Springtime for Kansas City restaurants: Here are the many signs of a business revival

Tin Roof, a live music joint offering breakfast shots and Voodoo grinders, was gearing up for a summer 2020 opening in Westport.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and work was halted as the owners, based in Nashville, shored up their other locations.

Plywood still covers the front facade, and fencing blocks the parking lot of this high-profile spot on bustling Westport Road.

But not for long.

“We plan to open in late summer. But with a caveat: Everything is subject to change,” said Bob Franklin, CEO.

With falling COVID-19 rates, warmer temperatures for outdoor seating and easier social distancing, vaccine rollouts and recent rollbacks on most COVID-19 restrictions for bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings, Kansas City area restaurants are attempting a revival.

New restaurants are opening across the metro, and others are expanding and remodeling. Many are launching specials to entice customers back to their dining rooms.

It’s all just in time for four typically high-traffic events coming up soon: this week’s Big 12 tournament, followed by St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.

“The cold spell was a real killer, and people are still concerned about going out,” said Louie Riederer, partner in Johnny’s Tavern, with 11 area locations and a new one scheduled to open in the Northland in mid-June. “We are keeping up the social distancing, keeping up the masks, sanitation. The last two weeks people are more comfortable about going out. We’re getting back a little bit of normalcy.”

But restaurant owners are moving ahead with caution.

Wings Cafe in the Northland used to have a popular “test kitchen” night where its chefs showcased new items.

Favorites such as fried chicken and barbecue did so well, the family-owned operation decided to spotlight them in a new restaurant called Batch Country Kitchen & ’Que. They signed a lease in early March 2020.

After the shelter-in-place orders, their landlord offered to let them out of the lease. When they decided to move forward, he worked with them on the rent.

They tried reopening Batch in June, when some dine-in restrictions eased, only to shut down again until January. With temperatures in the single digits, they struggled. Now they’re seeing how sales play out in March.

“Before the pandemic, at Wings, we could count on a lunch crowd, including Cerner employees. And people would stop in on the way home to pick up dinner,” said Lee Redwood, a partner. “We knew how much to buy, how many employees to have. But now people aren’t going into work. And they want familiar places. They’re not as adventurous.”

Westport reopening

There’s no restaurateur playbook for a year-long pandemic. So reactions have varied, and so have reopening plans.

In Westport, Beer Kitchen has been “hibernating” since Nov. 1. A sign on the door says it could reopen this month, or next. But the owners are planning on April 14.

Across the street at its sister restaurant, Mickey’s Hideaway, customers gathered over cold beers on the patio last week, warmed by beanies, parkas and the midday sun. Along with patio seating and proper social distancing, Mickey’s has offered delivery and curbside pickup since May.

Harry’s Bar and Tables on another corner reopened March 1 after shutting down in December. Still, Harry’s posted a cautionary note on its Facebook page, reminding customers about masks and social distancing. “And please keep in mind that anything we may ask of you is in the interest of being able to remain open. We want to be able to keep serving you!”

A perennial Westport favorite, the Corner Restaurant, closed for good, at least under its most current owner, who partly blamed issues with the building. HopCat — which spanned three levels, from its basement bar TikiCat to its rooftop patio — said it could not come to an agreement “after extensive negotiations” with its landlord. The space has been for lease since early fall.

But in Westport’s gap-tooth vacancies are signs of revival.

Kobi-Q Sushi recently opened on Westport Road, and Providence Pizzeria Co. is taking a space nearby.

Brett Allred plans a summer opening for a 12,000-square-foot country bar in the former Californos restaurant space. Johnny Kaw’s Outback will have live music, pizza bar, a mechanical bull, and game room on three levels and a patio connecting to Allred’s Johnny Kaw’s Yard Bar.

He temporarily closed his five Westport operations, including the Yard Bar and Bridger’s Westport. With COVID restrictions limiting capacity, it was cheaper to close and save thousands a month just on insurance. Now he is reopening the venues.

“Our challenge is hiring. We were closed for so long they got other jobs,” Allred said.

And the broker for HopCat, Charlie Lowe, is in negotiations with two possible tenants. On Friday he received a letter of intent from one.

“I was in Westport (last) weekend and there was a 45-minute wait for every restaurant that was open,” said Lowe, partner in Crossroads Real Estate Group. “There is a lot of pent-up demand. It’s going to be like the Roaring ’20s all over again.”

Signs of life around KC

In April, Bryan Merker shut down his Beignet restaurant in the City Market, one of the first area restaurants to close in the pandemic.

