Thirsty Joe's Cafe opens at Business Innovation Center

FALL RIVER – Thirsty Joe’s Café is serving up a blend of food, coffee, and something for “the hungry mind,” said owners Christopher Nielson and his wife, Sony Fernandes.

A new venture for the founders of the Business Innovation Center, Thirsty Joe’s is located in the same building as the BIC at 385 Columbia St. It offers guests the opportunity to enjoy a coffee, pastry, lunch or pizza with the option of stopping in for one of the Business Innovation Center’s Lunch and Learn workshops, said Nielson.

“The theme of the café will center around helping visitors become inspired by new ideas inclusive of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM),” said Nielson in a press release for the new café.

The creative menu is also a creative techie's dream with selections such as the “Periodic Table of Pizzas” (118 possible pizza combinations) The Big Bang breakfast including egg sandwiches, the Cosmic breakfast pizza and their signature “muf-kins,” bran-based muffins with an assortment of fillings such as chocolate chips and blueberries.

“We’ll also be making some unique pizzas that they can try by the slice. Another thing that’s unique is the muf-kins… they’re really delicious. It’s a neat combination that’s also healthy,” said Nielson.

In addition to made-to-order pizzas, lunch and dinner options also include salads and The Outer Limits, a bratwurst and cheddar platter with pretzel points.

“We’re makers, we’re creators and Chris Rodrigues — our chef — has some great creative ideas,” said Nielson of the café’s quirky menu. “We tried to make the names related to science and technology wherever we can.”

Those looking for something sweet to top it off will find Atomic Cheesecake and Out of this World deep-dish cookies in three varieties: The Milky Way (white chocolate macademia); The Black Hole (double chocolate) and Dark Matter (dark chocolate and raspberry). “They're so gooey, you’re going to love them,” said Nielson.

Of course, as the name implies, there’s plenty of non-alcoholic beverage choices from espresso and specialty coffees to the Solar Smoothie (fruit) and the Galactic Lemonade infused with cranberry and honey.

The idea for Thirsty Joe’s Café started with their son, Angelo, who ran a lemonade stand at the business for Lemonade Day in 2015 that he called Thirsty’s Joe’s Lemonade. “When we decided to do a social space/café at the Business Innovation Center, I went back and thought that was a cool brand, a neat idea and we wanted to tie in the idea of a café for a hungry mind,” said Nielson.

Angelo, a high school student at the Atlantis Charter School, sketched out the concept for the logo. They took it to artist Chelsea Arruda, who made it into a digital illustration; Sabrina Loureiro, another local artist, created the Thirsty Joe painting hanging in the café.

“The entire team has been working so hard,” said Nielson on Friday as they prepared for the opening this week. The soft launch was slated for Monday and the official ribbon cutting for Thirsty Joe’s will be Sept. 17.

As a crossover with the BIC, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, they’ll be offering their Lunch and Learn workshops. “It will be a 45-minute presentation over lunchtime. People can come and experience the café and come upstairs to hear some type of presentation,” said Nielson.

On Tuesdays, the presentations are related to software skills with instructor Joe Clayton; Wednesdays Nielson is leading the instruction on Technology Innovations that covers a wide range of technology and the impact it has on the workplace; and Thursdays the focus is on sales and marketing tips and tricks.

The BIC, which is also run with the guidance of Program Manager Ines Valenzuela Loureiro, will also be hosting other series at night including Virtual Reality Nights on Fridays, gaming clubs and Toastmasters meetings.

“There’s always going to be something fun for people to do. Our goal is to get people out of their comfort zones, to stretch their imagination and to get them involved in things they haven’t quite experienced before,” said Nielson.

The café has a counter and table seating inside and an outdoor patio.

“Our goal has always been about building communities of communities and we’re going to be doing the same thing with the coffee shop. We want to be the place where you come in and they know your name and you can relax and be comfortable,” added Nielson.

For more information about the Business Innovation Center and its Lunch and Learn workshops, visit the website, businessinnovation.center or contact Ines Loureiro, program manager, at ines@businessinovation.center or 508-655-1553. For Thirsty Joe’s Café, check out thirstyjoescafe.com.

Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.