Bean Counter: Second Best Coffee serves grounds for inclusion
Photo Courtesy of Second Best Coffee
For any small business, building a sense of community is a key factor for growth. There are plenty of places in Kansas City that have good coffee, good cocktails, or good barbecue, but it’s the spots where you feel a personal connection that keep you coming back—again and again. For Leia and Nathan Anderson, co-owners of Second Best Coffee in South Waldo, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy quick caffeine is the focus of everything they do.
“We’re coming up on eleven years of operation, and we’ve gone through a lot of evolution and some major challenges,” Leia says. “Adapting our service model during the pandemic was really hard, but it helped us focus on the things that really mattered to us.”
Leia says that Nathan pours most of his energy into being the coffee nerd. He obsesses over the little details and strives to keep improving the different techniques they use in developing, roasting, and brewing Second Best’s products. On the other hand, Leia focuses most of their energy on developing the rotating seasonal coffee drinks and building a culture of inclusion, specifically toward the LGBTQIA+ community.
Photo Courtesy of Second Best Coffee
When you step foot into Second Best Coffee, eyes are immediately drawn to the wall opposite the counter, where you’ll find a Pride flag and a banner that reads “Kindness is first best.” For Leia, making Second Best into a business that showcases pride and safety was a major priority. They grew up in a small, rural community and often felt like they had to hide who they really were.
“It’s cathartic to be in charge of a space that a younger version of me really wishes they could have had,” Leia says.
Second Best Coffee runs a number of community events, including crafting sessions, walking/running meet-ups, coffee tastings, and educational events that focus on different details of making coffee. Their first coffee tasting of 2025 will be held on Jan. 15, and they plan on hosting one every month or so moving forward. Educational events will highlight elements of the coffee-making process—the difference between light and dark roasting, washed coffee versus natural drying processes, or how certain regions or climates might affect your coffee. Walking and running meet-ups will start up again in the spring.
Photo Courtesy of Second Best Coffee
While none of these events are LGBTQIA-exclusive, it’s important to Leia and Nathan to emphasize that Second Best and the events there are all-encompassing. “A lot of people in the queer community struggle with their identities and how they fit in,” Leia says. “By putting a space out there that says, front-and-center, that anyone is welcome—that’s one less barrier to finding a place you can belong. A number of queer community events are also centered around alcohol, and it’s nice to have options for people that aren’t boozy.”
It isn’t just a focus on community that helps Second Best Coffee stand out in a crowded local scene—They also serve up a great combination of food and drinks. The shop’s name comes from the idea that whatever you have there today will be “second best” to what you have there tomorrow due to Nathan’s constant honing of the shop’s coffee.
“We just want everything to constantly improve,” Leia says. “Picking a favorite for me is hard. I used to be such a snob about things like decaf coffee, but now it’s one of my favorite things we have.”
Only having one location and dealing with a smaller overall volume also gives Leia and Nathan more control over where their product comes from. “Quality control is very important to us. We only work with importers that we know are ethical about where their products are coming from, and we do all our roasting ourselves,” Leia says.
Photo by Jordan Baranowski
The food menu at Second Best is fairly standard coffee shop fare: burritos, scones, cookies, and other baked goods. The quality helps push them above and beyond. Second Best Coffee’s resident baker, Michaela, creates the recipes and freshly bakes all of Second Best’s food, also offering custom cakes and other catered baked goods. Just a few items, like meat from Local Pig and Yoli tortillas for Second Best’s breakfast burritos, are sourced from other community favorites.
Leia and Nathan began their careers in fine dining and that attention to detail transfers over to Second Best’s signature seasonal drinks. The winter months are all about sweetness and those big, rich pie-spice flavors. The Winter Latte is like a Christmas cookie in a glass, with cloves, allspice, and nutmeg helping to offset the drink’s sweetness. The Peanut Baller also features popular dessert flavors, like peanut butter, chocolate, and vanilla. And no winter coffee menu is complete without some eggnog-based drinks. Second Best has two: the 511 (shaved ice, eggnog, and espresso topped with white chocolate shavings) and the Claus.
Photo by Jordan Baranowski
For an eggnog-obsessive like me, the simplicity of the Claus was the main draw. It’s a perfect little blend of ‘nog and Second Best’s Nitro Cold Brew: a creamy, rich glass of winter heaven with just the right jolt of caffeine.
As Second Best continues to grow, both Leia and Nathan are excited to continue expanding their seasonal drink menu. “It really helps us flex our personal creativity and scratch the fine dining itch that got us started on this journey,” Leia says.
Part of the shop’s growth is also linked to making it even more inclusive to all types of visitors. In addition to being such an LGBTQIA-friendly space, Second Best features little touches like a free little library, a give-a-piece take-a-piece art gallery, and more. “Whether you want to run in and grab a coffee on the way to work, or you want to bring a laptop and hang out with us until we close, we’re glad to have you,” Leia says.
Second Best Coffee is located at 328 W. 85th Street, Kansas City, MO 64114. It is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Click below to read the January 2025 Issue of The Pitch Magazine:
