South Plaza restaurant will not reopen: ‘This has been a very difficult time for us’

Nearly five years after opening south of the Country Club Plaza, Nick and Jake’s has closed permanently.

The owners confirmed the closing of the location at 5031 Main St. in a Facebook post: “This has been a very difficult time for us and yes, with a heavy heart we have had to close our Main Street location permanently. To all our employees, we wish we would have called you all individually and for not making that happen we apologize. Things have moved very quickly. To the community, we thank you for your patronage over the last few years. You have made this location a home.”

Restaurants in the Kansas City area closed their dining rooms and bars in mid-March to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Many operations are offering curbside and delivery options. But some restaurants have temporarily closed.

Nick and Jake’s South Plaza is one of the first restaurants to confirm that it will not reopen after the shelter-in-place order is lifted.

There also are Nick and Jake’s in Overland Park, Parkville and Shawnee. In the Facebook post, the owners said it will be a slow recovery over the next six months.

Kevin Timmons, co-owner with Doug Watkins, declined to comment further Tuesday morning.

The Facebook post generated more than 60 comments, and many people were upset at the way staff was notified of the closing: “You couldn’t call them so they have to find out this way?” and “You ‘care for’ your employees, yet you couldn’t take the couple of hours it would take to call each employee? What an awful and horrendous thing to do.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 4:01 PM.