Desire for decent cup of coffee in Louisville sparked Kenny Clark to open Uptown Joe

Opened in 2014 on Main Street in the heart of Louisville, Uptown Joe is a small, family-run business. The shop is bustling with cups of coffee and breakfast sandwiches now, but that wasn’t always the case.

When owner/operator Kenny Clark purchased the building, a coffee shop wasn’t even in the plans. With time, experience and his own desire for a decent cup of coffee plus help from family, Uptown Joe was born.

When I visited on a hot morning in July, the coffee shop was busy with customers ordering and enjoying coffee. Conversation flowed between workers and guests. It felt welcoming and fun, like a coffee shop should feel. Clark chatted away with a friend, and the staff trained a new worker.

I caught up with Clark to see how Uptown Joe has evolved into what it is today. It was evident that he takes pride in the shop, noting a new coffee maker and tidying up as he showed me around. It was also apparent that family is important to Clark.

Q. How did you get the idea for the coffee shop?

A. “I had purchased the building off a tax lien foreclosure back in ’05 and renovated it over the next two years into office space. I had a couple businesses come and go, but nothing would stick. I got tired of driving 20 to 30 minutes to get a decent cup of coffee, so I started to reinvent the space. I took down a few walls to open it up and then I convinced my family to help me get the coffee shop going.”

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Q. How’s business after eight years, and while surviving through a pandemic?

A. “We’re doing very well. Every year, we continue to grow. We've had a lot of support from the community, especially through the pandemic.”

Q. What do you offer?

A. “We have espresso drinks, coffee, teas, frappes, smoothies and lemonade boba drinks. We also have bagel sandwiches. Basically, I put Einstein Bros. and Starbucks together.”

Q. I see your menu has lots of cold and hot drinks options, as well as sandwiches. What are some of your most popular items?

A. “Turkey bacon guac is probably our most popular sandwich. But we also sell a lot of breakfast sandwiches; bacon, egg and cheese on an Asiago bagel is popular. Caramel macchiato and white chocolate mocha are popular, but we have a wide variety of flavors. We do a French toast with oat milk; it's maple, pistachio, honey and cinnamon. We also keep pumpkin spice year round.”

Q. I see the coffee shop is a family-run business. Can you tell me a little bit about your team? 

A. “My brother and sister-in-law (Greg and Elaine Clark) help with events, either at the shop or they will go set up a coffee cart somewhere. My sister (Christi Sinchak) helps out with the marketing; she's our online presence. She developed our website. My wife, Valerie, created our online ordering through Square and linked it to our webpage.

And our mom was an integral part of our business too. Not only did she tap into her retirement to invest in the business, she was our bookkeeper and helped me run the day-to-day operations. I truly could not have done this without her. Last year, she passed away unexpectedly in a car accident.”

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Q. What’s a day at the coffee shop like for you? Do you have regular customers you see daily?

A. “I’m not in as much as I used to be, but yes we have a loyal base of customers that I'll see several times a week. Customer service has always been our priority; we will go out of our way to make sure you're happy.”

Q. Anything else you’d like to share about Uptown Joe?

A. “We try to serve a quality product at a fair price, and everything is made to order, so please have a little patience if we're busy. If you are in a hurry, try out our online ordering.”

Uptown Joe is at 117 E. Main St. in Louisville. The shop is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information and to place an online order, visit uptownjoe.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Desire for decent cup of coffee in Louisville led to Uptown Joe