**Monarch**
**Coffee**

Kansas City | 2017 - 2024

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“The Rovenstines have demonstrated, over and over, that for them, coffee is about so much more than good roasting and exacting preparation, things that from the start appeared to be second nature—it’s about hospitality, it’s about community, and in challenging times, it’s about how coffee can step up and be a force for positive change.”

— David Landsel, Food & Wine, The Best Coffee in Every State 2019

“In a big time coffee town with plenty of high-profile players, this relatively new arrival (roasting Missouri’s most exciting coffee right now) has quickly become indispensable, a calm, civilized, and inclusive presence in the city’s Midtown neighborhood.”

— Food & Wine, The Best Coffee Shops in America

FOOD & WINE: The Best coffee SHOP IN AMERICA

The Best Coffee Shops in KC, According to a Coffee Critic

“A cafe cannot survive on vibe alone. Monarch is its own roasting company, and the coffee itself is lovely… Classy and beautiful and welcoming, Monarch Coffee feels inclusive and accessible in a meaningful, modern way. Any city in America would be lucky to have a cafe like this—it’s one of the best cafes in America right now and the best in Kansas City”

— Jordan Michelman, Kansas City Magazine

**In Kansas City, Pushing The Coffee Culture Forward At Monarch**

Our second location. 3550 Grand Boulevard.

From the fall menu: Sweet Potato Latte with a homemade, roasted marshmallow.

Founded by a barista (my partner, Tyler) and an artist (me, Jaime), Monarch Coffee was a marriage of coffee and art.

Opened in July 2017, our small business on the corner of Knickerbocker & Broadway was a vision several years in the making. Tyler was an experienced barista & barista competitor. I was an artist who loved designing spaces as containers for connection and community building.

After welcoming our first child, we decided to finally work towards opening the shop we had been dreaming about co-creating for over a decade. The vision included a café experience with excellent coffee & food, intentional tableside service, in a beautiful, European inspired space.

In a historically white, male dominated industry, our intention was that Monarch would be a space in Kansas City that was welcoming and safe for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ folks, and that our cafe would become an anchor in our community.

In our five and a half years on Broadway we hosted artist markets, anti-racism workshops, small business pop-ups, voter registrations, industry parties, performances, and lectures. We earned accolades for our cafe and roasting programs.

In February of 2020, we opened a second location at 3550 Grand Boulevard. A great opportunity in a commerical office space, until a global pandemic completely turned our industry upside down.

As the world shifted, so did ours. During the pandemic, when our cafes were not offering full-service, we had a glimmer of what life could be like for our family, without the daily toil of the retail service industry.

In time, it became clear that the daily, Sisyphean battle to keep two cafes afloat post-pandemic was not the life we wanted for ourselves or our kids. We closed our brick & mortar cafes in October of 2022 and ended our online coffee subscription service in August of 2024.

Two years later, we are happier, healthier, and grateful we trusted ourselves when it was time to walk away. We’re so proud of what we created together, in collaboration with our families, friends, staff, and community. Monarch Coffee will always be a part of our family’s story and we are grateful for all that Monarch brought into our lives.