Families, beer-drinkers & soccer fans pack new JoCo restaurant. Why so popular?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Big Grove Brewery opened Labor Day weekend at 7060 Mission Road in Prairie Village.
- The venue fills nearly every day with diverse-age crowds looking for alternative dining.
- Visitors say the space is communal, semi-casual, family-friendly and fills a local gap.
Finding a seat was nearly impossible Wednesday night at Big Grove Brewery & Taproom. The U.S. Men’s National Team’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina had standing room only at the filled bar, people sitting on half-walls on the outdoor patio and massive online queues of people waiting for a table that they were told would take at least an hour to open up.
But a bartender quipped that “every night is like Friday night” in the newly opened Prairie Village space that combines elements of a bar, restaurant, taproom and community hangout. People driving past on Mission Road can see the outdoor patio filled nearly every day of the week.
Big Grove Brewery, 7060 Mission Road, opened Memorial Day weekend, and service manager Danny Wortmann said it has outperformed all flagship Iowa locations each week since.
Why? An all encompassing space like Big Grove has filled a gap in town — a communal, family-friendly and casual-yet-upscale energy not matched by existing spaces.
A ‘neighborhood gathering space’ emerges
Mike and April Crosser live within walking distance of Big Grove. They’ve been three times now, opting to sit outside each time.
Each time they pop in for a beer, they either run into people they know or find themselves in conversation with strangers. Other restaurants in Prairie Village like French Market and the Tavern, they said, don’t compel that same neighborly interaction.
“The beer is good, and the food’s good, and it’s been a great addition since the Blue Moose shut down,” Mike said. “This has been needed, to get a good bar and grill here in this area.”
They find the space easy and convenient — walk from their house, find a spot to sit around a fire pit, grab a couple of beers for them and their 21-year-old twins, and walk home.
Sarah Grimm described the outdoor space as being like a backyard block party, but also a bar and restaurant. She and her friends Amanda Norvell and Olivia Lofton didn’t feel like going home quite yet after work but didn’t feel like going out, so they met to grab sauvignon blanc mixed with club soda.
“I feel like now in the summer (The Brooksider) is filled with college people, and we’re like three years graduated, and we feel too old,” Lofton said. “(Big Grove) is chill. I like the vibe.”
Lucas and Taylor Bixler, a young couple from up the street who’ve frequented the spot, appreciate that the space is a middle ground between casual and upscale. Before Big Grove, Lucas said he needed to go to downtown KC to find good beer.
“It does have a little bit of everything, where a lot of the other places kind of seem to be very much in their lane,” Lucas said. “Which is great (but) they either have just a brewery, or just food, or just cocktails, but this has a little bit of everything. It still has that family aspect, where I can come and get a drink and not feel bad about bringing the kids here.”
‘It seems like a place that everybody wants to be’
Sisters-in-law Amy Kramer and Nancy Morgan have been to Big Grove six times. On Wednesday, Kramer got there at 3:30 p.m. to ensure she’d have a spot to sit outside after they couldn’t find space during the U.S. Men’s National Team’s last match. The two thought the crowds would die down by now, but they haven’t.
“There’s a camaraderie that develops just with the people you sit by,” Morgan said.
They theorize that it may die down after the World Cup, but Chiefs season may carry the momentum through the winter. The duo also bet much of the crowd each night is people from the neighborhoods that encircle it. They also notice a lot of age diversity in the space, from young families to people in their 70s.
In what seems like a minority, Francesca Barth came in from Leawood with her family for the first time Wednesday night. Her sister-in-law, in town with her brother from New York, found the spot online.
“We always thought there should be more family friendly breweries,” Barth said. She knows there’s a market for that, and has even joked around with her husband about opening one themselves.
The two families have young kids and like that they can sit down while the kids play with corn hole, foosball or ring toss within eye-shot. Her only concern is a potential safety risk. The turfed kids play area borders the swamped parking lot, with only small bushes with gaps in between acting as a barrier.
Amanda Norvell noted that the parking lot is so full, she believes people are parking on her neighboring street when it fills up. But the three girls overlook the parking due to the fast and friendly service.
“They just know how to run a busy place,” Norvell said. “When we came the first time, we had a group of 14 outside, and they were super accommodating.”
Wortmann said the brewery, which will make Prairie Village-unique beers, will open within the next couple of weeks. Though Big Grove is successful enough without additional attractions, the brewery may continue to keep Big Grove in Johnson County minds as a central, modern take on a restaurant and bar experience.
