KC Perky

Sadly, I have to report yet another shop closing.  Rev! Cafe and Gallery.  When they opened 4 months ago,  I had high hopes, but realistic questions.  Mostly: how are they going to get people in the door?  It was a great little shop, don’t get me wrong, and they were fantastic people.  Its just that the location wasn’t condusive to their business.  Close, oh so close, but just out of the way enough.  Plus, I bet there are still some people who think the shop isn’t open yet– the ‘Coming Soon’ sign was there WAY longer than the actual shop.  They tried to do fun things with their space, generate some buzz, but none ever seemed to connect enough.

Alas.

No longer a full coffee shop, Planet Cafe has been downgraded to just a myspace page. They’ve been closed since June 29th. Kudos to AMNewsBoy for the tip.

Anybody need some run-down furniture?

In the productive department, The Broadway Roasting Company’s new location seems to be well underway. They’ve already closed down their east Westport location. This new location will be in the old firehouse just north of Broadway and Westport, near the BP.

Finally!  A new shop to really get excited about.  Songbird Cafe.

Hiding in the Fairfax District of Kansas City, KS for the last 4 months, Songbird Cafe seems to have brought the spirit of YJ’s Snack Shop to ‘The Other KC’.  Don’t get me wrong, The Q Brew in KCK is an endearing shop of its own accord, but its not a place I’d cross over for.  What aspects of YJ’s spirit do I see reflected in Songbird?  The non-assuming feel of the shop.  The lunch menu with just one meal on it per day (today: BBQ pulled pork).  The friendly-as-get-out service.  The clientele are real people too, not your average coffee-shop junkies (… you know, like me).

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I’m looking at you, awesome shops that have recently closed.  Crave Cafe.  Magazines and Coffee.  Cafe Nouri.  Nighthawks.

http://www.coffeeshopprofits.com/
http://www.crimsoncup.com/open_sevenstepstosuccess.php
http://www.espressobusiness.com/book.htm
http://www.homerscoffeehouse.com/new%20book.htm

Sure, each of these sites wants to sell you a book, but perhaps that’s what you need.  When not drinking coffee or grinding away at my day job, I do improv comedy pretty seriously.  How many books do I have on the topic of improv comedy?  Over 25.  And its not even my livelihood.  Certainly, you can afford 3 or 4 books before you go and buy your massive espresso machine.

Bella39, a brand new restaurant and ‘coffee shop’ on W 39th St was originally slated to open down in the River Market, right next door to Eljay’s.  Their main thrust is local, fresh food, trying to be all eco-friendly.  Farmers markets and whatnot.  When they were planning on opening on Delaware St, the coffee shop was not a part of the concept, they were right next door to one.  It should be no surprise then, that this morning, they continued to treat the coffee as an afterthought.

Do not let what I say next affect your perception of their food or juice drinks, which I’m sure are supurb.  After all, InkKC said Bella’s watermelon sippers are awesome, and their menu looks quite respectable.

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Once upon a time, there was a mousy haired boy named Brownilocks (or Scott, take your pick). He wanted some morning coffee on W 39th St.

First, Brownilocks stopped by Starbucks. “Ew. Too cookie-cutter,” he said.

So he walked half a block east. There he found Crave Cafe. “Dang, too indie,” he said. Usually this was far from being a problem. However, Crave Cafe’s over-indieness probably led to its closing its doors 4 months ago. It is STILL in process of being remodeled and re-opened as a much snazzier Javanaut. Someday Brownilocks will return here… if it ever decides to open again…

So he walked a half block west. There he found Room 39. “Ahh, just right,” he sighed. Room 39 is a very respectable little bistro. A good breakfast menu, good lunch menu, a classy dinner menu, and very pleasant staff. All this, and they’re not above serving up some very fine coffee. The mochas here have consistently been brewed at a very high caliber of quality. This makes Brownilocks happy.

Then a bearista ate Brownilocks. The end.

//update: Bella recently opened at 1403 W. 39th St.  Didn’t mean to leave them out of this 39th St round-up… I can only have 1 cup before work each day!  Look for a review soon.

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.

The downtown library is full of books.

One would have hoped that one of those books explained how to make at least espresso, maybe even a mocha.

I had to try to explain it to this barista today. One burnt pull and 6 pumps of chocolate later… ::shudder::

She did, however, have one of the most awesome looking espresso machines I’ve ever seen. A brass tower.  At $9,290, one would have hoped the library could have afforded to hire somebody who knows how to work it.

Another top-ten shop bites the dust.

I tip my fedora to you, Nighthawk’s.

Hit up the Top Ten Shops to see the fallout.

As a total aside, I’ve never seen a coffee shop as busy as I did see City Market Coffeehouse on Saturday morning. People jammed in everywhere, the 3 baristas were brewing as if their lives depended on it.

But the real news is Ethos. The Ethos Coffee Cars of the Ethos Coffee Company are quite a new twist. We’ve had delivery pizza, Chinese, sandwiches, and burritos. But now, you can call up the espresso cars (888-697-2392), they’ll drive to you, and brew you a fresh latte right out the back of their Scion xB. There is a minimum order, just like anywhere else, so grab your friends, but you never again have to whine about there not being a shop nearby! No word yet on how good it tastes.

I stumbled across Ethos at the Celebration at the Station. I could easily see them doing other large events, parking next to the kettle corn trailer and the funnel cake trailer. Its like the ice cream truck… for adults.