RIP Kava

July 20, 2006

The Bishop coffee wars, a happy time for latte-guzzlers, chai tea aficionados and chit-chatters up and down the East Side, has claimed its first victim.

The Kava Coffeehouse, at 206 N. Main St. is "closed for the summer" and when I bopped in there the other day to see what was up, I ran straight into a realtor who is brokering the property.

There are rumors all over the place as to what happened, but one downtown merchant voiced a prevalent theory:

"When Starbucks came in (on the north side of town), that was just one too many coffeehouses."

Starbucks came in on the heels of the Looney Bean's new coffeehouse, while in the Kava neighborhood, the Black Sheep coffeehouse in the rear of Spellbinder's Books continues to do bang-up biz.

But Kava seemed somehow special. Here's the way Colleen Dunn Bates described it in her book, "Mammoth From The Inside":

"A rambling, colorful place with art for sale and vivid murals, it serves excellent Alpen Sierra coffee and makes a perfect latte.

"There's a comfortable mix of tables and chairs, chess boards, a shaded sidewalk patio (for the dog people), several iMac computers with Internet access, free WiFi for laptoppers, sandwiches, bagels, sweets, smoothies and some artsy gifts that Maria picks up on her world travels.

"Kava is one my mandatory stops between Mammoth and L.A."

Well, no more. Sadly.

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