13 Comments so far

1. worstweatherever on April 20, 2006 7:36 am

   i did my first open mic there. loved it. stopped going there once they opened the restaurant part.

2. bellastagiona on April 20, 2006 7:47 am

   . . . stopped going there once they opened the restaurant part.

   why?

   that’s one of those places i enjoyed the few times i was there, and now wish i’d gone more often. wish *i* could take over the space… *sigh*

3. worstweatherever on April 20, 2006 12:25 pm

   not sure. i dont think there was really a connection, that just seemed about the time i stopped going down there.

4. DaveKCMO on April 20, 2006 1:08 pm

   any one of those three local operators would be the perfect addition. latteland is probably the most successful so far, followed by the one roasterie location, then the two struggling coffee girls locations (i think they might be separate entities now). another alternative would be scooter’s or caribou, which are regional chains that are also expanding. and make it totally non-smoking, will ya?

5. ScooterJ on April 20, 2006 2:02 pm

   If one of those coffee shops doesn’t move into the space, then thy should restore the wall and make it two separate spaces. The side that’s currently the bar could become another bar (perhaps the “The Acorn” that had been rumored to be going to 4th & Wyandotte but now seems to have vanished). Then the restaurant side could become a restaurant of a typw that we don’t currently have in that area. My suggestions would be Cajun, Indian, or Greek.

6. matt on April 20, 2006 2:40 pm

   the river market needs a good dive bar. probably not the best spot for one, though

7. ScooterJ on April 20, 2006 7:00 pm

   I know what should move into the restaurant side….

   MURRAY’S NORTH!

8. race roberts on April 20, 2006 7:41 pm

   Murray’s North for sure! We need a good ice cream joint down here. Maybe an espresso/gelateria? HOK would keep it in business.

9. heidi on April 20, 2006 8:33 pm

   Indian! Oh, downtown soooo needs an Indian restaurant…. yeah, about the time I leave where I work downtown, we’ll get one.

   Need to go to Cup & Saucer for lunch tomorrow to get the salad I love there one last time.

10. tracy on April 21, 2006 8:59 am

    We used to love “the Cup” as a bar (until I got “old” and sick of stinking like cigarette smoke) - many nights were spent with the fine music of the Malachy Papers and other M. Southerland et. al. bands over the years, about six or seven or so.

    The restaurant’s opening was disruptive, and many of us lamented the replacement of comfortable albiet somewhat raggedy furniture for the hard and unwelcoming upgrades. And, like I said, I got tired of the smoke and the drinking-out.

    While I have spent $100s at the Cup on food, the service on the restaurant side only recently became good enough not to hate, though some of the personalities there are a bit too quiet (and they never offer the specials, soup/scone/quiche of the day without your asking, and then they have to go look it up and get back with you), the service used to be horribly slow, it’s not all that lighting-fast now, but we always pretend it’s just a European thing.

    The food hasn’t changed much over the years, but we keep eating there due to location and habit (and it’s not a greasy spoon; blech, one gets sick of/from those). While there is a smoke-free eating environment at the Cup, the space is cold and the chairs are hard. It’s echo-y, and I prefer the art on the bar side, apparently, to the pieces hung crookedly on the tuscany-type faux-stucco walls of the restaurant.

    It’s a little drafty, and only recently did they reopen the Delaware-side door, so the confused looks on passers’by faces have ceased.

    It was a good meeting place, though. I conducted two political interviews there, had some great tete-a-tetes, and watched a Planned Parenthood events committee go over a guest list once and have seen a number of other such organizations hold similar meetings at the sunny Cup and Saucer restaurant.

    The bar side was a gem, wasn’t it? The bartenders were fun and sweet, and the fellows on the stools friendly, if you wanted them to be. It was such a wonderful place to drink outside, before Judy Hadley et. al. (Kansas City’s Regulated Industries) decided it was horrible to allow people to be outdoors on a public sidewalk - and ONLY on the little part immediately adjacent to the narrow storefront - with a beer.

    That probably was the start of the license problems. There were a few other nights they had to go “catering style,” offering drink tickets for free with admission charges. Did she have to open a restaurant component in order to keep the Sunday license or meet the 50-50 food-to-drink sales ratio? It’s hard, then, I suppose, to run a place.

    I’ll miss the scones. The Cup is kind-of on my way to work, a good place to get consistent coffee; parking is ample and there is an official patio to the north now, though the view isn’t as fun as it used to be, especially before the sight-blocking effects of the El Dorado-designed apartments/condos on the northeast corner of Fifth and Delaware came about.

    Well, shoot, it’s tomorrow already, the closing. And there’s all that “Great American Clean-Up” stuff to be done.

    So long, Cup.

11. Alessandro on April 22, 2006 10:55 pm

    I loved that place…went to the end-all party tonight. Good Crowd of us Regulars, and staff of new and old. A few were missed, but many showed. a great way to end it all, but still sad nonetheless.

12. Denese on April 25, 2006 8:32 am

    We ordered take out often due to location but the service was never great and everything was always changing so our menus were always outdated and it was always a hassle talking to anyone over the phone IF they would even answer the phone

    ICE CREAM SHOP with coffees would be great?

    Our many customers are forever asking for this type of restaurant from the area

13. Jason on May 1, 2006 5:32 pm

    Speaking of Gelato - I think there already is a gelato place opening in the river market area. I think it will be in one of the spaces attached to the City Market complex.

    That’s so sad to see the Cup and Saucer close. I used to go in there before work in the mornings.