I spend a lot of time studying in Coffeehouses. In fact, I’m in one right now! I’ve come to know and love many of the Coffeehouses in Kansas City for various reasons and I thought I’d pass on what I’ve learned about some of my favorites. So here’s a little rundown of how some of my favorites stack up in different categories.

The Coffeehouses are…

1. The Crave Cafe
   39th & Genessee, Westport
2. The Westport Coffeehouse
   40th & Pennsylvania, Westport
3. Scooter’s Coffeehouse
   47th & Pennsylvania, The Plaza
4. Muddy’s
   51st & Oak UMKC
5. The Roasterie
   62nd Ter. & Brookside, Brookside
6. Latte Land
   Various locations

Staff
1. The Crave is owned and operated by Pete, a likeable barrel-chested dude whose arms are sleeved with tattoos. He takes coffee seriously and will give your latte all the attention an artist would. The rest of his crew consists mostly of friendly young women who could pass for being alt rock stars and have the musical taste to make you think they are.

2. Westport Coffeehouse’s barista staff are a mostly friendly and outgoing bunch, some are pretty reserved and straight-forward but not unfriendly.

3. Scooter’s baristas can be too friendly sometimes. In that overzealous and overinterested kind of way.

Edge [The Crave]

Food
1. Westport Coffeehouse has some of the best grilled Panini’s in town, you can even get hummus.

2. Muddy’s also has some great Panini’s and sandwiches to choose from.

3. The Crave has a few overpriced pre-packaged sandwiches available, but breakfast is the best time to get some great food. Try the omelettes and biscuits.

Edge [Westport Coffeehouse]

Coffee (hot)
Since Coffeehouses aren’t just about studying, but also about GOOD COFFEE it only makes sense to take a look at this as well.

1. The Roasterie has their own coffee roasting plant here in Kansas City and has a large assortment of beans to choose from. This is all an in-house project.

2. Scooter’s makes a great latte and also has a huge selection of beans to choose from for those of you who like your coffee without milk.

3. The Westport Coffeehouse has great tasting coffee and a few bean choices to check out.

Edge [The Roastarie]

Coffee (cold)
Some of us started drinking coffee at that “one place” whose name I shall not utter here. And drinking coffee at that “one place” often consisted of blended cold drinks. These drinks taste really great and for all that this “one place” does to irk me, they are tops at making blended cold coffee drinks. How do our lovely local KC coffeehouses stack up?

1. Latte Land does the best job (if not better than “that one place”) at making a smooth wonderful cold coffee drink. It’s not chunky, it’s not a milkshake, and it’s not bitter. Kudos.

2. Scooter’s comes in a close second in the refreshing blended coffee drink you crave in the summer.

3. The Roasterie does something different with their blended drink that gives it a unique taste. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but it’s not all that bad as blended drinks go.

Edge [Latte Land]

Internet
Because I mainly darken the doors of coffeehouses to study or do design work internet access is a must. Good internet even trumps good coffee for me (gasp, oh the horror… hey it’s true). So here’s a breakdown of each of the coffeehouses and their internet offerings. By the way, that “one place” makes you give T-Mobile your firstborn if you want internet access… boo, hiss!

1. Scooter’s, The Crave, Muddy’s and Latte Land all have free and reliable internet. Thank you. You realize that in the year 2007 free WiFi is not seen as a luxury but as a given. For this you are to be highly commended and I frequent you all the more because of your generosity.

2. Westport Coffeehouse still subscribes to the 20th century paradigm which assumes WiFi is a luxury, and that we should pay them for access. To be fair they are slowly but surely moving towards free WiFi. They used to charge you for it up front and then good luck actually joining their network. Now they just ask that you buy a minimum of $5 and WiFi is included and since they have such tasty Paninis this isn’t a huge burden. Soon however they need to drop charging for WiFi altogether.

3. The Roasterie offers free WiFi, but they restrict the kind of internet access you have. For instance not all Email clients (Apple Mail, Outlook, etc.) will connect, and your IM program will also not connect. Limited connectivity is more frustrating than spending a minimum amount to get access.

Edge [Scooter's, The Crave, Muddy's and Latte Land]

Ambiance
1. The Crave is an old two-story house converted into a literal Coffeehouse. Couches abound. There are a few old school video games that play in the background. The folks who frequent the Crave are a diverse group. If you want to go to a Coffeehouse and have really good really really random conversation the Crave is the place.

2. Westport Coffeehouse has that artsy feel, and there is a steady rotation of local art on the walls. The dark atmosphere, Mrs. Pac-Man and Pinball games make this a great local joint.

3. Muddy’s is the only Coffeehouse I’ve been to with Pews. Well they seem like pews anyway. This is the college Coffeehouse of UMKC so you won’t be the only bum studying all night at this place. (also Muddy’s is the only one that stays open until Midnight)

Edge [Crave]

Music
The music playing in a Coffeehouse can also make or break a studying experience.

1. The Crave as I mentioned before is staffed with a bunch of baristas who have great musical taste and as they usually choose the music themselves. Its always good.

2. Westport Coffeehouse has a jukebox full of classic music, which plays at random or will play what you’d like it to if you’re willing to pony up.

6. (coming in DEAD LAST is Scooter’s) Scooter’s has some kind of elevator music channel that plays really really bad tacky 90’s music. Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Boyz 2 Men, etc. If you go to Scooter’s don’t forget to bring your iPod.

Edge [Crave]

Seating
If you’re looking to study then you realize that couches probably won’t serve you well for that 4 hours of reading/writing you need to do all spread out with books and laptop.

1. Westport Coffeehouse has 5 square tables that are GREAT for just this kind of long-term studying. The rest are really small round tables from which you can perch and keep watch on the precious square tab
les (which have outlets). I’ve only been relegated to the small round table once.

2. Scooter’s is set up for studying and has plenty of seating with plenty of power outlets, although the tables are smaller than WPCH’s they are plentiful. There’s even a surfboard shaped table if you’re into that kind of thing.

Edge [Westport Coffeehouse]

I gave 1 star for a “first place” in a category and .5 star for “second place” so here are the results.

1. The Crave Cafe, (4 stars)
2. The Westport Coffeehouse, (4 stars)
3. Scooter’s Coffeehouse, (2.5 stars)
4. Latte Land (2 stars)
5. Muddy’s, (1.5 stars)
6. The Roasterie, (1 star)