Now he’s opening a quick-service spot, Lé Chronic Cafe, nearby, and plans an eclectic menu ranging from Hungarian goulash (using his mother’s recipe) to éclairs.

“At Beignet, we had a line out the door every morning and sometimes it wouldn’t stop until 6,” Merker said. “With the pandemic, no one knew what to expect. Every day we were getting mixed messages — don’t leave the house, it’s OK to leave the house. Now people are feeling a little bit more confident with the vaccine, and I think everyone’s looking forward to spring.”

East Brookside’s modern Italian restaurant Plate is taking a Leawood restaurant space that had been empty for more than three years. The Stilwell in downtown Kansas City opened last week, nearly a year after it had planned. Hawaiian Bros Island Grill will have three more area locations in the next few months.

After nearly 19 years in Prairie Village, Blue Moose Bar & Grill planned to close on New Year’s Eve, blaming COVID-19-related financial issues. But within the month, it announced it would keep operating after working with its landlord and with aid from the Paycheck Protection Program. Now it plans to expand its patio.

Bier Station, on the boundary between Brookside and Waldo, is doing a major renovation, adding six wine taps and floor-to-ceiling windows along the front facade, accordion-style to open to the patio during nicer weather. It also will have a full bar and specialty cocktails.

Meanwhile, Yard House, with locations in the Power & Light District and Legends Outlets Kansas City, is rolling out its March Madness specials — “Bracket” beer flights, and takeout packs with sliders, jumbo Bavarian pretzels and chicken nachos.

Best Regards Bakery & Cafe in Overland Park has a “tweener” menu — from beef stroganoff to croissant sandwiches — to take customers from its winter menu to the April reopening of its patio.

Weekend wine tastings have begun at KC Wine Co. in Olathe, and it is planning such events as Boozy Adult Egg Hunt in late March. T-Shotz, a golf entertainment facility in the Northland, will start a Trivia Night and all-night happy hour on March 10, and The Capital Grille on the Country Club Plaza will have a three-course Easter brunch.

Pre-pandemic, Lawrence-based Jefferson’s was kicking around an idea for a mostly to-go chicken operation. Now its first Wing Stand will open in Mission this summer with two more local locations planned within the year.

“When drive-thru orders accelerated during the pandemic, we accelerated our plans,” said Brandon Graham, president of Jefferson’s Franchise Systems, which is now in six states. “We’ll have wings, chicken tenders and the best chicken sandwich you’ll ever have.”

What’s ahead

More than four dozen area restaurants have closed in the last year, with many blaming the drop in traffic — from mandates limiting indoor dining to consumers deciding for themselves that dining in was too risky.

The biggest winners during the pandemic have been operations with drive-thrus, wings concepts, pizza chains and big casual brands, and that is expected to continue.

The strugglers? Buffets, family dining concepts, “eatertainment” venues (with food, drink and activities), caterers and hotels, said Lizzy Freier, senior research manager of menu for Technomic, a market research and consulting company based in Chicago.

Industry experts said other lasting effects from the pandemic will most likely include more streamlined menus, items that travel well, family-portioned meals, boxed meals and delivered/takeout drinks.

Some chains are planning smaller dining rooms or drive-thru only operations. Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar is testing a drive-thru in Texarkana, Texas. Torchy’s Tacos is putting in a drive-thru window at its new Olathe location, opening later this month.

“You are going to see more dedicated parking for takeout, you are going to see the employees coming out to the car quicker, dedicated parking for companies like DoorDash,” said Frank Newman, president of Frank Newman Commercial Real Estate in Kansas City. “The whole process can be streamlined through the app to deliver faster, hotter food. And cities, in general, will be a little bit friendlier to drive-thru.”

Despite aggressive growth expected from 2021 to 2025, the industry will not fully recover to its pre-COVID-19 sales (on a constant dollar basis) for more than five years, according to Technomic. By the end of 2025, it predicts that total food service industry sales will still be 2.5% smaller than in 2019.

The majority of Kansas restaurateurs responding to a February survey by the National Restaurant Association said “normal” will get here a bit sooner, perhaps seven months to a year. But 11% are more pessimistic, saying their business will never be the same. The association did not offer Missouri numbers.

The restaurant industry won targeted help from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package the Senate just approved, the Washington Post reports. The package establishes a $28.6 billion “revitalization fund” for restaurants that will dole out grants to help them cover pandemic-related revenue losses, with businesses eligible for up to $5 million each.

“I’m not sure we would have made it without the stimulus. But it paid the bills and gave us time to retool,” said John Couture, founder and owner of Bier Station. “I’m hoping we will come out stronger.”