Breakfast, brunch and lunch spot bringing ‘awesome, craveable food’ to Kansas City

A Wichita-based breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant, HomeGrown, is entering the market with a new location in Brookside.

It is taking the former Avenues Bistro spot, at 338 W. 63rd St., for a summer opening.

Owners and founders Jon and Lauren Rolph of Thrive Restaurant Group have three restaurants in Wichita. Along with the new Brookside restaurant, they may open more locations in the Kansas City market.

The restaurants are known for their “awesome, craveable, fresh” food and their mantra to “cultivate kindness,” Jon Rolph said.

For example, children can write a note on a HomeGrown postcard, drop it in the Kindness Box, and HomeGrown will mail it for them.

Its made-from-scratch menu includes coffee cake, croissant French toast, blueberry streusel, baked oatmeal, biscuits and gravy, omelets and scrambles, eggs Benedict (with cage-free eggs), and house-made Pop-Tarts-style pastries.

For lunch, look for such items as turkey avocado sandwiches (with turkey roasted in-house), Cubans, Power BLT salads with broccoli and kale, cream of tomato soup, fresh fruit and roasted vegetables.

Drinks include mimosas with fresh-squeezed orange juice, bloody marys, and margaritas.

Seasonal dishes include such items as a brunch chili with cornbread croutons and warm cinnamon roll.

It also is selling family packs to feed four to six people, a popular to-go menu item during the pandemic. The Brookside location will offer carryout and delivery.

The former Avenues Bistro spot will be remodeled for the restaurant’s “modern farmhouse” decor designed by Lauren Rolph. The Rolphs will commission a local artist to do a piece with kindness and Brookside themes.

Jon Rolph and other HomeGrown officials were in town Monday to sign the lease and meet with local vendors.

“A big part of local to us is keeping dollars in the community,” he said. “We want to meet with people, hear from people. If we can help give them that regular business, that helps the ecosystem to thrive.”

The Brookside location will have about 50 to 60 employees.

Thrive Restaurant Group also has 81 Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar locations, making it the fifth largest franchisee in the country. It has 16 Carlos O’Kelly’s restaurants, and its Peace Love & Pie shop and a pie truck.

Avenues Bistro recently closed in Brookside and is currently operating a carryout and delivery operation in Kansas City, Kansas.

This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 11:17 AM.