Our friends at Find It KC made this wonderful video for us. Enjoy this inside look into our café inside Union Station.
Parisi Opens First Coffee Shop
Artisan Coffee will open its first coffee shop in the city’s historic Union Station in late spring 2011
Originally published in 2011
KANSAS CITY, MO – The local artisan coffee roaster has been selling its various blends of 100-percent Arabica bean, drum-roasted coffee in local grocery stores for five years, as well as custom blends for a number of well-known area restaurants. The new coffee shop, which will be called Parisi Café, will feature its own coffee as well as barista-prepared lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffees and more – all freshly brewed for each order.
“The time is right for a retail location for Parisi Coffee,” said Joe Paris, co-founder of Parisi Coffee. “We wanted to start by establishing a successful brand in the community and building a following of loyal customers who have come to know and love our Italian-inspired coffee blends. Now, we’re ready to expand and feature out breadth of single origins, blends and espressos by the cup.”
Parisi coffee imports and roasts select premium coffees at its historic coffee roasting facility in downtown Kansas City, Mo. near I-35 and Southwest Boulevard in the Crossroads District. All Parisi coffees are hand-crafted and either certified Fair Trade, organic or certified through the company’s own artisan standard called Eco World Family Farm.
The new store will take about 1,200 square feet on the main level adjacent to the Grand Hall of Union Station at 30 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo. The store will feature a retail section of Parisi Coffee by the bag and other coffee products such as coffee mugs and coffee makers. Parisi Café will offer seating inside the coffee shop, private meeting space as well as tables outside the café in the Union Station’s main plaza.
Along with a variety of coffees, the new Parisi Café will offer select food items. Because Parisi Coffee was founded on flavor distinctions with a brand focus spotlighting coffee and culinary pairings, Café planners intend to include quick-serve breakfast and lunch items that all pair-well with Parisi Coffees and to complement the nearby, full-service Union Café restaurant.
“Our new coffee shop will reflect our vision of pairing quality, great tasting coffee with superior, delicious food items, some of which we’ll make on site and some we’ll partner with excellent locally-based food purveyors,” Paris said.
The stores design will create a unique experience for the coffee customers. The experience will include pieces of history from the old Harvey Coffeehouse which was located in the exact location of the new Parisi Café.
“We’re excited to open our first location in the historical atmosphere of the iconic Kansas City landmark,” Paris said. “And a lot of people may not know that there’s a coffee shop history here because this is the site of the original Harvey Coffeehouse from the 1930s. We hope our new shop honors that heritage.”
The Café will be arranged so that customers can order at an uncluttered counter and watch as their coffees are brewed and prepared for them. Parisi Café will plan to offer seasonal items, traditional Italian sodas and gelato. Specifically, the new coffee shop will feature coffee flights highlighting several coffee blends giving customers the opportunity to sample and create their own flavor profiles.