A 3,100-square-foot café with drive-thru service opened September 30 in Olathe, Kansas, marking Mokas Coffee & Eatery's inaugural franchised location — a build that sets the kitchen template for five more units franchisee Christian Coleman has committed to develop across Johnson, Douglas, and Shawnee counties.
For foodservice equipment dealers and kitchen consultants operating in the Kansas City metro, the Mokas expansion represents a concrete pipeline: six new café builds with back-of-house requirements centered on in-house coffee roasting, made-to-order breakfast and lunch production, and freshly baked pastries. Each location's menu scope — breakfast burritos, wraps, sandwiches, soups, salads, smoothies, and specialty coffee — points to a full prep-and-cooking equipment spec, including commercial baking ovens, espresso and batch-brew stations, blenders, and cold storage for fresh ingredients.
The Kitchen Format
The Olathe flagship at 11814 S Fellows St is sized at 3,100 square feet and includes a drive-thru lane, a format that places a premium on throughput-optimized equipment — high-capacity espresso systems, pass-through refrigeration, and rapid-cook ovens capable of keeping up with dual service channels. All food at Mokas locations is prepared in-house, a kitchen discipline that requires more robust prep infrastructure than a simple grab-and-go concept. The location is projected to employ between 45 and 60 workers, indicating a staffing model that supports active back-of-house production rather than reheating or assembly-only operations.
Parent company JRI Hospitality — which operates more than 145 foodservice units across 18 states and holds the largest Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers franchise portfolio in the country — brings significant multi-unit procurement experience to the Mokas buildout. That scale suggests Coleman and future Mokas franchisees may benefit from centralized equipment specifications and vendor relationships already established through JRI's broader portfolio, a common advantage in dealer-channel negotiations for franchise kitchen packages.
Growth Implications
With five corporate-owned locations already operating in Salina, Colby, and Wichita, Kansas, and three more under corporate development in Wichita and Hays, the Olathe franchise opening accelerates Mokas' total unit count considerably. The brand has also signaled 15 additional locations under development across Wichita and Kansas City markets. For equipment specifiers, that trajectory — potentially 20-plus kitchens in active development across the Midwest — makes understanding the Mokas back-of-house format a timely priority.
"Christian embodies the entrepreneurial, hospitality-driven mindset we look for in franchisees," said Jason Ingermanson, President of Mokas Coffee & Eatery and CEO of JRI Hospitality. "Watching him open the doors on our first-ever franchise location, after celebrating our 20th anniversary, is a full-circle moment for our brand."
The Olathe opening also coincides with broader growth in the fast-casual café segment, where operators are investing in made-from-scratch production kitchens as a differentiator against national chains. For dealers and reps covering the prep-and-storage category in the Kansas City corridor, the Mokas franchise pipeline is worth tracking closely as Coleman moves toward additional permits and buildouts.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
