Quay Coffee

After reading so many good things about this place, I made it a point to stop in on my way through Kansas City. The café itself feels very open and well lit, and the barista was extremely friendly and informative. I’ve never had Blueprint Coffee before, but the Jesus María they had on cold brew is now one of my cold brew favorites. I hope I get the opportunity to stop here again.

Great coffee! Homemade syrups. Very nice staff. Fast wifi.
I love when syrups are house made– I can’t stand overly sweet lattes but like just a little something and the vanilla did the trick.
I also needed to catch up on some work and my hotel wifi sucked. They offer wifi and it was super fast for public access.

Cute coffee shop in Kansas City with a good amount of tables and chairs to hang out at and enjoy your coffee. We stopped by in the morning to grab our coffee to go, and there wasn’t a long line around 9:30am. We tried:
–Latte (12 oz, $ 3.50,
): Yum– this was a solid latte, and the foam was made really well. The espresso also had great flavor– highly recommended!
–Oddly Correct Pour Over (Finca Santa Clara From Kansas City, Guatemalan Coffee, Washed, $ 3.50): Also solid, and the coffee was very smooth.
Overall, we had a great experience at Quay and would definitely come back if we visit Kansas City again. Parking is the most difficult part about coming here since street parking is limited.

Decent espresso. Only pour over coffee. If you’re looking for just coffee, don’t come here.

First time stopping in, I had a fig and honey latte, pretty decent. Hubby had a delectable pour over, can’t remember what region it was from. Place was packed, but they got our drinks to us quicker than what I would have thought they would. Hubby had a very moist chocolate muffin he liked. Had a neat selection of sodas in a case I would have liked to try next time. Sign outside is super cute, and like the décor inside. Pretty loud, but it was a Saturday morning, so may be quieter during the week. I would come back.

Absolutely wonderful coffee shop! Lots of seating, great atmosphere, terrific branding, friendly staff, and most importantly great coffee, espresso, and lattes. We found this gem as we moving to North Carolina via Omaha were extremely pleased. What a gem. Highly recommend grabbing a drink here if you want to avoid chain locations.

Hipsterville… but, free wifi!
I loved sipping on my Iced Americano while people watching and working away.

I’ve only been to Quay once, but when I was there, I managed to get lost in my work for over four hours thanks to the great atmosphere, people watching, strong WiFi, and abundance of electric outlets. I ordered a caramel latte which was good, but I probably wouldn’t order that specific drink again. I will be back!

Hospitable and knowledgeable baristas. They use blueprint and Panther roasters which makes them above the rest. Cool atmosphere but seemed pretty «try-​hard» to have the atmosphere they were trying for.

Not bad. Although, the amount you pay for the amount you get is a reason for me not to come back. The iced latte I had needed to be stirred because all the syrup was visibly resting at the bottom of the cup– it was still good, definitely not worth the price though. My husband did like the tea and the fact that it was actually loose leaf tea, it was just served with too hot of water, which is not what you do with tea.

Lovely place! Had a Macchiato Latte! Delish! Definitely a place to go to study or do some work! It’s also in a quiet area of town. Pretty chill there :)

4.5 stars
Killer light.
Good latte, but small.
Twitched when I asked for half decaf. Purists.
Syrups offered, made in-​house.
Unsweetened soy. Good.
No gluten free eats. Limited pastries.
Comfortable seating. Love the tunes.
Many solos on laptops.
Many bushy beards and heavy specs.
Would like to see them offer glass for water instead of disposable plastic. If we are going to be purists, we might as well be eco too.
Brick, hardwood, warehouse vibe. Not quiet.
I stayed so long I needed a second drink. Tried the pour over. It was excellent!
I would definitely come back here.
Thanks Quay!

Nice coffee shop! I ordered the latte with spiced brown sugar syrup and almond milk, which was creamy and flavorful — tasted almost like a gingersnap cookie in frothy warm liquid form. I also tried the cold brew, which was served with one big ice cube in the glass. The cold brew was smooth and refreshing, and I think the brick of ice kept the coffee colder and less watered down.
The baristas were friendly and took their time to answer questions. It would be nice to have descriptions of the specialty drinks, maybe even on the website.

