Café and lounge opens in River Market as tropical escape from KC
The owners of a nearby Mexican restaurant opened a tropical café and lounge in Kansas City’s River Market on Friday.
Husband and wife duo Cristina Marzolf and Matthew Marzolf, both 25, had been kicking around the concept of Press’d Cafe and Lounge, a family-friendly tropical escape that sells smoothies, juices and food for years. When the property at 509 Delaware St., became available earlier this year, they jumped on the opportunity.
“It’s everything we wanted. We wanted a patio, we wanted the bright wood features and everything,” Cristina Marzolf said. “And it’s only a few minutes walk from our other business as well.”
Their other business, Burrito Bros., which sells burritos, tamales, bowls and tacos, sits inside the City Market pavilion in between Ting’s Filipino Bistro and a few doors up from Cristina’s Produce, owned by Cristina Marzolf’s family.
“We love to travel, so we wanted to open something tropical and something that had coffee juices and all of that, and as we were going through with it, the menu just kind of grew a little bit,” Cristina Marzolf said. “We always wanted to do cocktails at night, but we are very family-oriented, so something that wasn’t too crazy. So we were like, ‘how can we put all of this together in one place?’ and that’s kind of how Press’d came about.“
The café and lounge serves a variety of smoothies, juices, coffees, teas, cocktails, mocktails and sandwiches. The Star tried the Egg & Cheese breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, the choice of sausage or bacon on a croissant bun; $8) and an iced latte with honey made with beans from the Roasterie; $5.
Other drinks offered include the Banana Bread Latte (banana, caramel, hazelnut; $5.75-$6.75), Berry Bliss smoothie (strawberry, banana, coconut water, collagen, coconut cream and date; $12) and Island Time juice (mango, pineapple and orange; $11).
Press’d also offers a variety of sandwiches and sourdough toasts like the Coastline Melt (panini with ham, gouda cheese, sliced tomatoes, hot peach jam and signature sauce on a focaccia bread; $12) and the Avo Deluxe (avocado, cherry tomatoes, balsamic drizzle, everything seasoning; $11). It also sells baked goods that range from $3.50 to $5.50.
Putting together the menu was a labor of love for the Marzolfs, who said they created everything at home in their kitchen with a panini press and blender.
“We would put our daughter to sleep and stay up till like midnight, sometimes 1 in the morning,” Cristina Marzolf said.
Some of the beverages are inspired by the Marzolfs’ trips to Hawaii.
“We want you to come in and kind of feel like you’re escaping normal life in Kansas City,“ Cristina Marzolf said. “There’s not really a lot of places here that offer that tropical experience. If we could live somewhere like Florida or Hawaii, we definitely would in a heartbeat, but we’ve established our life out here ... but we wanted to bring what we love from other places in the world to Kansas City, and share that with everybody.”
The state of Missouri has yet to greenlight a liquor license for Press’d, but once it’s in, the café will be serving cocktails all day.
Some of their featured cocktails include the Loaded Citrus (vodka, fresh lemonade, sparkling water and comes in either lemon, strawberry or mango; $12) and classics like the Paloma (tequila, grapefruit, sparkling water and lime; $13).
Cocktails range from $9 to $15 and the zero-proof cocktails are either $8 or $10. Press’d also offers a limited selection of wine ($12) and bottled beer ($5 or $6).
“You walk in our business, you’re pretty much welcome to our home, and we want to welcome everyone like you would if you were having a barbecue or Thanksgiving dinner,” Matthew Marzolf said. “So that’s how we want to welcome our guest.”
Press’d offers both seating inside and a patio featuring a mural. It is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
