This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Café Corazón is Kansas City’s first Latin American and Indigenous coffeehouse and roastery — a family business founded in 2019 by Miel Castagna-Herrera, Curtis Herrera, and their daughter Dulcinea Herrera. Built around Latinx and Indigenous espresso drinks, traditional foods (conchas, empanadas, tamales), and ceremonial yerba mate, it grew from a Westport storefront into a three-location operation. The 110 Southwest Blvd location anchors the Crossroads/Westside edge. In May 2026 the family won the Greater KC Chamber’s Mr. K Award (Small Business of the Year).

Description

Café Corazón bills itself as Kansas City’s first Latin American and Indigenous coffeehouse, where “culture, community, and craft come together.”1 The program centers on classic and specialty Latinx and Indigenous espresso drinks alongside ceremonial yerba mate served in its traditional form — a niche the founders say was entirely absent from KC’s coffee scene when they started.23 Press has repeatedly described it as the only café serving authentic yerba mate for a vast stretch of the country’s interior (“the only yerba mate cafe between the two coasts”).4

The food and drink draw directly from the owners’ heritage: Miel Castagna-Herrera’s Argentine roots (her father immigrated from Buenos Aires and taught her to drink mate) and Curtis Herrera’s Mexican and Mescalero Apache ancestry.34 The menu spans espresso and coffee drinks, yerba mate, smoothies, chocolate, blue corn and other native ingredients, toasts, Argentine sweets (dulce de leche, alfajores), choripán, empanadas, tamales, conchas and other pastries.54 The business has since become a roaster as well, sourcing ethically from Latin American farms and running wholesale, canned-beverage, and distribution operations from its own roasting facility.6

The 110 Southwest Blvd location sits in the Crossroads Arts District next door to ArtsKC, in a roughly 3,000-square-foot space (larger than the original Westport shop) designed to showcase Latinx and Indigenous artists and to participate in the Crossroads’ First Fridays.5 See crossroads-arts-district.

Ownership and history

PeriodOperator / milestone
2017Miel Castagna-Herrera begins planning a Latin coffee + yerba mate café, seeing no KC space serving mate or South American coffee culture2
September 2019Café Corazón opens its first location at 1721 Westport Rd27
2022Second location opens at 110 Southwest Blvd in the Crossroads Arts District3
~2023–2025Launches roasting/distribution facility, wholesale coffee, canned beverages, and specialty products from Latin American farms6
June 2025Third location opens in Brookside at 5911 Main St (grand opening June 7, 2025)8
May 27, 2026Family wins the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Mr. K Award — Small Business of the Year6
PresentOpen and operating across three locations under founding family ownership1

Café Corazón is a true family business — founded and run by Miel Castagna-Herrera, her husband Curtis Herrera, and their daughter Dulcinea Herrera.13 The original Westport café displayed furnishings made by Curtis, artwork by Dulcinea, and a mural by artists Isaac Tapia and Rodrigo Alvarez.5 The owners pride themselves on training baristas to deliver an authentic Latinx coffee experience and on employing multilingual staff (English, Spanish, Portuguese, and American Sign Language).46 The company invests in the community through nonprofit partnerships, free events, artist collaborations, and mentorship for underrepresented entrepreneurs.6 No corporate parent or franchise relationship is indicated; the business is independent and family-owned.16

AUDIT NOTE: This is the Kansas City business (the Castagna-Herrera / Herrera family). It is not related to the similarly named “Café Corazón” in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — a separate, unaffiliated business.

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Café Corazón — official site, “Our Story.” https://www.cafecorazonkc.com/ourstory and homepage https://www.cafecorazonkc.com/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Kansas City Magazine, “With Café Corazón, Miel Castagna-Herrera brings Latin coffee culture to Kansas City.” https://kansascitymag.com/with-cafe-corazon-miel-castagna-herrera-brings-latin-coffee-culture-to-kansas-city/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Flatland KC, “Café Corazón Opening Second Location in Crossroads.” https://flatlandkc.org/eats-drinks/cafe-corazon-opening-second-location-in-crossroads-2/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. MIKCexplore, “Coffee & Culture: Café Corazón” (Crossroads profile). https://mikcexplore.com/home/2022/1/11/profile-cafe-corazon-crossroads ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Feast Magazine, “With its second location, Café Corazón will bring yerba mate, empanadas and more to the Crossroads Arts District” (May 10, 2021). https://www.feastmagazine.com/kansas-city/article_aa795bfc-f16d-11eb-821b-2797ca7ad1d9.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Startland News, “Mr. K winner sipped deeply with community; now it’s savoring Small Business of the Year accolades” (May 2026). https://startlandnews.com/2026/05/mr-k-award-cafe-corazon/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. Dos Mundos Bilingual Newspaper, “Café Corazón opens in Westport” (Nov 29, 2019). http://dosmundos.com/2019/11/29/cafe-corazon-opens-in-westport/ ↩

  8. KC Chamber, “Café Corazón Grand Opening in Brookside” (June 7, 2025). https://www.kcchamber.com/current-topics/cafe-corazon-grand-opening-in-brookside/ ↩

See also

Categories
  • Locally owned
  • Coffee
  • Crossroads