Coffee Shops in Kirkwood and Webster Groves: A Local Guide
Revised July 27, 2026
What are the best coffee shops in Kirkwood and Webster Groves?
In Kirkwood: Kaldi’s Coffee (120 S. Kirkwood Rd), the town anchor since 2005 with a large patio and free garage parking behind, and Teleo Coffee (132 W. Monroe Ave), the independent, sourcing from socially-conscious suppliers with a charitable model. In Webster Groves: Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop (803 Marshall Ave) inside a working greenhouse; The Clover and the Bee (100 W. Lockwood) for cinnamon rolls, grits and a late walk-up window; The Annex Coffee & Foods (8122 Big Bend) part market, cafe and bar with a covered patio; 23 West Coffee (23 W. Lockwood); and the Webster Groves Garden Cafe (117 E. Lockwood), whose owners perform music in the room. Both downtowns are walkable and only minutes apart.
Keep reading ↓Kirkwood and Webster Groves sit next to each other, look similar from the road, and have completely different coffee. Kirkwood’s is built around two solid anchors near the train station. Webster’s is spread across Lockwood and Big Bend in five distinct places, one of which is inside a greenhouse.
If you live in one, you probably drive past better options in the other. Here’s the whole picture — both towns, everything verified open, and what each place is actually for.
What are the best coffee shops in Kirkwood and Webster Groves?
In Kirkwood, it’s Kaldi’s Coffee on S. Kirkwood Rd — a fixture since 2005 with a big patio — and Teleo Coffee on W. Monroe, which runs a charitable sourcing model. In Webster Groves, Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop operates inside a working garden center, The Clover and the Bee on W. Lockwood is the food-forward one, The Annex Coffee & Foods on Big Bend is part market and part bar, 23 West Coffee is the small roaster-minded option, and the Webster Groves Garden Cafe has owners who perform music in the room.
Kirkwood: two anchors, both worth it
Kaldi’s Coffee, 120 S. Kirkwood Rd. Kirkwood’s default since 2005, and deservedly. There’s a large patio and free garage parking behind the building, which in downtown Kirkwood is worth more than it sounds. Regulars mention the avocado toast and the outdoor seating as often as the espresso.
Worth being straight about: Kaldi’s is now more than a dozen cafes across the metro. It’s St. Louis-born and roasts its own, but it isn’t a small independent anymore. That doesn’t make the coffee worse — it just means if “support the little guy” is the goal, Teleo is the one.
Teleo Coffee, 132 W. Monroe Ave. Sources from socially-conscious suppliers and runs a charitable model, and it earns unusually warm reviews for a shop its size. The honey bear latte comes up constantly. This is the Kirkwood option when you want the independent.
Webster Groves: five, and none of them redundant
Webster is the deeper bench, and the shops genuinely don’t overlap.
Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop, 803 Marshall Ave. A coffee shop inside a working garden center and greenhouse, with house-made syrups and vegan and gluten-free pastries that are actually good rather than merely available. In February this is the most pleasant room in either town.
The Clover and the Bee, 100 W. Lockwood Ave. The food-forward one — cinnamon rolls, grits, a Banana Walnut Dutch Baby, and a late walk-up window. If someone in your group wants a real breakfast, this is the stop.
The Annex Coffee & Foods, 8122 Big Bend Blvd. Part market, part cafe, part bar, and there’s ice cream. Covered patio. The most flexible option if you don’t know yet whether the visit is a coffee, a lunch or a drink.
23 West Coffee, 23 W. Lockwood Ave. Founded by an attorney who left law for coffee, working with the First Crack roastery. Small and focused.
Webster Groves Garden Cafe, 117 E. Lockwood Ave. Owners Gary and Mandy Schoenberger are musicians and perform in the room. That’s either exactly what you want from a neighborhood cafe or exactly what you don’t, and you probably know which.
What regulars actually order
Menus tell you what a shop sells. Reviews tell you what people come back for, and the two aren’t always the same.
At Kaldi’s Kirkwood, the avocado toast comes up nearly as often as the espresso — it functions as much as a light-breakfast stop as a coffee one. At Teleo, the honey bear latte is the drink people name unprompted, and the lattes generally are what the shop is known for rather than straight espresso.
At The Clover and the Bee, it’s the cinnamon roll and the grits, which tells you plainly that this is a breakfast place that happens to make good coffee rather than the reverse. The Banana Walnut Dutch Baby is the order for anyone who wants the visit to feel like an occasion.
At Maypop, the house-made syrups are the differentiator — a seasonal syrup on a simple latte is a better test of the kitchen than anything else on the board. And the vegan and gluten-free pastries are worth ordering on their merits, not as a substitution.
Which town, and when
A practical way to choose.
You need parking and a fast, reliable cup. Kaldi’s Kirkwood, with the garage behind it.
You want breakfast, not just coffee. The Clover and the Bee.
It’s grey and you need to sit somewhere green. Maypop, without question.
You’re meeting someone and don’t know if it’s a coffee or a drink. The Annex.
You want to put money into a small independent. Teleo or 23 West.
Both towns are walkable, which changes the trip
Downtown Kirkwood clusters around the train station and S. Kirkwood Rd, and Webster’s shops sit mostly along Lockwood with The Annex a short drive out on Big Bend. Neither is a strip-mall town, which means a coffee stop can turn into an hour of walking without planning it.
The two downtowns are only a few minutes apart by car. Doing both in one morning is entirely reasonable and a genuinely nice way to spend a Saturday — a cup at Teleo, a walk, then Maypop or the Clover for something to eat.
