Mugs on Main (33 East Main St., Riverhead, 631-381-0490; mugsonmain.com) may have started out as a coffee shop but has evolved into a whole lot more — and it’s a ton of fun.
Proprietors Kassandra Watkins Schaeffer and her husband Jeff Schaeffer opened their shop in early 2023 on East Main Street, taking over a space that had formerly hosted several restaurants.
“It wasn’t until doing a mock business plan while I was working on my master’s that I thought maybe I could someday open up something of my own,” Kassandra recalls. “The final push came from my husband, Jeff, when he was scouting out real estate for a separate venture and stumbled on our location. He knew I would love it — the quirkiness, the raw brick [which is indeed both original and structural], and even the shabbiness [that came from] years of being restaurants. We could see the potential that downtown Riverhead has to make a comeback and thought it was a great spot for a cute coffee shop.”
The comfortable shop has plenty of room for patrons to sit at the bar and have a specialty coffee, meet up with friends on the sunny back patio, or work on their laptops as long as they like. Their list of creative lattes and espresso drinks, some seasonal, is impressive.
“We have been ever-evolving since conception: starting as just coffee and pastry, adding breakfast, then lunch, then finally dinner with the addition of our liquor license this past May,” says Kassandra. The lunch menu includes soup, flatbreads, and a variety of sandwiches; the same menu, with the addition of seasonal cocktails, wine, and beer, for dinner until 9 p.m. from Thursday to Sunday.
And, in addition to dinner, Mugs on Main now has a lineup of weekly events.
“We’ve since added events to give Riverhead area locals something fun and free to do on weekends,” says Kassandra. “We started with the Sunday Summer Market, offering a free spot for anyone to sell their art, food or wares. We soon added Bitchy Bingo, which is a sassy-hostess version of the classic game, on Saturdays — it’s a fun, fast-paced set of games with quirky prizes. More recently, we added Sunday night Open Mic for any musicians, poets and comics to showcase their talents. Our hosts are extremely talented and fill the gaps between the guest artists.”
Photos by Lilly Parnell
The newest addition is perhaps the most intriguing: a weekly murder mystery game.
“Our newest edition to our weekend offerings is a murder mystery game on Fridays,” Kassandra says. “Our host comes in full character according to the week’s theme, which changes every week. Guests choose the character they would like to be for the evening and then through the story, clues and chatting, everyone tries to solve the murder. “
If you could murder a good cup of coffee — or comfort food-styled dinners — check out the full schedule of events on Instagram.
