New Kansas City coffee shop aims to avoid annoyances, with bigger portions, no tipping

The phrase Christopher Oppenhuis uses to describe the operating ethos at Take Care, the Crossroads coffee shop he opened this week, is “subtle hospitality.”

“Customers — people — used to be offered more in places like this,” he said. “So part of what we’re trying to do here is give people back some of the things that have been taken away from them.”

Some of that takes the shape of pushing back against shrinkflation. Coffee beans, which many other roasters sell in 12-ounce bags, are sold at Take Care by the pound. A large latte is 20 ounces, as opposed to the 16 ounces you might find at other independent coffee shops.

“A 12-ounce bag doesn’t go very far if you have a family or roommates, and a 12-ounce coffee doesn’t go very far if you’re a nurse working a long shift,” Oppenhuis said.

You’ll experience no awkward iPad interactions at Take Care, either: It’s a no-tipping establishment. “So far, there’s been a super positive reception to that.”

Oppenhuis, who co-owns Take Care (419 E. 18th St.) with partner Mark Sappington, has been working in coffee for about 20 years. Five of those were spent as the director of coffee at Thou Mayest, the local coffee shop and roasting company. (Take Care is leasing the original Thou Mayest location, which vacated the space in 2018.)

In 2019, he left to launch the Crossroads wholesaler Marcell Coffee, which last year roasted 70,000 pounds of custom coffees for dozens of local businesses, including Mildred’s and Heirloom Bakery & Hearth.

Marcell is named after Oppenhuis’s grandmother-in-law, who had a farm north of Kansas City in Turney, and Take Care draws on that heritage in its design: lots of wood and brick, some old farm furnishings, a big American flag on one wall.

“It’s sort of a Midwestern farmhouse feel,” Oppenhuis said. “Coffee is beautiful, but it doesn’t need to be enjoyed in some crystal palace. We’re trying to break the mold of that sterile coffee environment a little.”

The in-house bakery serves a small, simple menu: a biscuit, a cheddar apple scone, a masa chocolate chunk cookie. “The plan is to keep a core of great things we hope to sell a lot of,” Oppenhuis said.

Hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.