The combination of coffee and community collide in Great Bend Coffee at 2015 Lakin Ave. Homemade is the number one ingredient on the menu with fresh baked muffins, cookies, bread, and plenty of choices so that everyone is sure to find a favorite. 

Breakfast draws the usual crowd that settles in to sip coffee and pass the paper. LaResa Likes, GBC owner, knows their names and their usual orders and if you forget the cookie, she won’t – unless they’ve already sold out for the day. 

A place to meet and eat

LaResa always had a dream of opening a restaurant. Eight and a half years ago she and her husband Eugene realized that dream when they purchased Great Bend Coffee from Paul and Barb Wagner. “I wasn’t a coffee drinker, but it had everything I needed it to be. And homemade was the most important,” she said. 

“We deliver 10-15 meals to seniors six days a week and we do lots of catering to school groups and all sorts of functions.” Likes said.

Inside the cafe, it’s not uncommon to find church groups and retirees, card players and mahjong groups, all making use of the large space to meet and converse. The drinks and the eats bring them in but the smiles and character keep them coming back. There’s no TV or radio, just the chatter and laughter of the people that have come to talk and visit. 

“It’s a meeting space, the Coffee Guys come in every morning and the Fuller Guys come in every month. It’s a really great community around here, and the church groups and bridge players – there’s so many and they’re all so great.”

Something for everyone

Along with all the coffee and drinks they offer, GBC serves a full breakfast, including waffles and pancakes, bacon and eggs, and omelets. And breakfast is a big hit with the customers from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and until 10:30 a.m. Saturday. 

The lunch menu takes up an entire wall and will leave you speechless the first time you see it. From the Italian-inspired sandwich names like the Napoli, Padova, Tuscan, and Verona, to names that are mash-ups, like the Blueben - a reuben sandwich with blue cheese, and the Tur-blueben - a blue cheese reuben featuring turkey instead of pastrami, some choices will be met with a head-tilt. But the consensus is, these sandwiches are on the list for a reason.

Serving Community

Along with their daily deliveries to seniors, Great Bend Coffee offers catering to large and small groups. “We’re doing an order for a wedding of 120 soon and the hospital is having their Veterans Day meal here on Saturday,” said Likes. “I think we’ll have a big crowd for that, plus normal breakfast ,so we’ll just keep making food until we run out.

“I usually have about six to eight employees, depending on the season, with some high school students and some Rosewood clients, along with my mother, who is 83, and two other ladies that are in their 70s.” Likes said, “I couldn’t do it without them.”

“I got my love of cooking from her and it’s great that she can help me out back there because I couldn’t do it alone,” she added.

“We open at 7 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. every day and are closed completely on Sundays but some of our items like the pumpkin snicker-doodle cookie with cream cheese frosting don’t usually make it to noon, and plus its seasonal,” she said.

Business Insight is a regular feature of the Great Bend Tribune, showcasing locally owned businesses and encouraging folks to shop local as we near the Christmas holidays. Contact news@gbtribune.com for more information.