Longtime Kansas City cafe reopens with cookies, cinnamon rolls, crab cake Benedicts

The Classic Cookie & Cafe was a Waldo mainstay since 1988, until it shut down in September.

Now a new ownership group has remodeled the spot at 409 W. Gregory Blvd., expanded the menu and reopened the cafe. The dining room has been reconfigured to seat 33, seven more than before, and has a more open bakery counter to expedite to-go orders.

“They like the ease with which they can come and grab stuff and go,” said Bryan Sparks, partner in the cafe with Hailey Allen and Ellen Klem.

Menu: The Nuts & Bolts breakfast (two locally sourced eggs cooked your way, bacon, toast and jam) for $7, the crab cake Benedict for $14, and the cinnamon rolls for $4.75 have been the most popular items, with the over-sized cinnamon rolls selling out early.

Other menu items include short rib burritos, casserole hash with root vegetables, French toast, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and waffles, Denver omelets, steak and egg sandwiches, egg white frittatas and yogurt parfaits.

French pastry chef Logan Goff offers the cafe’s namesake cookies, along with such new treats as carrot cake cupcakes, blueberry streusel, gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins, baklava, and hand pies. It has seven core cookies including snickerdoodles, sugar, chocolate chip and gluten-free chocolate chip.

It also has a variety of Parisi coffee drinks and hot chocolate.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It offers curbside pickup and delivery through Toast Delivery Services.

Coming up: In the spring, the cafe will have sidewalk seating and morning cocktails, along with wine and beer at lunch.

History: The Classic Cookie got its start on the Country Club Plaza in late 1981, selling cookies fresh from the oven. In 1988, the Plaza location and one downtown were sold to Mrs. Fields Cookies, and The Classic Cookie relocated to its current Waldo location later that year.