KC Perky

Cafe Nouri, the coffee shop with a heart, has closed.  They were a wonderful little shop that not only had good coffee, but gave a portion of their proceeds to needy people in Africa.  Sadly, this wasn’t sustainable.  Perk Up has now opened their second Grand Blvd location in its stead.  We’ll see which kind of Perk Up this becomes:  the good kind or the bad kind.  The owner is still working at this location, so the coffee and service are still good.  Lets see what happens once its flying on its own.

What would this city do for coffee without God? A Cup Above is yet another installment of the church-group-fronted coffee shop series. I suppose that its not entirely a bad thing, as coffee shops have a tendancy to be barely-or-un-profitable. They need a 501c3 status to stay afloat.

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Know how places will sometimes subscribe to magazines and just leave them laying around? Or maybe if they’re Magazines And Coffee, carry more mags than Barnes & Noble? The new cafe, Rev!, doesn’t subscribe to any. Particularly, not Rev! Magazine. I am shocked and appalled, I tell you, SHOCKED.

Personally, I was excited that Rev! finally opened. That “Coming Soon: Crossroads Coffee House” banner taunted me for way too long. Back on March 24, they finally opened. And a solid opening it has been. Right from the first week, their coffee has been good, the service friendly, and the atmosphere quite pleasant.  Plenty of power outlets around for using their WiFi.  Extra bonus points to Rev! for having the little coat hooks on the wall near the tables.  Reminds me of the handy under-bar coat hooks at McFaddens.  That’s right, check under there next time.  SO handy.

Rev! managed to get open for the first big First Friday of the year (May 4) and have a good gallery showing. Word is that next month they’ll have live music on top of the art. Certainly a solid addition to the overall Crossroads scene.

[map to Rev! Cafe and Gallery]

Even more turnover! Java Time at Union Station is no more. The Bistro at Union Station has picked up its duties in a small way with this little cafe next to their main dining area.  Creative geniuses came up with the name of the new shop… Union Cafe. The coffee is much like the name: so-so, but gets the job done. The cinnamon rolls on the other hand… fabulous.

[map to Union Cafe]

This morning’s adventure was to try three questionably open places.

• Solomon’s Porch – Appears to not be open when the church isn’t open. Will investigate further
• Main St Cafe – Not actually a cafe, is a music venue
• Andrew Drips Coffee House – Not actually a coffee house, is just a run-down house.

KC Coffee Map minus 2.

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Eljay’s Coffeehouse just opened last Thursday in the River Market (412 Delaware) in the same place that The Cup and Saucer occupied a few years ago. Leah and Joy (L and J, ElJay) are both excited about this new venture, and are confident it will hold its own where Cup and Saucer didn’t. Leah’s not just confident, she’s also friendly, generous, and perky! Their first day open, it was free coffee for everyone. How can you beat that? Oh, my mocha was spectacularly rich. Free and wonderful. Mmm!

It was from Leah that I heard the rumor that City Market Coffeehouse is closing. That would be a crying shame, I do so love the CMC. BUT, upon checking it out, the barista at CMC said that no, they weren’t closing, it is just a nasty rumor. One probably started by Eljay’s. Little did he know how close to the probable truth he actually struck.

[map to Eljay's CoffeeHouse]