Neighborhoods Coffee and Crepes Now Open on Peterborough Street

When Fenway resident Betsy Hill took a part-time job at Starbucks, she never considered one day she'd be the owner of her own coffee shop.

"The whole thing still doesn't feel real," she said. 

Hill, a BU grad and Fenway resident for more than a decade, had worked at Starbucks part-time for three years, enjoying the flexible schedule it allowed to help her and her husband raise their three children, Abigail, 6, Ayanna, 4, and Nathan, 2.

Then, one day, she said she "just came up with the idea." Hill said she actually tried to get several others to open a coffee shop in the neighborhood first. However, no one went for it. Until Hill and her husbad David did.

"We thought, well, are we going to buy a house in the suburbs, or put up all our savings and jump off this cliff?" she said. 

Her friend and fellow Fenway resident Stephanie Sabbe of Sabbe Interior Design helped her with the design to convert the space into a cafe. She received help on her business plan from a consultant through the Center for Women in Enterprise, and was approved for a business loan. 

Five months later, Neighorhoods Coffee and Crepes joined Restaurant Row on Peteborough Street. 

The coffee shop features coffee, creps and basekd goods. The coffee and espresso drinks are all direct trade coffee. The chocolate is fair trade from El Salvador, and baked goods made right there in the shop. There are also some gluten free items for sale. 

Patrons can choose from either savory or sweet crepes, including the signature (Arugula, feta, mozzarella, & tomato with balsamic vinaigrette for 6.95) or the sweet simplicity (Belgian Chocolate Hazelnut Spread  w/ strawberries or bananas dusted with powdered sugar for 5.50).

Hill says that since the shop's opening a few weeks ago, the steady stream of neighborhood customers are confirming she's made the right decision about the location.

"Why did I open the shop in the Fenway neighborhood?" she asked herself aloud.

"You wanted to make a place for people to connect in the neighborhood," her husband David supplied. 

"Yes, that's exactly it," she said. "I love Fenway, and I wanted to make a place for the neighborhood."