Got Coffee? Wichita Kansas Does.
In a busy little strip mall on the corner of Central and Woodlawn, Il Primo Espresso Caffe serves up Seattle-style coffee, espresso based drinks, and daily brews featuring flavored coffees like golden pecan, cinnamon viennes, and German chocolate mint. While you won’t find open-mike poetry readings or live music, Il Primo’s patrons are hard-core coffee connoisseurs, their attitude best expressed by the sign over the door: “If you slip me decaf, I’ll rip your head off.” Coffee guzzelers are rewarded with frequent-flyer-style punch cards, and for you “pay-at-the-pump” types, there’s a drive-thru window.
Located in a southeast shopping plaza, Java Villa has all the charm of a country store, ice cream parlor, and snug living room rolled into one. In winter you can cozy-up next to the fireplace with a thick novel and a cup of Ghiradelli hot cocoa. Or challenge a pal to a Super Espresso Shake and one of the many board games stacked behind the counter. Thursday nights, come listen to live Celtic music and sample the 14 flavors of “real” dipped ice cream or the wide selection of homemade baked goods, like espresso brownies and scones. Java Villa also offers a lunch menu that includes homemade quiche, Bierocks (a Wichita favorite) and Bratrocks (bratwurst steamed in beer and baked inside bierock dough).
In a renovated bungalow on east Douglas, Javaluiah caters to the coffee needs of young hipsters. With a lunch menu that includes grilled cheese or PB&J with a glass of milk, Javaluhia feels like you’re hanging out in your best friend’s mom’s very cool kitchen. The laid-back coffee house atmosphere is a great place to enjoy a mocha breve (the best in Wichita) or a spiced Chai tea while people watching. You might just see the next Sylvia Plath or William Burroughs, hunched over an espresso, scribbling furiously in a notebook.
If what you seek is an ultra-cool coffee house and gallery where you’re free to while away hours tackling the New York Times crossword, shooting the breeze with friends, or writing your master’s thesis, then The Riverside Perk could be your home away from home. Located on the west side of Wichita, a few blocks from Riverside Park, the Perk’s regulars are an eclectic mix of artists, musicians, and writers, as well as bikers, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. The Perk offers extensive coffee and dessert menus as well as specialty drinks, like the Polar Bear Buzz and Pile Driver, that are sure to induce heart palpitations. Decorated in high-kitsch, the Perk has plenty of seating both indoors, outdoors, and next door in the non-smoking Lava Lounge juice bar.
