The first day we were in Gettysburg I noticed Hard Bean only because they had a white board outside telling us some of the items they served. Otherwise this coffeehouse would be very easy to miss. It is located at 17 Lincoln Square. You have to go around the rotary (turnaround I think people not from Massachusetts call them) in order to find it. There are meters in front of the many stores in this circle. They can be reached at 717-338-0929. They accept MasterCard and Visa. Hard Bean has another location in West Reading, Pennsylvania at 600 Penn Avenue.

When I walked in I found an average looking bordering on cute coffeehouse. It was long and narrow making it unclear as where to order. The cash register was right as I walked in. Two people had ordered and there was some confusion over their order. There were several women in front of the ice cream cooler down the aisle but I had no idea they hadn’t been waited on. I thought they were hanging around chatting.

The young woman who was alone behind the counter took me before these women. She seemed as if she were too busy which made the service slow. I would guess I was in there for 20 minutes.

I had high hopes for Hard Bean. It has a cute name. There were several tables with umbrellas outside on the sidewalk “for customers only.” There were five tables and jazz music playing. Modern art and photographs hung on the wall.

It was clean enough though nothing sparkled.

After the crew member took my order one of the women said very nicely “Where do we stand to get service?”

Hard Bean sells ice cream made by Hall’s, bagels, cakes, and donuts none of which were made there. However the sorbet advertised on the chalkboard said “home made.” Another cooler housed water, juices and fruit.

They sell the usual upscale drinks such as lattés and chai lattés in tall, grandee and magnum. The prices ranged from $2.25 to $3.20.

The cones were $1.99 for one scoop and the frappes $3.75.

Hot chocolate drinks will run you from $2.25 to $3.10.

They also sell wraps, sandwiches, quiches, soup and salad.

The entire menu can be seen at www.hardbean.com.

They had 16 different types of tea. My husband wanted an iced tea. He waited in the car so I picked out a tea. The girl had to make it hot and then ice it.

I asked for a grandee iced coffee. What happened was that she made an iced latté. I never have understood why people would want hot, steamed milk in an iced drink. But they are made so it seems they are bought. I didn't want one however. I didn’t realize that I didn't have a simple decaf iced coffee until I was in the car.

How were these drinks?

They were actually pretty bad. My husband’s iced tea was surprisingly cold but he thought it tasted exactly how I would describe mine – tasteless and watery. I can add warm to my lists of complaints. It was the worst coffee I had since we left Massachusetts and started traveling this summer.

This would be bad enough but after a minute I looked down at the clear lid and saw a small dead bug. The bug was inside the cup so he (or she) was in there when the staff person put the lid on the cup. I told my husband I wanted to go back and show her but he said it wasn’t worth it and took my lid.

I would not go back to Hard Bean. There aren’t many coffeehouses that I noticed in this area but I did see one other. I would recommend trying any other coffee but that at Hard Bean. I certainly wouldn't order any food there.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave me a question or comment. Jo





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