The Mandoline Cafe at 2015 Grand: No, they don’t have a coffee roll (yet), but they DO serve both fancy coffee AND sushi.
Other items worth trying: The Gooey Pig (delish ham and cheese) and the Korean Taco (a teriyaki beef creation).
Not a full review today, I’ve already talked about them before, but good stuff is at KCity Coffeehouse this morning
Tea Drops, previously of Westport only, has recently made a splash down in Power and Light. Good for them. I love their first shop, the only thing that would make it better would be to have as many samples lying around as Teavana does at Oak Park Mall. They’ve moved into the space in the H&R Block building where a Starbucks used to be. You know, just 2 blocks away from the quazi-Starbucks in that hotel and just 3 blocks away from the Starbucks with the one great chair. So, this is a good thing.
Keeping with TeaDrops’ mission, the downtown branch is taking it upon themselves to educate us about a new tea every day. I encourage you to subscribe to their blog, as it will certainly broaden your caffeinated morning beverage horizons.
Now on with the review and the explanation of the silly title.
About darn time.
And no, I’m not talking about the delay to post this review (although it was substantial…). I’m talking about the space at 310 Southwest Blvd. Ever since Coffee Girls moved their shop down to Waldo, the Crossroads has been far too decaffeinated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled YJ’s and Mildred’s held strong. But it just seemed … off.
I’m amused that they chose the name ‘Crossroads Coffeehouse’, after Rev! had that as a working name for about 9 months. But that’s where the joking stops. Crossroads Coffeehouse is a treat to visit.
One thing that is immediately apparent when you walk in, is that the proprietors A) know what makes a good shop, B) had the money to make it so, C) had the restraint to not go over the top.
Power outlets every few feet, and where there aren’t… power strips.
A mix of comfy chairs, meeting tables, solo tables, bar stools… you want to sit in it, they’ve got it. Rocking chairs! And if you’re bold enough, an acoustic guitar to casually play.
They seem to have settled upon a new-to-me bean, Intelligentsia Coffee. Bold move, considering we’ve got great beans in both Parisi and Roastarie, right here in KC. But the taste doesn’t disappoint. The espresso tasted good; both the beans and the barista did their things.
And of course, friendly enough people running the place. All in all, a good morning coffee.
I wanted to try the yogurt+fruit+granola, but wasn’t that hungry today. But it certainly looked good. On the flip side, they didn’t seem to have much in the way of food or snacks for mid-day non-coffee cravings. That’s fine though. I’d much rather go to LuLu’s for that.
Brian and Jay are a couple of top-notch guys. They’re relatively new to town and love to explore KC, including coffee. They do a podcast about all the things they learn about KC called KC Newbz.
A couple of weeks ago, they got together with me and talked about coffee over coffee. I sincerely recommend subscribing to their podcast. Unlike many talk-radio podcasts, they’re actually fun to listen to!
I’ve been stalling on reviewing K-City Coffeehouse because I really hate giving bad reviews. Today was my third, and finally, somewhat positive visit. But before I get to what’s changed from when this was Eljay’s, let’s visit on what’s the same: nearly everything but what matters. The tables, chairs, deco, corkboard, lamps, cash register, espresso machine… all the same. All originally good, all still good. Atmosphere preserved. In fact, background music selection… better!
Events are finally getting rolling here again. I’ll forever miss the jazz trio + wine nights Eljays had, and who knows, maybe they’ll return to K-City yet. Tonight is an open mic poetry night. This Saturday noontime will feature a solo musician. So glad to see it picking back up.
Word is that their lunchtime paninis are awesome. I can’t speak to that myself, but if any of you have had their paninis, please post a comment.
Now, on to the less-good and more fundamental stuff.
I haven’t been very proactive in reviewing coffee shops in the last many months, but today’s coffee shop experience was just too good to not post about. But before we get to that…
Eljays closed. Sad, truly. But good news: a new shop K City is moving in and opening in December! This coffee shop is not to be confused with the comic strip by Bruno, http://www.brunopieroni.com/kcity/.
Savvy closed. Sad, truly. But they’re reopening. There’s new furniture in there and they have new signs n whatnot. Yaaay!
Back to this morning’s awesomeness.
A ‘new’ shop opened in what used to be Planet Cafe on Broadway. They call themselves Coffee Wonk.
