Kafe De Kasa Back In Business Thanks To Window

JOLIET, IL —A little locally run coffeehouse that opened Jan. 8 was off to a good start in Joliet until the new coronavirus outbreak came along. Then, for a couple weeks, Kafe De Kasa shut down. Now, it's back in business this week, all thanks to the modern invention of a window.

Kafe De Kasa does not have space at 1206 Plainfield Road for a drive-thru lane. And, for the indefinite future, customers can't sit inside the coffeehouse to drink coffee amid the coronavirus pandemic. There was only one other option left.

"We closed temporarily and we decided to reopen with a window and I feel we can provide a service to people," remarked Johnny, who runs Kafe De Kasa along with his girlfriend Norma. He asked his last name not be used because everyone simply knows him as Johnny.

Monday marked Kafe De Kasa's first day back in business after the several day layoff. The new little coffeehouse is at the corner of Ingalls Avenue and Plainfield Road. It's right across the street from the ACE Drive-In and Tezak Funeral Home.

Johnny said he really wants to do his best to help out the Joliet area's first responders: medical professionals, police officers, firefighters and ambulance crews during these challenging times for our country and here locally.

"We had so many cops coming and (Monday) we had three police officers," Johnny said. "We are a localized coffee shop, and we want to be able to provide the service we do, but in a safe manner."

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In hopes of limiting contact with customers as much as possible, Johnny said Kafe De Kasa is not accepting credit or debit card payments. He accepts cash as well as payments through Venmo and Apple Pay.

He is also wearing a face mask at all times while he interacts with walk-up customers or gets their beverages for them.

"I'm trying to take as many precautions as possible," he told Joliet Patch's Editor on Tuesday.

For now, Kafe De Kasa is staying open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"Bankers hours," he told one of his walk-up coffee customers Tuesday.

After being completely shut down for days, Johnny said he didn't have much hope for Monday's first day back. He ended up with at least 25 customers, he said.

"It was not a bad day for a Monday, not bad at all," he told Patch.

Johnny is really proud of his assorted drink specials.

He has hot drinks, cold drinks and a chalkboard menu called Anti Kafe: Refreshing Drinks.

That list includes smoothies, iced lattes, iced teas, milk shakes and drinks with cool names like Dragon Fire (Coconut Milk) and Dragon Lava (Lime) and Lemonade Cucumber Chia.

As far as hot coffees go, one of the crowd favorites is his Americano, a regular coffee.

He also makes an Espresso De Kasa, Cappuccinos, Lattes, an Organic Matcha and Tazo Chai Latte.

Johnny said he has no regrets about opening his new coffee shop in Joliet. The building, years ago, was known as the Wild Hammer bar, he said.

With spring here, he's excited about the prospects of giving people around Joliet a new venue to visit. The new window might be a boon for business. For one, it creates enormous visibility for his business on the city's busy Plainfield Road, which is also Route 30.

What makes his coffee special?

"We use Brazilian beans," Johnny said proudly.

The Brazilian bean is lightly roasted with little to no acidity, Johnny said. The bean is specially made for Kafe De Kasa.

How are customers responding to the bean? "We have 71 five-star reviews on Google Reviews in less than three months," Johnny said.

If people want to call ahead with their drink order, that's encouraged, he said. Kafe De Kasa's phone is 815-630-3694.

Kafe De Kasa was one of the small businesses to fill out Joliet Patch's simple online survey to let everyone know whether they are open and current hours of operations during the coronavirus outbreak.

Nearly 100 Joliet businesses have been added to Patch's list. If you still want to add your small local business to Joliet Patch's growing list of open and closed businesses, you can do so here.

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