Two Wichita coffee shops open, one closes and a couple of others make adjustments
Wichita is full of coffee developments these days: shops closing, shops opening, shops extending their hours.
Here’s a roundup of the latest from the caffeine front:
New shops
Sunflower Espresso, 500 S. Topeka: Longtime coffee truck owner Kate Hutchens and her business partner Michelle Barrett have just opened the coffee shop they first told me about back in December. The new Sunflower Espresso Cafe celebrated over the weekend its grand opening inside of Fireworx Wichita, an office and co-working space that opened a year ago inside the old Fire Engine Station No. 2 building at 500 S. Topeka.
The new cafe is set up in the old fire chief’s office and has about 450 square feet on the ground floor of the building. There’s a walk-up window for ordering as well as some seating along a bar on the wall. The menu includes espresso drinks like Americanos, chai tea lattes, breve lattes and cappuccinos as well as mochas, including a lavender mocha and one made with a hint of rose. The cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
The new space also includes one extra-fun feature: an original fire pole that connects to the second floor, though it’s just for decoration — not for use.
Cafe LA, 1916 E. Pawnee: A no-frills little coffee business just opened next door to Rice & Roll by Xing Xing, the Asian restaurant near Pawnee and Southeast Boulevard. It’s called Cafe LA, and it’s a Vietnamese coffee shop that’s been operating for about two weeks. It serves what I can attest is some pretty potent cafe sua, an iced Vietnamese coffee made with sweetened condensed milk. It also has other bottled and canned beverages.
The inside has a few tables, and recently people were playing Video Keno in the corner. An employee told me that people are welcome to buy food next door at Rice & Roll and eat it at Cafe LA.
Recently closed
Scooter’s Coffee, 801 E. Douglas: At some point in the recent past, the Scooter’s coffee shop that had been operating at 801 E. Douglas for five years closed down and cleared out. The sit-down Scooter’s was one of the first businesses that opened in the renovated Union Station project back in March 2016. It had a drive-through and operated out of a corner spot in the old Grand Hotel building.
I’ve reached out to landlord Occidental Management to find out if anything new might be taking over the spot but haven’t heard back yet. Those who miss the shop, though, can find another Scooter’s — this one a drive through-only kiosk — just around the corner at 311 N. Washington.
Adding hours
Leslie Coffee Co., 930 W. Douglas: This popular Delano coffee shop just extended its hours and now is open until 4:30 p.m. daily. For now, it’s still operating on a to-go basis only, though the owner has several tables set up outside, and they’ve been popular on warm-weather days.
Dine-in’s back
Reverie Coffee Roasters, 2202 E. Douglas: In case you missed it, Reverie Coffee Roasters — which had closed its shop for dine-in for much of the pandemic — reopened its dining room on March 1. It now has limited dine-in seating though is still following COVID-19 safety protocols. Its hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
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