As you can see from this picture of their front door, there’s a tiny little sign in the middle of the cup. Briefly it says, “This house is a safe space. Actions or language that perpetuate sexist, racist, homophobic … will NOT be tolerated.” So, you can tell this coffee shop is very much a continuation of the previous Planet Cafe, shooting for a similar vibe. Just inside the front door is a chalkboard that seemed to indicate to me that they are open 24 hours a day for 4 days of the week (similar to YJ’s). The new Coffee Wonk also looks very similar inside to Planet Cafe: Read the rest of this entry »
Looks like the coffee economy is picking up a bit! More new places to try:
Phil’s on 63rd (where Max’s Autodiner used to be)
Petra Coffeehouse in Raytown
The Steamin Bean in Blue Springs
Zombie Joe’s is still in a holding pattern on opening, but they have bumper stickers!
And of course, all those places in Waldo are getting rolling, particularly One More Cup
A place out in San Fran, Trouble Coffee, has been serving an interesting drink, Cold Press Coffee. Any baristas around here up to try to make it for us? If so, hit back in the comments and we’ll come try it:
…cold press coffee which is ground espresso beans soaked for 24 hours and hand-mixed three times & then all the grounds settle & you’re left with this rather amazing, never warmed mellow drink. Almost a liquor in flavor. Strong as shit.
And last but not least, by total surprise, The OC Register (newspaper in LA) put us on the short list of coffee shop websites. Let’s hear it for KC getting cred! Whoo hoo!
And now, with no reason to mention them other than I like them:
Black Dog Coffeehouse.
We all love our coffee. And when somebody gives you something you love, sometimes it rubs off. I’m talking about the Barista Crush. We’ve all had one. I was talking to a barista this morning who admits to have had her own crush on a barista earlier in her life. Which is why Kristin Chenoweth’s song is so amusing (see below).
What’s better though, is the viral response to her song, “Taylor’s Response”. This man has the first singing of the song on YouTube, presumably he wrote it. However, below you’ll find the funniest performance of the response, this one done at an Epcot Center concert.
In order of discovery!
Coffee Art
Coffee Art is alive and well in KC, and here’s proof. I unfortunately have no idea what shop Lesa and her sister were drinking at, but, yeah. What a beauty.
Starbucks is trimming management. They claim no baristas will be laid off, but I suspect it is only a matter of time till branches start to feel the pinch. Its unfortunate, but I fear coffee shops in general will be feeling the pinch of this economic down turn, more so than any other type of food service.
How Coffee Works. A brief history of coffee, how its made, how decaf is made (worthless), and everything else. There’s a collalary documentary on Discovery channel some times if you want to watch it. Pop quiz: Which is the only US state to grow coffee?
Coffee, as told by napkins. Back in December a NYT guy had a lot of fun telling a coffee story, illustrated by drawing with coffee onto napkins. This is old news by now (2 months is forever on the internet), but if you missed it, the illustrations and story are pretty amusing.
Twitter brews up business. Hey KC coffee shop owners, want to improve your customer’s experience? Try what this shop did: allow ordering via Twitter. If anybody does this, please, please, PLEASE let me know @mildweed (or this post). I will SO tweet you some orders, as would the rest of the Social Media Club of KC, probably.
Boozefish goes MORE European with “Le plaisir de jour” (aka Boozefish Brunch). Now on Saturdays, you can get very special espresso along with authentic crepes. Of note, its only from 10-2, so don’t wake up toooooo early on Saturday.
Wired Waldo. Finally back to KC coffee shops specifically, Waldo is about to explode with coffee shops. Silly me, till this article was published a couple days ago, I only knew about one of these. As far as I can tell, there are only a few parts of town with this kind of density: Downtown, Crossroads, 39th St / Westport, The Plaza, and JCCC. Something tells me that Waldo doesn’t have the kind of coffee traffic to keep all 3 alive. Location, location, location, people.
Also, I’m posting some map updates right now. Thanks for all the tips Kay, Darrell, Mike and Bret, keep ‘em comin in to scott@kcperky.com:
Bean Counter Cafe, 9019 S Highway 7, Lee’s Summit, MO 60464
Dean & Deluca, 4700 West 119th St, Leawood, KS
Kansas City Coffee Company, 1807 East 123rd Terrace, Olathe, Kansas 66061
Java Crossing, 8830 West 95th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66212
Latte Land, 7224 W 135th St, Overland Park, KS 66223 (Where Beanology used to be)
Its getting hard to keep up with all the Latte Land locations. They’re possibly the city’s most successful local coffee chain.
