The Country Club Plaza wants to evict its oldest bar and restaurant

The Country Club Plaza has filed a lawsuit seeking back rent and possession of the Fred P. Ott’s space.

The Plaza said the restaurant, at 4770 J.C. Nichols Parkway, and its owners, Nabil and Peggy Haddad, owe $69,554 in rent through Oct. 31, and that amount is now accruing at no less than $6,400.74 per month.

In September, the Plaza sent a notice to terminate the restaurant’s month-to-month lease effective Oct. 31. But it said the tenant has failed to pay or vacate the property.

The Haddads could not be reached for comment. Plaza officials declined to comment.

At one time there were several Fred P. Ott’s in the metro. But a location closed in Olathe in 2018 and another closed in Overland Park in May, leaving just the original Plaza location.

Fred P. Ott’s was founded by the famed Gilbert/Robinson restaurant group. In a late 1976 advertisement, it said it would soon open on the Plaza to “become the greatest hang-out in K.C. ... and the hamburger will never be the same.”

It was next to Gilbert/Robinson’s popular Annie’s Santa Fe, across from the tennis courts. It’s still there, making it the oldest restaurant on the Plaza. The Granfalloon Restaurant & Bar puts its opening at June 1977 but it has since relocated.

Nabil Haddad purchased 18 prominent restaurants, all owned by Creative Restaurant Management Inc., in 1992. They included three Fred P. Ott’s, Plaza III The Steakhouse, four Annie’s Santa Fe and Figlio Italian Restaurant— several located on the Plaza.

But since then most of those restaurants have shuttered.

Plaza III the Steakhouse was one of the last mainstays but closed in early 2018 after more than five decades on the Plaza. It relocated to southern Overland Park. True Food Kitchen is now operating in the renovated space.

This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 1:08 PM.