Second Best Coffee (In Memoriam)

In memoriam — Second Best Coffee was a beloved independent café in Waldo (328 W 85th St), opened January 31, 2014 by Nathan and Leia Anderson and operating for nearly twelve years under the motto “Midwestern Modesty.” It closed suddenly on November 18, 2025, after a planned sale to two employees fell through while the owners were traveling.¹² This page is a tribute to a neighborhood coffee shop remembered for its craft coffee program, its Trolley-Trail cycling culture, and an explicitly welcoming, inclusive community space.

Description

Second Best Coffee was an espresso-focused, craft-forward café in Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood. Co-owner Nathan Anderson led the coffee side — roasting and brewing — while Leia Anderson developed a seasonal drink menu (drawing on a fine-dining background) and cultivated the shop’s community culture.³

The name was a deliberate philosophy, not modesty for its own sake. As Nathan put it: if they made the best cup of coffee today, “would there be any reason to come back tomorrow?” The shop styled itself with the motto “Midwestern Modesty,” committing to a coffee that would always be improved upon — today’s cup is the “second best” they will ever make.¹⁴

At opening the café ran as a multi-roaster program (sourcing from PT’s, Dogwood, Bow Truss, and Madcap) and was home to Kansas City’s first Slayer espresso machine, custom-painted orange and white, paired with Mazzer grinders and Clever drippers for brewed coffee. Early menu touches included breakfast burritos with Local Pig sausage, Hugo Tea, Askinosie chocolate, and house-made syrups (lavender honey, chocolate).⁴ By its later years the shop had moved to in-house roasting and on-site baking.³

Sited just off the Trolley Trail — the north–south rail-trail linking Midtown to Waldo — the café leaned into cycling culture, with bike hooks, bike parking, cycling trophies in the décor, and a bicycle mounted in the bathroom.⁴

Ownership and history

Second Best Coffee was founded and owned throughout its life by Nathan and Leia Anderson, who lived in the Waldo area and chose the neighborhood deliberately — other parts of Kansas City already had a saturated coffee scene, and Waldo was close to home.⁴ The business operated as Second Best Coffee, LLC at 328 W 85th St, in a small strip center.

Over nearly twelve years the shop became a neighborhood fixture. Leia, who has described growing up hiding her identity in a rural area, made an explicitly inclusive, LGBTQIA+-welcoming space central to the shop’s mission — a Pride flag and a banner reading “Kindness is first best,” non-alcoholic community gatherings, coffee tastings, educational sessions, and walking/running meetups. The café also kept a free little library and a rotating art gallery.³

Some secondary/aggregated reporting references a 2023 closure-and-reopening following an employee walkout. This was not confirmed in the primary owner-interview or Kansas City Star closure coverage reviewed here and should be checked against a primary source before being treated as fact.

Closure

Second Best Coffee closed unexpectedly on November 18, 2025, with the doors locked and no immediate explanation. According to Kansas City Star reporting, the owners had arranged to sell the business to two of their employees; while the Andersons were traveling, the prospective buyers changed their minds and notified the owners by text that they would not go through with the purchase, and the staff then found work elsewhere.²

The owners said on social media that they were “as taken aback as many of you,” adding: “We are currently processing and making decisions about what to do next. We apologize for the confusion and chaos that this has caused.”¹² Neighboring business owners reported confusion at the sudden closure, and regulars mourned the loss on Instagram. As of the latest reporting reviewed, no reopening had been announced and the future of the business was uncertain.²

Legacy

For nearly twelve years, Second Best Coffee was one of Waldo’s anchor third places — a craft-coffee destination that took its roasting and espresso seriously (down to the city’s first Slayer machine) while wearing it lightly under the “Midwestern Modesty” banner. It mattered as much for who it welcomed as for what it poured: an intentionally inclusive, kind-first community space woven into the Trolley Trail’s cycling life, with a free library and gallery wall. Its abrupt 2025 closure left a hole in the Waldo coffee map and is remembered here as a beloved, founder-led KC institution.

Links

• Website: secondbestcoffee.com⁴
• Instagram: @secondbestcoffee³
• Facebook: facebook.com/secondbestcoffee

See also

• Waldo
• Registry

Sources

Footnotes

1. The Kansas City Daily News Now — “Second Best Coffee Shop Suddenly Closes.” https://shows.acast.com/the-kansas-city-daily-news-now/episodes/6921a1d600a96fa12b664b50. Source for: closed since Nov 18, 2025; owners “as taken aback as many of you”; 2014 origin. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Kansas City Star (via Yahoo News) — “11-year-old KC coffee shop closes its doors. It’s unclear if it will reopen.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/11-old-kc-coffee-shop-110000049.html. Source for: closure circumstances — planned employee sale fell through by text while owners traveled; owner statement; community reaction; uncertain reopening; “Midwestern Modesty” motto. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. The Pitch — “Bean Counter: Second Best Coffee serves grounds for inclusion.” https://www.thepitchkc.com/bean-counter-second-best-coffee-serves-grounds-for-inclusion/. Source for: Nathan/Leia roles; inclusion mission; “Kindness is first best” banner; in-house roasting; on-site baking; free little library + art gallery; ~11 years in operation. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. Sprudge Coffee — “Second Best Coffee In Kansas City Is Clearly First-Rate.” https://sprudge.com/second-best-coffee-kcmo-53652.html; and Inside Brookside — “Welcome to Waldo: Second Best Coffee” (March 24, 2014), https://insidebrookside.com/2014/03/24/welcome-to-waldo-second-best-coffee/. Source for: Jan 31, 2014 opening; Nathan + Leia Anderson; “second best” name philosophy; 328 W 85th St; Slayer espresso machine; multi-roaster sourcing; Trolley Trail cycling culture; menu. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