Mighty Mildred’s
I always have trouble writing about a coffee shop I visit a lot. I fear that my frequency has biased my opinions on a shop, that the good times with friends had there affect my opinions of the character of the shop itself. I’ve finally come to realize, that’s OK. As noted in the post Roman Coffee Shops, community is just as important as the other three axis of coffee (those being coffee quality, service, and atmosphere). So with no further ado, …
I love Mildreds. Their coffee is above average (due to their properly seasoned baristas), their breakfast sandwiches are amazingly eggy/wonderful, their breakfast yogurt parfaits are splendid, and their lunch sandwiches are great too. The service is quite nice, very eager to please, but politely stays out of your way.* The atmosphere is just what I’d hope for in a crossroads coffee shop- relaxed and ever-so-slightly modern.
I’m going to touch back on community at Mildred’s. If there’s two coffee shops in the city that you can count on to have nearly every flier for every event in the city, Mildred’s is one of them (Westport Coffee House is the other). Their seating areas are diverse enough to handle any type/size of group you would want to take there, from small tables, to sofas, to splintered, huge, green conference tables, and people DO take groups there. I’m there nearly once a week for an industry networking (read: just screwing around, having fun) time, and I’ve seen many other people meeting groups there too. My only criticism in this department is that they do have a receptive environment, but they don’t seem to be doing anything proactive to build more community. Oh well, only a few shops do that anyways (so far).
All in all, you should go to Mildred’s some morning. And you should definitely get a mocha and a breakfast sammich.
*I only go on this tangent because of one shop I once went to (its now closed anyways) where the proprietor was quite nice, very eager to please, but interjected himself into the date I was on. Sure, that relationship was doomed from the start anyways, but still. That night was supposed to be about me and her, not the proprietor’s grandson and her.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I agree that Mildred’s has a nice atmosphere and the baristas are friendly, but I found their espresso to be absolutely putrid. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but it seems like all of the coffee shops in the Crossroads Arts District that everyone else seems to love, to me have fowl, terrible tasting coffee. Perhaps it’s something in the water that doesn’t agree with may palette, or perhaps I keep going back on the barista’s “off” days, or perhaps they are purposely burning and over-extracting my espresso because they don’t want me coming back (I don’t think that’s the case as I certainly haven’t given them a reason to not want to sell me coffee,) but I just can’t stomach the espresso that comes from Mildred’s, YJ’s Snack Shop, and Coffee Girls- all coffee shops located in the Crossroads. All of those shops have nice coffee shop atmosphere’s, friendly and seemingly knowledgeable baristas, but every time I have been to YJ’s, Mildred’s, and Coffee Girls the story is the same on the espresso- bitter, burned, and over extracted.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Luke, have you been south to the Filling Station or North to Eljay’s? (Both about 5 minutes from the Crossroads.) If so, curious what you think of their espresso.
I’d rate Mildred’s very high in the staff/atmosphere department and lower on the actual espresso. My cappuccinos are typically passable, but not amazing. I wouldn’t go so far as to call ‘em putrid, though.
Best espresso in KC Metro, for my money, is Broadway Cafe (Westport) with the Filling Station a close runner-up.