Popular KC bakery opens a bodega-style coffee shop: ‘Whole new thing’
For the past five years, Blackhole Bakery has been serving sticky buns and cinnamon rolls at 55th Street and Troost Avenue.
But for its newly opened sister concept — West Plaza Bodega — owner Jason Provo sort of happened upon the space at 1702 W. 45th St.
“I’m excited by how excited everybody is,” Provo said. “I didn’t have a goal to have anything here.”
His lawyer spotted the gray building and recommended Provo take a look. So Provo began to dream up what the spot in West Plaza’s antique district could be. Something that, on the one hand, would pay homage to the pastries at Blackhole, but something that also wasn’t quite the same.
West Plaza Bodega softly opened Friday, serving many of the same pastries fans have come to love at Blackhole.
The plan is to officially launch Bodega on Tuesday, with hours running from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays.
This isn’t Blackhole 2.0. Unlike the Troost location, this spot has a full coffee program courtesy of Maps Coffee & Chocolates. Its shelves carry sauces, spreads and some snacks.
“It’s more about, ‘What is it?’ versus ‘What brand is it?’” Provo said. “It’s West Plaza. It is a bodega.”
Some of the pastry offerings available at Blackhole won’t be at Bodega, and vice versa.
Provo said the grab-and-go options will only expand. He’s still playing with what that will look like exactly, leaning on the neighborhood for feedback of what it wants to see.
He expects its offerings to only grow over the next few months, potentially adding breakfast and deli sandwiches.
“By the strictest sense, it’s not gonna be a traditional bodega, but it is gonna be a corner store,” Provo said. “It is gonna be a coffee shop. It is gonna be a place to get your snack in the morning.”
At its Friday soft opening, a steady line of customers waited to order croissants and lattes at the coffee bar.
A laminated menu presented a few specialty drink options: A Blackhole mocha (dark chocolate ganache, brown sugar and vanilla) for $6.50, an apricot pistachio latte (apricot puree, pistachio compound and sea salt) for $6.60, and a juniper pink peppercorn matcha (juniper berry, pink peppercorn and cardamom) for $7.
There’s a lot of unknown in this new venture for Provo, but he’s looking forward to seeing how the community responds to his concept.
For the first time in his entrepreneurial journey, he won’t be at his business all day. He’ll have to place plenty of work into the hands of trusted employees, some of which he brought over from his previous location. But he’s ready to open the doors.
“This is a whole new thing for me,” he said. “I’m excited to see how I’ve grown after the last five years. … I’ve wanted to work in coffee my whole life.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2025 at 8:29 AM.