11-year-old KC coffee shop closes its doors. Owners say its future is unclear
The doors are locked at Second Best Coffee — a once-bustling shop in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood.
Printed signs taped to the inside of either glass door simply read “closed.” Underneath, its windows are artfully papered over with construction paper clouds.
A phone call to the 328 W. 85th St. spot will lead customers to a robotic message from Verizon Wireless: “This call cannot be completed as dialed…”
It’s unclear whether the coffee shop will reopen, though it’s undoubtedly closed for now. Up until the owners released a statement via social media Sunday, business owners in the same shopping strip could only speculate about what happened.
Thiendinh Nguyen, owner of Vanity Nails KC next door, said it had been closed since at least Tuesday.
“We just don’t know,” he said.
“They’re always busy,” a nail technician piped up during The Star’s visit.
After days of uncertainty, Second Best’s owners explained on social media that they had intended to sell the business to two employees . But the employees “changed their mind(s),” while the owners were out of town, according to the post, and alerted them over text that they would not be moving forward with the sale.
Employees began looking for and accepted new jobs, according to the post.
“We are currently processing and making decisions about what to do next,” a statement from the shop said. “We apologize for the confusion and chaos that this has caused, and we certainly did not want to impact our community in this way.”
Second Best Coffee has been open since 2014, operating on “Midwestern Modesty,” as its motto indicates.
The shop expressed gratitude to its longtime customers.
“Thank you to all the lovely people we’ve built relationships with both patrons and employees over the years; you are first best in our hearts,” its post continued.
Several fans on Instagram bemoaned the news.
“This is wildly frustrating,” one user wrote. “We just recently found you guys and LOVED your coffee but really loved the employees working at the time we were there. How scary and maddening for the staff. I’m so sorry - for employees and your customers.”
“Will be heartbreaking if you close! Has always been a go to when back in KC - drive 45 minutes from our family just to see y’all!!” another said.
Ownership could not be reached for further comment Monday.
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.