City Market Coffee — Restaurant in Kansas City

NOTE: PLEASE READ THE WHOLE REVIEW. I will not delete my original review but my edit is VERY important, especially if you have ALLERGIES. THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS NOT SAFE FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES.

I can't believe I havent reviewed this place yet!!!! We love CMCH and are on our 3rd loyalty punch card. The staff is inviting and hardworking, with great customer service and product knowledge across the board. I am lactose intolerant and have gotten GREAT recommendations for substitutions from the staff. The atmosphere is cozy and vibrant, and I'm always excited to come back. Recommendations: Shaken Espresso (made with Oat Milk by default) and the Vietnamese Iced Coffee (get a double! You'll thank me)

EDIT: IMPORTANT. I have edited my rating from 5 stars because of a very concerning experience we had recently. The special, which we were told a month ago, was only made with Oat milk, apparently has always been made with soy milk! I didn't know this, as the last THREE TIMES we ordered it I did not have an allergic reaction. This is not true of our last, and probably final visit. This comes after a couple weeks of noticing that not all employees give one punch per drink on the reward card, but one per visit. We asked about this recently and have been told both things are true. With the power of hindsight, this should have been a sign. After buying our USUAL drinks, I had an allergic reaction. My partner went back to the cafe to ask if they had used soy milk. The employee said that they had not, and that there was no reason they would have. Interesting, as I had vomited and was holding my epi pen just fifty yards away, absolutely certain I was not faking it. When the attack had passed and I was in a more mobile state (albeit covered in vomit, sweat, and crying) i made the trek back to the cafe where again we asked if they were ABSOLUTELY SURE that my drink had not contained soy milk. At this point we were informed "it has always contained soy milk" and that "everyone else must have been making it incorrectly." Oh. Sure! So the last two times i ordered that drink and got OAT MILK - WITHOUT ASKING - it was the FAULT of the employees who misinformed me initially that the drink was SAFE FOR ME WITHOUT MODIFICATION and the subsequent and FREQUENT employees who made said drink (without my mention of allergy) that I had not yet known that the original recipe DID IN FACT INCLUDE SOY.

Please, for the love of god, get your employees on the same page. About EVERYTHING. it's a week and I am still feeling ill from my experience, and grateful my reaction was not worse.

Figure. It. Out. Before. Your. Employees. Hurt....

I’ve never been an avid coffee drinker until I started coming here. Coffee used to be something I drank occasionally when friends asked me to meet at a coffee shop but since I’ve tried their espresso I’ve been coming here a few times a week for over 3 years now. But what really makes the place special is the service and the people. The owner is always there working hard whether she is roasting beans or carrying 150lb bags of beans and supplies down to their little storage area underneath. She knows most of her regulars by name and she puts a lot of passion into her work and into the relationships here. The baristas are incredible as well! Many times I will walk in and be on the phone not quite ready to place my order but when I get to the counter they have already prepared my drink because they’ve memorized what I like to get! The space it self is so cool. There is a spiral staircase that leads to a small room on the second level that has a few desks and a couch for customers to enjoy while they drink their coffee. It has windows that look out over the small park inside river market. I should probably not share this on here cause I feel like it’s my own secret little nook to catch up on emails and reading but it’s truly one of my favorite spots here in Kansas City as I’ve lived here for over 30 years. It’s great to see a local business thrive in the middle of a really special part of...

I initially really loved this place, but the inconsistent experience + pricing and poor organization isn’t enjoyable. Overtime, I’ve come to the opinion that this cafe postures as a casual, dive-y shop but doesn’t deliver in execution.

Sometimes ‘lite ice’ is ignored, sometimes it’s no ice at all. Sometimes they’ll avoid filling the cup to compensate for the reduced ice - which feels oddly cheap and not customer friendly. Sometimes ‘lite ice’ gets a surcharge, sometimes no extra charge.

I recently bought some unground coffee beans which were surprisingly expensive, and made very weak coffee.

The baristas are all generally very kind, but the weekend mornings seem like a free-for-all from the customers POV.

There is limited seating, and none of it is really comfortable or inviting.

I’m sympathetic that some of the issues I’m pointing out seem petty, but these are issues that matter to my experience. The coffee is generally quality, the baked goods are just fine, and the prices are good (tho recently increased, presumably due to inflation).

“Sorry this is your review” vs “sorry this is your experience” - ive apologetically made attempts to communicate in person, but would prefer not having to be “that guy” to have the experience Im...