a flying horse* on a column at the centre of the roundabout and a traditional and imposing town hotel/pub ? the Buccleuch Arms on one corner. At the other end of West Melton Street and largely hidden by those trees there was an interesting, but defunct, church building constructed of red brick. You don?t immediately realise that the place is no longer a religious building. We explored it when walking the street one evening - it turns out that the building is currently a commercial store ? selling Chinese antiques. Now there?s a novel development. What would those earlier 19/20th century congregations have made of it? A reflection, perhaps, on the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus and his well-known quotation: ?Change is the only constant in life?. And it?s easy to see this feature in the raison d'être of the Lean Bean Café ? promoting environmental issues with focus upon healthy foods, zero wastes and minimum carbon footprint with the challenges of establishing a profitable enterprise during times of Covid-19. This is not immediately apparent to the casual visitor and it only becomes more obvious ? but not in-your-face as such ? when wandering around the café, into the sales room/refill shop within the cafe, and reading the information provided. You may be here for a coffee/brioche/croissant, but you could equally stock up on a range of refillable personal healthcare products, herbs/spices, nutritional foods and similar. How do costs compare with the local supermarket? How practical is the ?refill process?? How easy is it to capture the casual buyer? And so on. Therein are some messages of our time, and the success of the Lean Bean Café will ultimately rest with the motivation of local people ? young and old ? who may follow trends of this kind, encourage novelty and care for the environment. This thing about the messages comes across well when exploring the background to the Lean Bean Café further. The enterprise is one of a number highlighted by the ?South of Scotland Enterprise? ? a public sector agency providing services, grants, advice, tech/development assistance and more to local SMEs. Whatever the limited background to the café based upon some first impressions and a couple of coffees, etc. ours was a good experience - friendly services once inside, prices that were competitive, comfortable seating arrangements and that sense of ?she?ll be right, mate? that we?d previously taken largely for granted back when we lived in mid-Canterbury. Sure, we?d see
April 2023 by Rebecca S
Absolutely superb service and food, brilliant from start to finish. Kirsty and her family were extremely welcoming and engaging. You can?t fake that! Respect Bec and Nigel x
October 2022 by Richard80T
We were staying at a near by hotel and popped in for coffee and cake before driving home. The cake was fantastic and great selection including vegan options. After that we had a look in the attached packaging free shop and bought some nutritional yeast. Wish we had more time & a shopping list with us. Will definitely visit again when I?m the area. Great value for money.
July 2022 by Kate Campbell
Fab place to pick up lunch and a great coffee. I particularly like the seasonal menu choices and the ethically sourced items for my store cupboard. I'm always in here for my refills. I'd highly recommend
July 2022 by Safari481462
No room to park on the main street so I had to park further away than normal and that was how I came across Lean Bean. Lovely coffee served by attentive helpful staff ....... will be back.
February 2022 by WHB70
Great place for a coffee nd snack and such friendly staff. Highly recommended and a welcome addition to Thornhill.
February 2022 by Wickhamhenboy
Great place for a coffee nd snack and such friendly staff. Highly recommended and a welcome addition to Thornhill.
November 2021 by X5589ZR
great coffee and service - options for store cupboard refills minus the plastic waste we all must avoid - lovely friendly staff / owners
October 2021 by Martin Scott
Excellent flat white (best I?ve had in Scotland!) and open usefully early (7:30). The refill shop is really well set up and stocked, too. All round excellent!?
September 2021 by GordonK259
Excellent coffee and sandwiches. The refill shop is great and really easy to use. Saves the planet while serving good coffee, what more could you want.
July 2021 by Chris I
Vibrant little coffee shop in the centre of Thornhill. Billed as a health food cafe and zero waste refill shop this place ticks all the boxes, the coffee is delicious and Kirsty a very welcoming host. Thornhill has more independent village stores than is usual for this part of the country, all of which are worth a visit. Be sure to visit Liz Cole?s Moniaive Chocolatier, Jinty B?s Tearoom, Thomas Tosh and Blossom and Bloom. Top it off with a visit to the Queensberry Marbles in Durisdeer Church, Morton Castle and a walk around the Drumlanrig Castle estate and you have a perfect day out!
