The Bistro

Kaladi's Coffee Legend & Bistro is run by the father/daughter team of Chuck Bahnson and Susie Patrick. After entirely renovating the space at 26^th and Minnesota, we opened Kaladi's on March 31, 2003. The design of the interior includes a conference room to accommodate the business community, a fireplace area for those who want to relax, a bar for customers to read the paper, and tables tucked out of the way for uninterrupted lunches.

Our goal is to create a locally-owned coffee shop with a big city feel. We strive to provide excellent customer service using only the finest quality ingredients for all products served. The coffee is roasted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and all the sandwich bread is made fresh every day. Kaladi's employs a full-time baker who makes all of the baked goods from scratch on a daily basis - nothing is frozen! (Except the blended coffees and real fruit smoothies!)

The Coffee

The coffee served at Kaladi's comes from Alterra Coffee Roasters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Alterra is dedicated to quality and has been roasting coffee since 1994. Alterra roasts, packs and ships our coffee the day we order to insure freshness!

The Sandwiches

The sandwiches served at Kaladi's are made with Breadsmith bread. Breadsmith bakes bread from scratch on a daily basis using no additives and no preservatives. All sandwiches are made to order using only the freshest ingredients. You can add or subtract any enhancement to any of our sandwiches or wraps.

The Legend

Once upon a time, long long ago, in a far away land, there lived a humble goat-herder named Kaldi. One afternoon as Kaldi was tending to his goats, he grew tired and decided to nap. When he awoke, Kaldi found his herd dancing gleefully in the field. Upon further investigation, he discovered that the herd had eaten a bright red berry from a shrub.

Curiously, Kaldi sampled some of the berries and soon he too was dancing in the field alongside his goats. Shortly thereafter, a monk came strolling past and noticed the goat-herder and his herd dancing in the field. He inquired as to the origins of such joy and Kaldi let him in on his find. The monk thanked Kaldi and took some of the berries back to the monastery.

He brewed and pressed and fermented and came up with many different beverages. These wonderful concoctions were passed to visiting monks who in turn would take it to their own monastery and soon coffee was finding its way around the world.

Our name, Kaladi's Coffee Legend & Bistro, was based on this legend.