Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Finocchiaro.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Audrey. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The Nitro Cart started like many great ideas do, sketched on a napkin. Shortly after graduating college my partner and I wanted to use our love of coffee for a greater good. We decided to build a cart (in the bougiest of places, my parent’s basement.) After we had maxed out our small credit cards building this small cart, we hit the streets of Providence. Transporting the cart in the back of an old Subaru from Jamestown to Down City everyday of summer 2016. There we began experimenting with different nitro cold brew mocktails. Incorporating mint, chocolate, coconut and various other ingredients to our locally sourced brew.
We caught the attention of several local restaurants who wanted our nitro in their restaurants. This led us to installing taps into local RI spots – you could now find us even when the cart was off the streets!
40 + taps later, we’ve now spread to Boston and CT. We also opened our first brick and mortar, The Nitro Bar in January and have 3 Nitro Carts. The Nitro Bar, our latest endeavor, has a bunch of house made drinks on nitro. A few of our favorites include our house made nitro chai, vanilla latte, lemonade + a wide array of craft cold brew mocktails.
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?
Social media has a knack of showing all the pretty parts of starting a business. We have a lot of friends, even family, who think we were an “overnight” success. When we first started popping up in Providence there were many days where Sam and I would sit in the rain all day to make $50. It took a lot of relocating, embarrassment and trial and error before finding the right location for us.
It took us a solid 4 months before finding the best location for the cart. During those 4 months we didn’t care about making money. Looking back we were really doing research during that time. Collecting date on what kind of drinks people liked, how to best engage with our customers and other little odds and ends.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Nitro Cart – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We specialize in locally sourced nitro infused cold brew coffee. (What a mouthful?!) We put a strong focus on craftiness – we love incorporating different ingredients into our nitro cold brew and creating our take on coffee.
We also have a strong love for our community. We were built off a loyal following of amazing customers and are hyped that many of these people have become good friends.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are planning on further expanding into more tap locations in Boston! We’re hoping to link up with local breakfast spots that share similar values as us. We’re also hoping to open up more Nitro Bars in Rhode Island and beyond!
Contact Info:
- Address: 228 Broadway, Providence
- Website: www.thenitrocart.com
- Email: thenitrocart@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenitrocart/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenitrocart/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/thenitrobar_/
Image Credit:
Derek Delahunt + Alex Nendza
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