Kansas City Current soccer player Elizabeth Ball was serving up espresso drinks from inside Pitchside Coffee’s trailer Tuesday afternoon. It was the first day the coffee shop was open full-time at Current Landing.
“This is the first time I’ve been, I’ve worked (in the trailer) in a while,” Ball said, smiling from inside the air-conditioned trailer. Her dog, Ryder sat nearby, ready to greet customers.
Opening day was manageable, she said. By early afternoon, there had been roughly 40 customers, a mix of nearby residents and construction workers in the area.
Pitchside Coffee opened inside a 5,000-square foot space at 1819 Grand Blvd., in the Crossroads last year. It’s owned by six current and former KC Current players: Kristen Hamilton, Elizabeth Ball, Hailie Mace, Vanessa DiBernardo, Mallory Weber and Desiree Scott.
In an Instagram post Monday, Pitchside announced it was moving back to the Riverfront, with the trailer parked outside Current Stadium starting Tuesday. The Crossroads location is open through Sept. 27.
“Differentiating ourselves in the Crossroads was good for us,” Ball said. “Now that we’ll be, like, here, we’ve already established our name which is nice.”
Pitchside Coffee serves a variety of espresso drinks, drip coffee, iced teas, matcha and more. All of the syrups are made in-house and include cinnamon brown sugar (cinnamon, nutmeg and organic brown sugar), mocha (dark chocolate, agave, vanilla, smoked sea salt), vanilla bean and peanut butter caramel.
The trailer also sells local food from Luca Bagels, Buck Tui BBQ, Blackhole Bakery, Hana’s Donuts and Post.
Before it was a coffee shop, Pitchside was a traveling coffee trailer that rolled around local events. The idea to start Pitchside began at preseason training in Florida a couple of years ago, according to previous reporting.
“February 2024 the 6 of us came together over a love for good coffee and began talking about opening our own coffee trailer…. 4 months later it came to life,” Pitchside said in a 2024 Instagram post.
After sipping coffee on the beach, the players decided a mobile coffee business would work better with their busy schedules, at least at first, The Star previously reported.
Pitchside is open every day from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Previous reporting from Jenna Thompson was used in this piece.
Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a food, arts and business reporter for the Kansas City Star. She studied journalism and political science at MU and has previously written for the Des Moines Register, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, The Missourian, Startland News and the Missouri Business Alert.
