Meet Alexandra Horton of Café la Reine in Manchester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Horton.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alexandra. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I opened Café la Reine shortly after graduating from Saint Anselm College (Manchester, NH) in 2011. While I was in school, I was always looking for a local coffee shop that was open past 3pm, where I could study and do work but they did not exist. I also fell in love with café culture after taking a course on Paris and New York in the 1920s and 1930s. I wanted to create a gathering place that would foster community and serve high quality coffee, espresso, tea and food.

I worked on planning my business for about a year and began looking for a spot to open my shop in the Spring of 2012. I found my space at 915 Elm St. in Manchester, NH, in the Fall of 2012 and signed my lease at the beginning of January, 2013. After a few months of work, Café la Reine opened on March 27, 2013.

Since then, it has become the gathering place I always hoped it would be! We are open at 6am during the week, 7am on the weekends and are open until 8pm during the week and 9pm on the weekends. We serve high school students, college students, professionals and everyone working in the downtown area. Since opening in 2013, Manchester has become a wonderfully vibrant community, complete with a thriving downtown! The café is surrounded by so many amazing restaurants, shops, new apartments, businesses and colleges and universities. We look forward to being a part of the continued growth of Manchester’s downtown as we celebrate our fifth year at Café la Reine!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some of the biggest challenges I have faced are keeping employees and equipment breaking down. I have been very fortunate with my staff, they have all been amazing supporters of the café. Most of them stay for about a year, I have a few staff members who have been with me for almost three years but it is always difficult to keep a consistent staff in the restaurant industry.

Equipment breakdown is something every restaurant owner faces and we all have to plan for it in some capacity. My café in particular is smaller, it’s old and it has some quirky walls and floors! This makes it difficult to move equipment in and out and is probably the biggest issue when it comes to equipment breakdown!

When I first opened the café, I was working over 100 hours per week (we are open 7 days) so the time commitment was challenging. I also knew what I was getting myself into, so if you prepare yourself for it and expect the work going in then you will do great! Now, my work schedule is a little less hectic but I am always “on call,” I am always promoting my business and I love it because I am passionate about coffee, my shop and my community!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Café la Reine – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The café started with a focus on high quality espresso, coffee and tea drinks. I have been working with the same coffee roaster, Patrick Maloney of Blue Fire Coffee Roasters (Hopedale, MA), since we opened and his product is just next level. I have drank coffee and espresso all over the U.S. and his coffee is just above and beyond anything I have ever tasted. We are known for our iced coffee and we just started carrying Church St. Coffee Co. cold brew and nitro cold brew, which is also roasted by Blue Fire.

Since opening, we have changed our menu a few times. I am really proud of our current menu because my staff and I put a lot of time, effort and thought into it. The result was a very clean menu. We offer all natural products, vegan and vegetarian options, gluten free options, and an all around healthy selection of food. We serve breakfast sandwiches, sandwiches, salads and rice and quinoa bowls. What we are best known for, though, are our acai bowls! I first tried them on a trip to San Diego and decided that we absolutely had to serve them at the café. They have become a huge hit and one of our best selling items!

I have always said that our staff really sets us apart in the coffee industry. I have 2 managers and 2 assistant managers and with their help we have been able to hire passionate people who are team players and really want to see the café succeed. My staff is incredibly attentive to our customers and I believe they are what turn our customers into regulars. I would not be where I am today without the incredible staff members I have had throughout the years!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Right now, I am enjoying our 5th birthday celebration! No big changes as of yet.

Contact Info:

• Address: 915 Elm St.
  Manchester, NH 03101
• Website: www.cafelareine.com
• Phone: 6032320332
• Email: alex@cafelareine.com
• Instagram: @cafelareine
• Facebook: facebook.com/CafelaReine/

Image Credit:
Alexandra Horton

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