NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. (WPRI) — Nearly two years after it was heavily damaged in a fire, a Rhode Island favorite is back up and running.
Coffee & Cream, owned by Heather and John Branchaud, opened Monday at a new location in Slatersville Plaza on Victory Highway in North Smithfield.
They say customers are just as excited as they are.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 22 years old. The food and atmosphere, it’s always a good place to come,” said long-time customer, Rachel Normanden.
“Even just when we have been here, this whole time, getting ready, costumers would come in and say hey, ‘when’s the date? Are you opening?'” said co-owner Heather Branchaud.
While the couple says the menu will essentially be the same, they’ve added a lunch menu this time around and extended hours.
The original location on Greenville Road caught fire in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2017. No one was inside at the time.
“That is a day that we will never forget,” said Branchaud. “Getting that call and, it was very hard to see that building go up. It was in my husband’s family for 30 years. So today, to be able to be here and all be together, it’s just a dream come true.”
The family-owned restaurant first opened in 1990 by Norman Branchaud.
