Broadway Cafe and Roasting Company
Have you had a chance to sit on “Kansas City’s front porch?” Jon Cates, co-owner of Broadway Cafe and Broadway Roasting Company, likes to think of the Cafe’s sidewalk as the city’s front porch.
When co-owner Sara Honan moved back to Kansas City from Chicago in 1992, she started Broadway Cafe at 4106 Broadway Blvd. She noticed that the Westport neighborhood had many options to drink, except coffee. Broadway Cafe quickly became a gathering space in Westport. In addition, the team began to roast coffee in the back of the cafe. Eventually, roasting moved just a block away to Broadway Roasting Company at 4012 Washington Street. Now, the Roasting Company delivers coffee to the Cafe every day.
Especially important to the team is placing great focus on the coffee quality. Each winter, typically in January, they go to countries around the equator to get coffee beans to create their blends. Broadway Cafe and Roasting Company are proud to use coffee beans from all over the world. Some of the places they travel to for their coffee beans are Central America, South America, Africa, Indonesia and more. Coffee beans from these different areas are combined to bring Kansas Citians unique blends. For example, the team has a love for espresso, which is a six bean blend. Each of the six different beans, from different countries, is roasted individually then blended at the end, creating their espresso blend.
Broadway Cafe and Roasting Company continues to be in Westport because neighborhood allows them to know their customers. Rather than expanding and opening additional cafes, they would rather focus on selling their coffee to friends across Kansas City. With many friends across the city, you’re bound to see Broadway Roasting Company coffee soon. In the mean time, learn more about the company in the video below.