Kéan Coffee

★★★★★

I’m still amused that this place is still going strong 15 years after Starbucks closed an “underperforming” location.

Back in the day, this was an early location of Diedrich Coffee, a small local chain that grew to a regional chain. It was always busy. Great coffee, and a great place to hang out.

Fast forward a couple of decades: Martin Diedrich stepped back from the company to run a single indie coffee house (the original Kéan) instead of corporate management, and corporate sold the chain to Starbucks. Once this location was converted, it wasn’t worth going to. It was just another Starbucks. And I never saw it full. Never. It closed after only a couple of years.

And then Diedrich picked up the empty storefront and made it a second location for Kéan Coffee…and not only is it really good, it’s worth hanging out at again…and it’s been busy every time I’ve been there since then. And they still roast their own coffee. Whenever I’m in the area, I try to hit either Kéan or Lost Bean. Even if I’m coffee’d out for the day, I’ll grab a bag of coffee beans to take home.

I recommend the Mayan Mocha and the Turkish Latte.