L.C.’s burgers are back, and Northland fans are delighted

L.C.’s Hamburgers is back, and fans flocked to the Northland restaurant for its reopening this week.

It had been nearly 10 months since L.C.’s was heavily damaged by a fire, and for many customers that was much too long to wait for their L.C.’s fix. The line stretched out the door by 11:30 a.m. Thursday and only got longer when the restaurant’s new registers shut down, forcing staff to go old-school — taking orders on a pad and accepting only cash.

“I have been driving by, bugging the workers, asking where, when, what time,” said Janie Patrick, who was been an L.C’s customer for nearly a decade. “What makes the burgers special? I don’t know. The love they put in there I guess.”

For Lamoyne Michaels, L.C.’s was a once a week habit for a decade. For the reopening, she was one of the first to arrive with three co-workers. She wanted a Big Deal — hamburger, french fries and drink — one of the restaurant’s most popular orders.

The menu also includes tenderloins, pork fritters, Italian steak sandwiches, the “911” burger (with pepper jack cheese, jalapeno peppers and buffalo sauce), cyclones, root beer floats, onion rings, fried pickles and tater tots. The Peggy burger (with grilled onions, Swiss cheese and barbecue sauce) is named after a longtime employee who joined when she was 15 and is still there, nearly 15 years later.

L.C.’s, at 7612 N.W. Prairie View Road, became a family tradition for many customers after it opened in 1973, one they have continued to pass on to the next generations.

Mark Potts bought L.C.’s in 1998 from L.C. Ridenhour. Potts spent the last nine months restoring the glass-fronted restaurant and its “seasoned” grill, which gives the burgers added flavor, he said.

“Today was huge. It’s still going on,” said Potts, out picking up more supplies at 3:30 p.m. “We get a lot of special orders — pluses, minuses. They want it the way they like it.”

His office is now in a middle space in the building. In June, he plans to open a new operation, the Daily Donut & Pastry Shop, in another space to the back, with a partner, Cecilia Shalz.

Two national chains opening on the Country Club Plaza

▪ The metro’s first Zoës Kitchen is scheduled to open Tuesday on the Country Club Plaza.

Zoës Kitchen took the former Blonde nightclub space at 100 Ward Parkway, between Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue and Fred P. Ott’s Bar & Grill.

It is the Texas-based company’s first Missouri restaurant. But it won’t be a Plaza exclusive for long. Kevin Miles, president and chief executive officer of Zoës Kitchen, plans to open as many as eight restaurants in the metro — or more — and is looking at such sites as Corbin Park in Overland Park. The restaurants average 2,750 square feet and have a patio.

Founded in 1995, Zoës Kitchen is a fast-casual restaurant serving fresh Mediterranean-inspired dishes using recipes from founder Zoë Cassimus, all made-from-scratch daily.

Menu items include chicken and orzo soup, hummus and salad plate, pimento cheese sandwich, grilled chicken and slaw pita, grilled Gruben sandwiches with turkey, Swiss cheese, slaw and spicy mustard on rye, and entrees such as a chicken pita pizza, steak roll-up, and a variety of kabobs — chicken, steak, shrimp or salmon.

The company currently has 142 locations in 16 states.

▪ Madewell, a contemporary women’s clothing and accessories chain, will open its second area location.

The retailer is taking a 3,313-square-foot space at 309 Nichols Road on the Country Club Plaza for an August opening. Ann Taylor formerly occupied the space.

Madewell was introduced in 2006 as a “modern-day interpretation” of an American denim label founded in 1937. It specializes in denim and relaxed-casual looks.

A March 18 financial report by parent-company J. Crew Group Inc. said Madewell’s sales increased 35 percent to $245.3 million in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31. It has 85 stores, including one in Leawood’s Town Center Plaza.

To reach Joyce Smith, call 816-234-4692 or send email to jsmith@kcstar.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter at JoyceKC.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 6:47 PM with the headline "L.C.’s burgers are back, and Northland fans are delighted."