KC Perky

JP’s Winebar and Coffeehouse is a great little joint, for food, wine, & coffee. Very comfy atmosphere, good coffee, good service, etc, etc. It was about to break into my top 10 coffee shops.

But then they went and shortened their hours. They don’t open till 8AM now, a near-cardinal sin for a coffee shop. They used to open at 6AM, one of the earliest in the area. I suppose we can excuse it a bit in this case since they’re also a fantastic lunch, dinner, and late evening hang-out too.

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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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Happy returns!   SoHo Bakery and Cafe is back open, and better than ever.   I can reverse my removal of them from the top ten list.

Short, short version: new owners,   new menu, same great coffee.   Also, the decor is much better too.   Now it looks like it belongs in downtown rather than Liberty :)

Remember 3 weeks ago when I told you all to drink more coffee from the Top Ten Shops? Because the best shops in town keep closing? This is your opportunity to make good on that. Magazines and Coffee (currently #9 on top 10) is in trouble and might close soon.

[Deirdre Hanlon-Jones's] sales are about evenly divided between magazines and food, but her profit is higher on the food. Still, she doesn’t want to give up the magazines and become just another convenience store. She’s beefed up the lunch offerings with such items as vegetable parfait with carrots and sliced cucumbers that can be dipped in hummus or ranch dressing, and hot lunch specials such as red beans and rice, beef cooked in wine for 24 hours, and macaroni with three cheeses.

So help me keep a good shop open, and drink more coffee from MAC. As if my caffeine addiction isn’t bad enough already… Maybe just have more lunches there.

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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]

Charlie’s Bistro & Sandwich Shop (1128 Oak St) has an espresso drink menu on the wall.

I went this morning to try them out.

They do not have fru-fru drinks.

Not too much to say about this little place. It qualifies as a coffee shop, but just barely. How so? Well, 1) They sell coffee. A lot of it. But, 2) Its mostly just brewed cups, very little espresso drinks. Its a shame, with such a clever name as Espresso Ah La Cart.

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I had been tipped off by many friends, readers, and one psycho hose beast that my listings for Parkville’s coffee offerings was way out of date, and they were right. Even the hose beast.

First off, Parkville Coffee & Fudge, previously of my top ten shops, is no longer. They have morphed into The Sweet Guy, and just do fudge, gelato, and other sweets now. I will go update the NEW top ten shops now. Can you feel the suspense? Can you? Oh, those are just caffeine shakes. My bad.

Another deletion from the coffee map was a recent addition: Cafe des Amis.  Looks like a very nice restaurant that has no interest in catering to the coffee crowd.  Oh well, I’ll just go eat a lovely dinner there sometime instead.

But have no fear, if you’re looking for a pick-me-up on main street (no, not the Elliot Spitzer kind of pick-me-up), Constant Cravings is just a block north, and will fill your coffee needs …if you don’t want coffee first thing in the morning. Or in the evening. They’re only open 10AM – 5PM. Very much catering to the other Main Street Parkville businesses. I’ll have to check back here over a lunch break soe time.

So if you actually need coffee in Parkville before 10AM (like most of us), you can head up to River Rock Coffee Co.

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Just added 9 shops to the KC Coffee Map. A couple in the northlands, a couple in OP, one way out west, another in Lees Summit, and one in mid town…. Something for everybody! Except for you, Grandview. That’s what you get for inventing the Grandview Triangle, the only traffic jam visible from space! Details after the jump.
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I am often skeptical of The Pitch. From time to time, it seems their reviewers speak before doing their research. Case in point: Best Mocha of 2007. Morning Glory Espresso in Mission, KS is only so-so. Yes, the proprietor is friendly. Yes, the kitch is cute. Yes, Richard spontaneously talked to me about hats for a good half hour. But no, the mocha comes out of a press-button machine and is lackluster. Pitch, I revoke your ruling and instead nominate Espresso dell’Anatra for best mocha. Take that, self-important local media!

[map to Morning Glory Espresso]