Ordering at a roaster-minded shop
A couple of things worth knowing at shops like these.
If you want to judge the coffee itself, order the simplest thing on the menu — drip or a pour-over. Milk-heavy drinks flatten the differences between beans, which is fine if that’s your preference, but it hides what a roaster is doing.
If you’re buying beans, ask for the roast date rather than a best-by date. Coffee is at its best from a few days to a few weeks off the roast, and a shop that works closely with a roaster can usually tell you exactly when.
And if you’re planning to work for a few hours, the bigger rooms — Kaldi’s, The Annex — hold up better than the small ones on a weekend morning.
Why these two towns have the coffee they do
Both Kirkwood and Webster Groves are old railroad suburbs, and that history still shapes where you get a cup. They grew around train stations rather than highway interchanges, which left each with a genuine downtown of small connected storefronts instead of a strip. Kirkwood’s station is still an active Amtrak stop.
Small storefronts on a walkable street are exactly the conditions independent coffee needs. A cafe doesn’t have to draw people across town if there are already people on the sidewalk. That’s why both towns sustain shops that would struggle in a strip-mall setting, and why the shops here tend to be rooms you sit in rather than counters you pass through.
It also explains the difference between them. Kirkwood’s coffee concentrates tightly near the station; Webster’s spreads along Lockwood and out to Big Bend, because Webster’s commercial fabric is longer and less centered. Neither is better — but it does mean Kirkwood is the easier one-stop and Webster rewards a little wandering.
Seasons matter more here than you’d think
Two of these shops change character with the weather in a way most don’t. Maypop, inside a greenhouse, is at its best in the dead of winter when a warm room full of plants is genuinely restorative. Kaldi’s big Kirkwood patio and The Annex’s covered one flip that — they’re the spring and autumn picks.
Independent shops also rotate single-origin coffees through the year, because harvests arrive at different times depending on origin. What’s on the board in October usually isn’t what’s there in April. If a shop didn’t land for you once, a visit in a different season is a fair second try.
Nearby, if both towns are packed
Saturday mid-morning is the crush in both downtowns. Two options within a short drive: Coma Coffee Roasters at 1034 S. Brentwood Blvd in Richmond Heights, run by siblings since 2016, which hosts public cuppings and latte-art competitions; and the Maplewood cluster, where La Cosecha has been roasting since 2006 and Kentzo Koffee air-roasts its own.
We have a full guide to coffee shops in Maplewood, and a metro-wide guide to the best coffee shops in St. Louis covering the roasters and the more unusual rooms across the region.
Verified July 2026
Every shop above was confirmed operating in July 2026. Small shops change hours quickly, especially seasonally — if you’re driving out for one place in particular, call first.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best coffee shops in Kirkwood, MO?
Kaldi’s Coffee at 120 S. Kirkwood Rd has been the town’s anchor since 2005, with a large patio and free garage parking behind the building. Teleo Coffee at 132 W. Monroe Ave is the independent option, sourcing from socially-conscious suppliers and running a charitable model.
What are the best coffee shops in Webster Groves?
Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop on Marshall Ave sits inside a working garden center. The Clover and the Bee on W. Lockwood is the food-forward choice, known for cinnamon rolls and grits. The Annex Coffee & Foods on Big Bend combines market, cafe and bar. 23 West Coffee and the Webster Groves Garden Cafe round out the group.
Is there a coffee shop in a greenhouse in St. Louis?
Yes — Maypop Coffee & Garden Shop at 803 Marshall Ave in Webster Groves operates inside a working garden center and greenhouse, serving house-made syrups plus vegan and gluten-free pastries.
Is Kaldi’s a local St. Louis company?
Yes, Kaldi’s is St. Louis-born and roasts its own coffee, with the original DeMun cafe dating to 1994. It has since grown to more than a dozen metro locations, so it’s no longer a small independent — if supporting a smaller operation matters to you, Teleo in Kirkwood or 23 West in Webster Groves are the alternatives.
Can you walk between coffee shops in Webster Groves?
Mostly. The Clover and the Bee, 23 West Coffee and the Webster Groves Garden Cafe all sit along Lockwood Ave within walking distance of each other. Maypop on Marshall Ave and The Annex on Big Bend Blvd are short drives from that cluster.
Is parking hard in downtown Kirkwood or Webster Groves?
Both downtowns are older and street parking fills on weekends, but Kirkwood has free garage parking behind Kaldi’s on S. Kirkwood Rd, which is the easiest option in either town. Webster’s Lockwood Ave shops rely more on street parking, so arriving before mid-morning on a Saturday makes a noticeable difference.
Which Kirkwood or Webster Groves coffee shop is best with kids?
The Clover and the Bee on W. Lockwood is the easiest with children — there’s a real breakfast menu, so a kid who won’t drink coffee still has a reason to be there. Maypop’s greenhouse setting also tends to hold a child’s attention longer than a standard cafe room, and Kaldi’s Kirkwood patio gives everyone more space than an indoor table.
Where can I buy fresh coffee beans in Kirkwood or Webster Groves?
Kaldi’s roasts its own and sells retail bags at the Kirkwood store, and 23 West Coffee in Webster Groves works with the First Crack roastery. Ask for the roast date rather than a best-by date — coffee is generally at its best from a few days to a few weeks after roasting.
Which coffee shop in Kirkwood or Webster Groves is best for working?
The larger rooms handle a long sit better — Kaldi’s in Kirkwood and The Annex in Webster Groves both have more space than the smaller shops. Weekend mid-mornings are the busiest stretch in both downtowns, so a weekday before eleven is the safer bet for a table.
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