The Works Café
The Works Café got its start in Manchester, Vermont. The year was 1988 and we served delicious, traditional bagels and other healthy foods sourced locally. Today, the Works has eleven cafés throughout New England and still operates on its founding principles: Good food for great people and a better planet.
Today, The Works Café still reflects the early idealism of its founders. The company continues to run on the principal of the triple bottom line—people, planet, profit.
what we believe
- Serve delicious, healthy meals at a reasonable price. Make our customers smile
- Support the communities in which we work
- Learn and grow from our mistakes
what we do
- Support local suppliers and buy sustainable products whenever possible
- Demonstrate the importance of the 4Rs + C (reduce/reuse/recycle/rethink + compost)
- Share our food and other resources with charitable and nonprofit organizations
- Encourage our staff to get involved in their communities
- Promote our cafés as neighborhood gathering places
how we sustain
- Non-petroleum lined, compostable hot cups
- Unbleached paper products
- Compost and recycle company-wide
- Refillable mug policy since 1988 (think of all those cups kept out of the landfill!)
- Founding member and active participant: New England Business for Social Responsibility and Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility
- Green Concord founding member
- Green Commute sponsor
- Support statewide Green Up days, feeding lots of hungry volunteer
- Part of the Bike to Work initiative – just show the special decal on your bike helmet
- Green Restaurant in the Green Mountain State status
- Vermont Business Environmental Partnership member
who’s noticed
- QSR’s 40/40 list for 2022 as one of America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casual Restaurants
- Best of New Hampshire (Reader’s Choice, Best Bagels) since 2002, NH Magazine
- Monadnock Green Business of the Year
- Vermont Green Restaurant, Vermont Business Environmental Partnership
- BOB (Best of Business) Award for coffee, New Hampshire Business Review
- New Hampshire Business Excellence Award, New Hampshire Business Review
- 40 Under 40: Outstanding business and civic leader award, Manchester Union Leader
