Martin City Pizza & Taproom opening Wednesday

Longtime friends Matt Moore and Chancie Adams were having lunch at a Martin City restaurant one day when Moore tossed out an idea.

A building was for sale down the street. Why not buy it and start a microbrewery? And so they did.

Now their holdings include three buildings in Martin City.

First up was the Martin City Brewing Co., a brewpub at 500 E. 135th St. It opened in June 2011.

Then they got to work on the brewery and taproom.

The brewery they built from the ground up.

Now Martin City Pizza Taproom is set to showcase those brews. It is scheduled to open today at 410 E. 135th St., between the brewery and brewpub.

It will have six of their beers on tap — Black Saison, IPA, Strong Dark Belgian, Belgian Wit, Porter and ESB — and eventually expand to a dozen.

Menu items will include build-your-own pizzas and specialty pizzas like the Black and Blue (marinated steak, red pepper, red onion, mushrooms, arugula, balsamic and bleu cheese) and Charcuterie (capicola, salami, pepperoni, marinara, and cheese blend).

It also will serve appetizers from spiced nuts to fresh mozzarella pinwheels, charcuterie and fine cheese platters, salads and sandwiches.

In between the new taproom and the brewery is an open air patio. Both the taproom and brewery have garage doors that can open to the patio during warmer weather.

Moore and Adams hope to develop a wholesale busienss to sell kegs of their beer to area restaurants by the end of the year, and eventually get into bottling.

“I feel blessed. I hope it continues to go well,” Moore said. “As long as you have good food at a decent price point and good service, I think you have a recipe for success.”

With two new leases, the Shops on Blue Parkway is now at 90 percent occupancy.

Domino’s Pizza recently opened at 4201A Blue Parkway. Rainbow Shops, a chain selling clothing and accessories for girls and women, plans a summer opening.

The Shops on Blue Parkway is a 150,104-square-foot center at Blue Parkway and Kensington Avenue. Other tenants include Sun Fresh, Burger King, Foot Locker, Family Dollar, Shoe Trend and Subway.

Art Chaudry, president and chief executive officer of Swope Community Builders, developers of the shops, said the center is providing convenience and easy access to products and services that the residents of the urban core need.

He also would like to sign a full-service restaurant.

Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque has closed in the Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City.

“We were there 16 or 17 years. But we couldn’t work out a new deal with them,” said Gary Berbiglia, co-owner of Arthur Bryant’s. “We didn’t want to leave.”

Roxann Kincaid, spokeswoman for Ameristar at 3200 N. Ameristar Drive, said the casino is looking for another restaurant tenant for the 3,750-square-foot space.

“We enjoyed a very long relationship with Arthur Bryant’s,” she said. “We are looking for fresh ideas, new food and beverage options.”

Ameristar also offers barbecue at its Horizons Buffet, Kincaid said.

Twin Peaks, a sports bar and restaurant with a mountain lodge theme, is scheduled to open March 3 at 19821 E. Jackson Drive, Independence.

The “Twin Peaks Girls” wear skin-baring plaid tie-tops, khaki shorts and Ugg-style boots. Twin Peaks also is known for its 29-degree draft beers and made-from-scratch comfort foods.

This story was originally published February 11, 2014 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Martin City Pizza & Taproom opening Wednesday ."