‘It’s been up and down’: Couple hope crowds will return to their new Kansas City cafe

On a crisp Saturday morning, Kim Cole is hurrying into her new Crossroads restaurant when she spots some fellow cyclists searching for a breakfast spot.

If you’re hungry, this is the place, she calls out.

They fill two patio tables and catch the attention of a couple strolling by, who take another table. Three more people, a family, take note of the crowd and stop to scan the menu before they, too, venture inside.

Cole and head cook Robert Wright whip up eggs “over hard,” country potatoes, sausage links and gravy “French style. You sweat your onions in butter,” she says.

“When they see the restaurant is really empty they keep walking. But when they see people on the patio they start coming in,” Cole said. “What we will do in the winter is sit people at the windows so they can see people are there.”

Cole and her husband, Clarence, had built a loyal following for their Foodlove Cafe catering business over 15 years. But they had long looked for the perfect Kansas City brick-and-mortar spot for a restaurant, bakery and wine bar.

In late June they opened Foodlove Cafe at 2101 Broadway Blvd. in the Crossroads, serving up such dishes as French toast soaked in custard and stuffed with cream cheese and fruit filling, fried chicken with the French pan gravy, and now one of the new fall additions — French onion soup.

Two other restaurants previously had short stints in the spot, and now a pandemic was raging. Still, the couple saw sales increasing “pretty significantly” each week from the soft opening through the grand opening on Aug. 13.

Then, just days after the celebration, sales dropped.

“That delta mess was all in the news. We kept advertising, we kept pushing,” she said. “It’s been up and down. It’s really super busy, or some nights there would be nobody for happy hour, nobody for dinner. So dead. And we would end up sending (employees) home.”

Foodlove Cafe is now seeing “slight” increases each week. Customers prefer the patio, or opt for to-go or delivery mostly through Grubhub. Few choose the dining room.

Staffing also has been a struggle, with two employees resigning when they did not want to be vaccinated, although the cafe does not have vaccine mandates.

“When they tell us they are vaccinated we are thrilled. If you are not, that’s fine, as long as they mind all of the CDC safety codes,” Cole said.

She heads out to the patio to check on the cyclists, discussing area rides and if electric bikes are better.

“Here’s my motor,” Cole said, pointing to her thigh. The cyclists ask about the restaurant’s hours and plan to return.

“I love the people so much and having a ‘mouth’ out there. Everybody just loves everything. That part we are really glad about,” she said “We’re just hoping that people understand that we have a 100-seat restaurant, big enough that people can spread out and enjoy indoor dining safely. It’s just going to take time to get by the virus.”