COFFEE BAR

Coffee in the morning and a mocktail in the evening come off the same counter here, which is the clearest sign that COFFEE BAR is a café-bar rather than a coffee shop.

Coffee drinks and casual café choices

The coffee comes from PT’s Coffee Roasting Co., the Topeka roaster whose old College Hill shop occupied this space before COFFEE BAR opened in early August 2022. Beyond coffee the list runs to teas, smoothies, alcoholic drinks, and house specialities such as a Vietnamese latte with cinnamon, an iced chai latte and mocktails. That range is what lets the room shift from a morning stop to an evening one without changing character.

Food carries the visit past the pastry case. Flatbreads and sandwiches are made to order across the day, and the wider list runs through quiche, a Southwest breakfast burrito, a chicken salad sandwich, a buffalo flatbread sandwich, danishes, a cheese danish and a strawberry Swiss roll. One of the owners also runs Panaderia Monterrey, and the plan from the start was to bring some of that bakery’s work onto this counter.

A community room next to Washburn

The owners are two brothers who wanted a place across from Washburn University where students could meet, hang work on the walls and use the room as their own. That intention still explains the place: it is a neighbourhood gathering point that happens to serve very good coffee.

The setting backs it up. Around thirty pieces by a local artist have hung on the walls, with an opportunity to buy them, and the calendar has run to Friday art shows, live music and appearances by Washburn jazz players in the outside seating. Guests describe a modern interior with a personal touch, a large digital display menu, patio seating and a view toward the Washburn waterfall.

Start with the Vietnamese latte

For a first order, the Vietnamese latte is the most distinctive drink on the board, especially with cinnamon. The iced chai latte is the non-coffee route, and the mocktails are the order that makes sense of the bar half of the name. To stay closest to the roaster, take a straight PT’s coffee drink and put a named food item beside it.

For a lighter visit, choose quiche, a cheese danish, a strawberry Swiss roll or another danish. For a fuller one, take the Southwest breakfast burrito, the chicken salad sandwich or the buffalo flatbread sandwich. The complete version of this place is a PT’s-based coffee or a Vietnamese latte, something from the bakery side, and time spent with the art and the campus outside.