Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen has opened a downtown Orlando location in the City Arts Factory on Orange Avenue. It’s quite a different space from the Barnie’s CK on Park Avenue in Winter Park. It’s smaller, more of a grab and go kind of place than a sit and linger spot, though when I visited recently I saw several people doing just that.

But the coffee is just as good. You may recall that with the rebranding, Orlando-based Barnie’s started getting super serious about the coffee it serves, not just the quality of the beans, which they roast themselves, but also the way it is brewed.

The signature “brew” at Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen is the Pour Over, which is just what it sounds like. The coffee grounds are placed in a filtered funnel over a cup and the barista slowly and meticulously pours the boiling-hot water over the grounds, being careful to wet every edge of the grounds. 

But I’m as equally impressed that Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen is as serious about the Kitchen part of its name as it is the Coffee. The food is much more ambitious than the hard muffins and prepackaged sandwiches you might find at other coffee shops (I’m not naming names). And on weekend evenings in Winter Park, the menu reaches gourmet levels.

Read more about what’s going on at Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen…