KC restaurants update for December: What just opened, what will open

December is starting off with the opening of four highly anticipated operations.

Lifted Spirits, 1734 Cherry St., distillery and tasting room, opened Dec. 2.

Stock Hill, Bread & Butter Concepts’ new 14,000-square-foot steakhouse opened Dec. 1 at 4800 Main, the former Board of Trade building at 4800 Main St.

Aep (pronounced ape), 1815 W. 39th St., offering regional Thai cuisine, focusing on modern street food, also opened Dec. 1. It will be open 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday during December. Starting in January it will add a lunch and brunch service.

Komatsu Ramen, 3951 Broadway, in midtown, also opened Dec. 1.

Coming soon

▪ Brewery Emperial, 1829 Oak St. in the East Crossroads, plans to open later this month.

▪ Burger King has purchased a 1.13-acre pad site at Plaza at the Speedway at Interstate 435 and Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kan. Burger King officials did not return phone calls.

▪ Cafe Europa, Union Hill, 30th and Gillham Road, is scheduled to open Dec. 7.

▪ Chicken N Pickle, 1761 Burlington Ave., North Kansas City, is scheduled to open its chicken restaurant later this month. The pickleball courts opened in July.

▪ Chipotle, 4323 N.E. Chouteau Trafficway, is scheduled to open on Dec. 11.

▪ Eat Fit Go is opening several locations:

Hawthorne Plaza store, 4945 W. 119th St., Overland Park, is scheduled to open later this month.

Corinth Square store, 4165 Somerset Drive, Prairie Village, is scheduled to open in early December.

4800 Main building, 4800 Main St., Suite 104, just south of the Country Club Plaza, is scheduled to open in late December.

Woodside Village store, 4711 Rainbow Blvd., Westwood, is scheduled to open in late December.

A Lawrence location, at 525 Wakarusa Drive, could open in late January or early February 2017.

▪ Heartwood Pizzeria will do a three-day-a-week pizza pop-up at the new Plowboys Barbeque location in the Town Pavilion, 1111 Main St., Suite 120, starting Dec. 29.

▪ Kansas City Taco Co., 520 Walnut St. The Westport operation will have its own storefront in the River Market with an expanded menu. It also will still offer its “bar menu” at Gambals Social Club at 4116 Pennsylvania Ave.

▪ Jarocho South, 13145 State Line Road, plans an early January opening. It also a location in Kansas City, Kan.

▪ The Local Eatery & Pub, at 2 Main St., Parkville, will feature live music Friday and Saturday nights. It plans to open later this month.

▪ Meshuggah Bagels, 1208 W. 39th St., plans a Feb. 1 opening at 7096 W. 105th St. in Overland Park. Meshuggah serves “authentic New York-style” bagels.

▪ MOD Pizza plans a Dec. 7 opening at 20152 W. 153rd St., Olathe. MOD Pizza offers made-on-demand, personal-sized pizzas baked in less than three minutes in an 800-degree oven. A Liberty location opened in September and locations are planned for Blue Springs in March, as well as Gladstone and Raymore.

▪ Monarch coffee shop, 3550 Broadway, plans a May 2017 opening in the renovated Ambassador building.

▪ Pawn & Pint, board game cafe, 221 Southwest Blvd. It has a partnership with KC Kitchen & Pizzeria, which delivers food directly to the tables.

▪ ProteinHouse Fit Food & Espresso plans a mid-December opening in the Power & Light District, 1345 Main St. Menu items include wraps, signature burgers like the Aloha with grilled chicken and pineapple, and breakfast quesadillas.

▪ Qdoba Mexican Eats is planning a location for Corbin Park, 13641 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, but no opening date was available.

▪ Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is going through Shawnee planning for a new location at 10704 Shawnee Mission Parkway. Company officials declined to comment.

▪ Red Door Woodfired Grill, plans a Dec. 27 opening at 6324 Brookside Plaza in Brookside, the former Blue Grotto space.

▪ Ruby Jean’s Juicery is expanding with a new location set to open March 1 in the Town Pavilion, 1111 Main St., Suite 165. It offers hand-crafted juices and more, and plans to open a distribution kitchen at 3626 Main St., with a retail section selling cleanses and packaged meals, by February 2017.

▪ Songbird Cafe in Grandview is bringing its healthy menu choices to the Crossroads Arts District. Owners Chris and Amy Geil have leased a 1,600-square-foot space at 1529 Grand Blvd. and plan a grand opening in January 2017.

▪ Twisted Fresh plans a Dec. 7 opening at 8905 W. 135th St. in Overland Park. Owner Alan Rust also has another location in Overland Park, as well as locations in Shawnee and the Northland. The operations serve made-from-scratch, made-to-order sandwiches, tacos, wraps and burritos using fresh ingredients.

▪ Winning Streaks plans a Jan. 5, 2017, opening in Harrah’s North Kansas City Hotel and Casino, 1 Riverboat Drive North Kansas City. It will feature build-your-own fire-roasted pizza, smoked fried chicken, seven different half-pound 100 percent certified Angus beef burgers.

Among the new restaurants that recently opened:

▪ Pho Cart, Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City, 3200 North Ameristar Drive, offers a daily selection of dim sum, as well as spring rolls, pho and more.

▪ Baghdad Bakery, 4107 N. Cherry, Suite C, just off North Oak Trafficway. The owners, who are from Iraq, use family recipes and will have several varieties of freshly made baklava selling for $4.99 a pound, as well bread, cupcakes, cakes and cookies — both Iraqi style with sesame seeds and American-style.

▪ The Big Biscuit, Shannon Valley Shopping Center, 11148 Antioch Road, Overland Park. The locally owned chain, which serves breakfast and lunch items, also is in final negotiations for an Olathe location.

▪ Crane Brewing Co.’s The Taproom, 6515 Railroad St., Raytown, has about dozen of its beers on tap, Benetti’s cold brew coffee and Greg-Co barbecue, including ribs, pulled pork and brisket.

▪ The Dessertery has a new pop-up operation in Town Center Plaza, 4872 W. 119th St., Leawood. It offers such items as chess cake, champagne cake, blackberry wine cake, a variety of pies including lemon blueberry and the seasonal pumpkin, apple or pecan. Also on the menu — gluten-free desserts, coffee drinks, gourmet hot cocoa and sipping chocolate.

▪ Dunkin’ Donuts has opened at 6705 W. 119th St., Overland Park, and 6328 N. Chatham Ave. in the Northland.

▪ Foo’s Fabulous Cafe, 9421 Mission Road, Leawood. Foo’s Fabulous Custard rebranded in Leawood and added more menu items including biscuits and gravy and a pork belly banh mi.

▪ Hot Bakes Indian Cafe, Shannon Valley Shopping Center, 11144 Antioch Road in Overland Park, serves pastries, cakes, wraps and panini, fresh fruit juice and cakes. The quick serve concept is by the owners of the nearby Ruchi Indian Cuisine.

▪ Insomnia Cookies, Power & Light District, 54 E. 14th St. Fresh-baked cookies and more.

▪ Just Salad, Kansas State University in Manhattan, on the first floor of the K-State Student Union, which is under a renovation that is scheduled to be completed in August 2017.

▪ Qdoba Mexican Eats, 1714 W. 23rd St., Lawrence.

▪ Soul Lounge, 9916 Holmes Road, former Magnolia’s space. Menu items include wings, nachos, tacos, pork chop sandwich, chicken wrap and burgers.

▪ Spin Neapolitan Pizza, 525 Wakarusa, Lawrence. It also offers a rotating roster of bottled and barrel wines, house sangria, craft beers, signature salads, sandwiches, gelato, craft beers and more.

▪ Summit Grill, 520 W. 75th St., relocates to a space next door and doubles in size. It also adds more menu items including steaks and chops.

▪ Trago Bar & Tapas, 9261 N.E. 83rd Terrace, opened Oct. 31 serving such items as grilled ahi tuna, seafood paella, street tacos and Spanish meatballs.

▪ Unforked, 2450 Grand Blvd., the first floor of the Crown Center Shops, serves such items as crafted tacos, quesadillas, truffle fries, kale salads and akaushi burgers.

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "KC restaurants update for December: What just opened, what will open."