Kafe De Kasa: Johnny Explains Move From Joliet To Crest Hill

JOLIET, IL — One of Joliet's hot new businesses, Kafe De Kasa, has been a welcome addition to the Ingalls Avenue and Plainfield Road corridor, but after eight months here, the owner is moving his coffeehouse two miles up to the road to Crest Hill.

Johnny, the owner of Kafe De Kasa, told Joliet Patch's editor that he hopes to open his new coffeehouse at 2446 Plainfield Road around Sept. 10. Even though it's a "house," the land is zoned for a commercial building, he said.

Johnny plans to remain in Joliet for another four weeks. The Joliet coffeehouse was incredibly successful, so much so that he needed more parking space to accommodate his steady flow of customers who stop throughout the day, he said.

His new building in Crest Hill is 1,000 square feet. His little coffeehouse in Joliet has only 400 square feet, he said. His new location has 10 parking spaces and one handicap parking space. In Joliet, he only had about four parking stalls attached to his business at 1206 Plainfield Road.

Kafe De Kasa is right across the street from Joliet's ACE-Drive In.

"We're going from 400 to 1,000 square feet with a huge backyard with many possibilities," Johnny told Patch. "We'll have the same items with expectations of making new drinks all the time as usual."

Johnny said he has no complaints at all with the city of Joliet. The area where he is moving is that area along Plainfield Road where some portions are in Crest Hill and others are in Joliet, he said.

So why the move up the road?

"It was too much business for the size of the location," Johnny said of his reasoning for leaving Joliet.

For the next month, customers who have enjoyed visiting Johnny and his staff at 1206 Plainfield Road can continue to do so, he said.

But hopefully, around Sept. 10, he will be at 2446 Plainfield Road, he said Monday.

"We will vacate that (Joliet) location and we're going to have to make the jump simultaneously," he said. "I love Joliet and we thank them for their starting us out. We just happened to find that location in Crest Hill."

Johnny said the arrangement at 2446 Plainfield Road is "we're leasing with an option to buy. I have a strong belief that a lot of customers will be loyal, and we'll be getting more customers too, due to our proximity to the Louis Joliet Mall."

Johnny said that some of his customers inquired whether he would be opening a drive-thru window at his new location. The answer to that question is absolutely not, he said.

"We're a craft coffeehouse," Johnny said. "We have conversations with you and we want to be personable with you. You're not a number to us."

Johnny said he will be opening a second location, in Bolingbrook, in September. The Bolingbrook coffeehouse will be called Kafe du Monde and will be at 345 Schmidt Road, near Boughton Road, and right by the Rosati's Pizza, he said.

Previous Joliet Patch coverage:

Kafe De Kasa Back In Business Thanks To Window

Joliet Coffeehouse Opens On Plainfield Road