Wide Eyes Open Palms in Long Beach closed its kitchen
31.01.2022 - 04:05
/ qvoicenews.com
At Wide Eyes Open Palms, Long Beach’s only coffee shop owned and operated by queer women, the kitchen is closed for the foreseeable future, but the cafe remains open.
Kat McIver, who runs the business with her partner, Angie Evans,
announced on social media Sunday that it was the last day for kitchen service.
The cafe’s hours of operation are Thursday – Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Today, Sunday January 30, will be the final day of the hot line kitchen service at WeOp for the foreseeable future,” McIver said on social media. “We don’t think, and we don’t want to believe, that this will be THE final service. I hope that I will have the strength to come back, that the labor market will change, that the appeal and attraction of working at WeOp will be found by the right passionate people.”
During the pandemic, McIver and another person were essentially the only line cooks because nobody would stay longer than three months.
Then, the line cook and dishwasher quit this week, she said.
“The prospect of scrambling to find replacements again is just too much,” McIver said.
Evans and McIver initially opened Wide Eyes Open Palms as a pop-up coffee shop at the Bixby Park Farmers Market with their sights set on having a brick-and-mortar location. Three years later, they built their dream one cup of coffee at a time.
Wide Eyes Open Palms brick and mortar shop opened April 2017 on Cherry Avenue just around the corner from Fourth Street’s Retro Row.
Evans is the barista. McIver is the chef.
Wide Eyes Open Palms proudly says they have “The queerest coffee in town.”
Kat McIver, left, and Angie Evans proudly proclaim they have “The queerest coffee in town.”The Long Beach lesbian couple co-own Wide Eyes Open Palms, a comfy coffee shop