Coffee is good. But wow, I thought the service was terrible and awkward. Walked in and the barista just sat there and stared at us. 3 ppl standing behind the counter… and…uhmm, can we order?
We asked for milk for the coffee and they didn’t «have» it unless we had ordered it with our drink. WTF! And only had simple syrup, no sugar packets. Just a really uncomfortable and awkward vibe. Way better coffee shops in the city for sure.

Summary: decent enough morning atmosphere but after two drinks I just feel the espresso lacks flavor and consistency compared with other places I have been to. I am not compelled to return and if given the choice I would likely go elsewhere.
Sample size: one straight espresso (kitten breath from Oddly Correct) and one macchiato (penrose v7 from Blueprint in St. Louis)
Pros:
–Lots of seating, good use of space
–Friendly baristas! The barista was really apologetic when it «took awhile» to make my second drink since he had to clean the machine (it really wasn’t much of a wait)
–Espresso not over saturated («burnt» tasting)
Cons:
–Lack of selection. Maybe add another espresso option so I can go for the hat trick?
–espresso lacked consistency… first half of my drink tasted really bland and then the second half was alright
–might have just been my drink, but the macchiato tasted kind of sour which may have been from the milk
Misc (not review impacting):
–no bar/​individual seating. This is a personal preference of mine but I don’t like to take up a whole table when I am by myself if it’s crowded

Quay («ki») going to make you one hell of a cup of coffee no matter what you like; lattes, Americanos, and pour overs are truly tough to beat in this fun River Market coffee shop.
I feel like I’ve been here enough to have formed a solid opinion of it, so let me break down what I need with a coffee shop:
Is it close to other things I would want to go to? Check.
Is the coffee delicious? Check.
Is it easy to meet other people here? Check.
Is the staff friendly? Check.
Is there ample seating? Ehh, depends. This place gets so busy and people love to work and meet here, so I’ve had trouble finding a seat before. That’s a good problem for Quay to have based on their popularity, but it worries me when I schedule a meeting here.
Now I would say that with any good hand crafted latte or pour over, it’s going to take some time to come out to you. Good coffee takes time, which is why I’m always a bit baffled by the Americanization of adding drive-​thrus to coffee. There’s almost always a wait at drive thrus and it doesn’t flow, because you have baristas hand making each drink! It would work for a black coffee line only, but alas, that ain’t gonna happen. Oh, and what’s the deal with leashes for kids? Ok, ok, I’ll stop my rants.
So go here when you’ve got a free half hour or more to kick back in a fun neighborhood, enjoy a great cup of coffee and likely run into someone you know. Quay continues to add to the terrific caffeine scene that has taken KC by storm over the past five years, and being right on the street car line can only mean further growth in the near future.

Swung by Quay for some Sunday morning coffee before hitting the River Market.
Quay is about as hipsteresque as coffee shops get in KC. It’s on par (and pretty similar to) Thou Mayest.
Quay’s cappuccino is great, and it’s priced fairly too at three bucks. It wasn’t overly milky and it had some funky foam art on top to boot.
They’ve got the standard coffee shop faire here: cappuccinos, lattes, espresso, etc., but there’s also a selection of pour overs and chemex coffees if that’s more your speed.

Good coffee! I personally prefer second best to Quay. But it was still good.
You should definitely plan time to go walking on the trail by the river and visit the market while in this part of town.

The perfect place to sit along a sidewalk sipping a caramel latte with coffee art watching young beautiful people stroll by. Life doesn’t get better than that.
Coffee is bold and they make their own syrup. Space is clean and modern. Service is awesome.

Wow! Love, love, love this place… what a great find in Kansas City. Thank you Unilocal!
And for those of your wondering it’s pronounced KEY. Quay = Key. (I know someone was probably wondering.)
But anyway, found this place on Unilocal… and definitely was going to stop by and check out since I love coffee. They do things right! Proper macchiatos… great space… and friendly baristas!
I kinda «splurged» and ordered a foo-​foo drink, whereas mainly I’m a drip-​coffee or plain espresso kinda person. So I ordered a 12oz latte w a carmel flavoring with almond milk. It was only a 25c upcharge for almond milk! (Finally… i mean, why does every other place have to charge like 75c+)
I was tempted with the pastries and got the blueberry scone. I don’t normally eat scones — but man alive, this was the BEST scone I’ve ever had.
So if you’re a coffee fan-​snob-​wannabeafficianado like me… def go check this place out!