Kansas City restaurant company behind Gram & Dun, Stock Hill files for bankruptcy

The Kansas City-based restaurant company behind such operations as Gram & Dun on the Country Club Plaza and Stock Hill Kansas City Steakhouse just south of the Plaza has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

Bread & Butter Concepts filed Saturday, along with four related business entities that represent the Cherry Hall event venue in the Crossroads, Stock Hill, Gram & Dun and Urban Table in Prairie Village.

In bankruptcy filings, Bread & Butter Concepts said it believes it can pay most of its obligations over time, but needs the protection that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy provides.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the company said: ”While this isn’t something we wanted to happen, it is something we needed to do to remain a viable organization. We’ve been a part of the community for more than 10 years.”

The company added: “We have every intention of coming out on the other side a much stronger company, and one that will be in Kansas City for another ten years and beyond. We will continue to operate as usual with no interruptions to our service, or our continuing commitment to our customers.”

It is a stunning change in fortunes for the home-grown company, which over the last nine years had a presence in some of the metro’s most popular markets. Founder Alan Gaylin was honored as the Restaurateur of the Year five years ago.

Gaylin, a former Kansas Citian and former executive with Houlihan’s Restaurants Inc., first opened BRGR Kitchen + Bar in Prairie Village’s Corinth Square in March 2010. The neighborhood draw offers a variety of specialty burgers and build-your-own Mac & Cheese. It is no longer a part of the restaurant group.

Sales so exceeded expectations that Gaylin started planning more locations.

He opened Urban Table in Corinth in mid-2011 with local partners Glynn and Jean Roberts. More openings followed: Gram & Dun on the Plaza, a BRGR in the Power & Light District, and a Taco Republic food truck and then a Taco Republic restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas. Republica then joined the Plaza roster, and another BRGR opened, this one in Leawood.

Bread & Butter Concepts spent eight months renovating a space just south of the Plaza for its flagship restaurant — Stock Hill steak house. It opened in late 2016 and — at 14,000 square feet — is one of the largest restaurant spaces in the metro.

But there were troubling signs.

Bread & Butter Concepts closed its Ingredient True Eatery in Leawood and dropped plans for G. Berto Cucina in Westwood’s Woodside Village.

In the bankruptcy filing, Bread & Butter notes that significant debt on the business, along with a “potential significant claim” from the Plaza’s owner regarding the lease for The Oliver, led to the bankruptcy. The Oliver closed in October.

Those debts include a Small Business Administration loan from Core Bank that has a $1.4 million outstanding balance. Bread & Butter’s bankruptcy petition also lists several loans from investors and partners ranging from $311,213 to $700,000.

Bread & Butter said its investment manager was affected by changes in the oil industry in 2015 and could no longer fund the growth or support losses for Bread & Butter Concepts.

At that time, it had committed to opening The Oliver on the Plaza to replace an earlier concept that had failed, along with opening a third BRGR in Leawood and opening the upscale Stock Hill steakhouse south of the Plaza.

But sales were declining in 2017 and 2018, stacked next to the debt burden facing Bread & Butter. Earlier this year, Bread & Butter sold the three BRGR locations and Taco Republic in Kansas City, Kansas, for $3.25 million.

Gaylin said he wanted to concentrate on upscale operations, but then opened the Happy Belly food truck. He had already rebranded Republica to the Oliver, but then it closed, too.

Bread & Butter Concepts tried to negotiate a new lease for The Oliver on the Plaza, where sales dropped significantly this year, but no deal could be reached with the owners of the Plaza and the restaurant closed.

At the time, Plaza officials said in a statement, “As this is a legal matter, it is not appropriate for us to comment.” They also had no comment on Wednesday.

Bread & Butter reported $9 million in gross revenue from all operations in the year that ended in September, which was down 12.4% from the $10.4 million in revenues from the year before.

This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 3:05 PM.