Owners closing longtime JoCo restaurant & bar, pausing Plaza location due to COVID-19

Blue Moose Bar & Grill, a Prairie Village mainstay for nearly two decades, will be closing permanently.

The restaurant, at 4160 W. 71st St. in the Prairie Village Shopping Center, will close on Dec. 31.

Parent-company KC Hopps Ltd. said the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, “which have caused devastation to the hospitality industry, has crippled the restaurant. Like many other restaurants, it can no longer generate the sales necessary to pay the bills.”

In a statement, managing member Ed Nelson said: “It is very sad. The Blue Moose has been an integral part of the Prairie Village community for nearly two decades. We have employed hundreds of wonderful people and provided thousands (with) a neighborhood establishment they could enjoy and be proud of. However, we just could not overcome the lack of sales caused by COVID and the restrictions.”

According to The Kansas City Star archives, Blue Moose opened in April 2002, replacing the Mosaic Bistro.

KC Hopps Ltd. also has Blue Moose Bar & Grill locations in the Red Bridge Shopping Center, in Lenexa and Topeka.

KC Hopps also temporarily shut down its O’Dowd’s Gastrobar on the Country Club Plaza until spring 2021.

A sign posted on the front door says: “Due to COVID-19 restrictions, O’Dowd’s is temporarily closed. Please ask your senator and representative to pass another round of PPP loans and extended unemployment benefits to help the thousands of businesses and staff irreparably harmed due to no fault of their own.”

O’Dowd’s, at 4742 Pennsylvania Ave., had to temporarily shut down in October for violating COVID-19 guidelines after an inspection by the Kansas City Health Department.

This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 11:21 AM.