6 new eateries to try in Johnson County: Cookies, fajitas, seafood, lattes and more
After a year of COVID-19 precautions, consumers are ready to get back out and gather at their favorite restaurants, booking for the weekends days in advance.
Johnson County has several new eateries that want to join the most popular lineup — from a chain offering heaping plates of seafood boils to a locally owned restaurant with such specialties as tamarind duck. And for dessert, there’s a fresh-baked cookie shop that is so popular, it is expanding across the metro.
Here are six new spots, in alphabetical order:
▪ Crumbl Cookies, 15159 W. 119th St., Olathe, and 6780 W. 135th St., Overland Park. The shop offers a choice of six types of fresh-baked cookies. Two are standard — milk chocolate chip and chilled sugar cookie. The other four choices rotate weekly from a list of more than 150 flavors, including confetti cake, chocolate with Andes Mints and dusted with Oreo crumbles, sea salt toffee, hazelnut churro and peanut butter chocolate.
It also offers curbside and delivery, and it caters events with mini cookies.
Crumbl Cookies, which is known for its pink boxes, was founded in Utah in 2017 and now has 203 locations. Area locations are in the works for Ward Parkway Center, as well as Lee’s Summit, the Liberty area and Topeka.
▪ Fajita Pete’s, 8909 W. 135th St., Overland Park. The area franchisees for the Houston-based chain, Scott and Heather Keen, opened the location in March. It has a few seats for dining in but it is mostly a carryout and delivery operation.
The menu includes beef, chicken, veggies, shrimp or mixed fajitas, margaritas to go, sides such as guacamole and chips and handmade tortillas, quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, fajita salads, tacos, flautas, sopapillas and tres leches. It also has family-sized meals and offers catering for any size event across the metro. The Keens just booked a wedding for 250 people.
They may expand to Brookside and Lenexa.
▪ Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood and Bar, 11721 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. The New York-based chain has more than 50 restaurants, mostly on the East Coast, but it is expanding in the Midwest.
It specializes in seafood boils. Customers select their seafood from a choice of snow crab or king crab, crawfish, Dungeness crab, shrimp, scallops, black mussels or New Zealand mussels, blue crab, and lobster tail or whole lobster.
Then they choose one of the six sauces such as original Cajun or lemon pepper (or they can order it plain), and a spice level (mild, spicy or fire). The boils come with potatoes and corn on the cob, and customers can pick add-ons such as hard-boiled eggs or rice.
The menu also includes appetizers such as steamed oysters and fried calamari; soups and salads; mini boils of snow crab legs, shrimp (head on or off) or black mussels; seafood spaghetti marinara, po’boys and crabmeat rolls; and oyster, catfish, flounder, chicken tenders or wing baskets. Hook & Reel also does catering and has an event space.
It completely remodeled the former Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom space. Old Chicago closed in mid-2016 after more than 13 years.
▪ Jinkies Coffee and Hangout, 8350 W. 151st St., Overland Park. Lisa Dombrowski and her daughter, Madi, have always been close and bonded over their love of all things ’70s. So when they decided to open a coffee shop together, they picked their favorite theme.
They serve Blip Roasters coffee and have signature drinks including cookie dough lattes and Here Comes the Sun raspberry hibiscus tea; seasonal specials such as the Charm-A-Licious cereal milk latte with Lucky Charms marshmallows; and they make their Pop-Tarts-style pastries and sugar cookies in-house.
It has colorful 1970s-era posters from Archie Comics to Aerosmith. Vintage record albums dot the back wall (from Lisa’s father’s collection) and include The Cowsills and Rod Stewart.
Look for hot rollers in the Foxy Lady bathroom, and the iconic Farrah Fawcett red swimsuit poster in the Groovy Dudes. Can we add something like: The coffee shop’s name comes from a favorite expression in the old Scooby-Doo cartoons.
The mother/daughter team plans to add another location by summer 2022.
▪ KC Thai, 12250 W. 135th St., Overland Park. The owners of Thai House in south Kansas City opened the “extremely authentic, chic Thai restaurant” in January, taking the former Mai Thai spot.
Menu items include tamarind duck, green curry beef, chicken satay, seafood pad thai, stir-fry and Moo Tod & Sticky Rice (fried ground pork and garlic). The contemporary space features a mural of the downtown Kansas City skyline.
The owners also planned to open Bamboo Penny’s in Leawood’s Park Place on June 11.
▪ Snooze an A.M. Eatery, 7012 W. 135th St., Overland Park. All-day breakfast, lunch and “morning cocktails.”
Menu items include pancakes, French toast, waffles, Benedicts, sandwiches, tacos and burritos. The 185-seat restaurant has a patio.
Snooze was founded in Colorado in 2006 and has 46 locations. A Westport location opened in February 2020.