Kansas City chef closes City Market sandwich shop, to open Mexican barbecue in Kansas

When The Bite opened in the City Market seven years ago, it had the tagline: Not your average sandwich shop.

Owner and chef Carlos Mortera offers about a dozen signature toasted sandwiches such as the Señor Chang (beef short ribs, queso fresco, sriracha crema, candied jalapenos, pickled onions, radish and cilantro), and the Bay of Pigs (roasted pork, prosciutto, smoked Gouda, habanero pickles and mustard mayonnaise).

But the restaurant, at 23 E. Third St., will close on May 9. Mortera wants to concentrate on reopening his POI-Ō eatery and spending time with his family.

“So it’s bittersweet,” Mortera said. “2020 took it out of me. I was working 17-hour days and my daughter was born 10 months ago. I wanted to try to spend some time with her.”

He said another restaurant is taking over his City Market lease, which runs another three years.

The Bite’s Facebook followers left comments such as: “What??? No!!! One of our favorites! Such a talented chef!!” and “This breaks my heart as I love your food.”

Mortera is opening POI-Ō, a Mexican barbecue, at 800 S. Seventh St. in Kansas City, Kansas, in late May. It will have a drive-thru and patio.

It first opened in 2018 at 1000 W. 25th St. He closed it in November when pandemic restrictions were in place.

“You lose more money if you stay open than if you close. That’s how the restaurant business is right now,” Mortera said at the time.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 11:49 AM.