Java snobs won't find many exotic flavors here, and caffeine fiends who prefer to hang out in places with art-school-chic décor may be a little disoriented at first. But Q Brew is the city's most daring new coffee shop. Late last winter, proprietor Rosie Sheppard opened her storefront in one of the city's most forlorn neighborhoods, near 18th Street and Quindaro in KCK. Sheppard says the Lord gave her the idea to open a coffee shop: She realized she was always making coffee in the morning for her clients at the hair salon she owns a few blocks away, and it occurred to her that there might be a demand. At first the shop was just a small kitchen-and-counter area; Sheppard and her partner, landlord Andrew Ammons, have since expanded into a clean, bright room full of tables, where a magazine rack is stocked with publications such as ESPN Magazine, Black Enterprise and Jet. Knickknacks are for sale on a homey display shelf, and tabletops offer diversions — the Bible or some dominos. The Q Brew doesn't just pour hot coffee — it serves hope for a neighborhood.
