Johnson County restaurant, movie theater combo still dark. Landlord won’t comment

The “coming soon” posters are still up at Standees movie theater in Prairie Village — The King’s Man for Feb. 14 and Wonder Woman 1984 for June 5.

But the Prairie Village Shopping Center theater has long been dark, as well as its sister restaurant, C. Frogs BBQ Steak Whiskey next door. The phone number listed for the two businesses has been disconnected.

In late March, Elise Bueker, senior director of leasing for landlord First Washington Realty, declined to comment. She declined to comment again on Tuesday.

Booths and some fixtures are now gone from C. Frogs. An auction company referred questions to founder Peter Brown. Brown could not be reached for comment.

Standees - The Entertaining Eatery opened at 3935 W. 69th Terrace in mid-2013. It had an upscale 211-seat restaurant on one side, three movie theater auditoriums with stadium-style seating on the other.

The combo had five different menus — restaurant, bar, beverage, happy hour, and dessert and coffee. Entrees included duck breast, boneless rack of lamb and prime rib-eye steak.

The owners hoped to expand the neighborhood concept to other markets. By the end of the year it had added a children’s menu.

But in mid-2015, the owners decided the restaurant was too upscale and pivoted to a more family-friendly eatery called Chocolate Frog with a frog mural, 1970s lamps, and American comfort classics such grilled cheese on Texas toast and jalapeno fried chicken and waffles.

A year later, it changed again. Founder Brown said it was “growing up a bit” to become C. Frogs BBQ Steak Whiskey.

Several other restaurant locations also are in limbo.

Subway Cafe, at 11011 Antioch Road in Overland Park, has been closed since a January break-in. A manager said it would reopen within days. It is still dark. Corporate officials have not responded to calls or emails on the future of the location.

The Overland Park Chuy’s, at 6700 W. 135th St., also is still closed. A company official said Thursday, “We will continue to evaluate closed locations over the next several months.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 12:11 PM.