6 updates on Kansas City’s 39th St.: Smoked meats, Indian food, cheesecakes in a jar

39th Street has long been dubbed “restaurant row.” Now more eateries are joining the mix from State Line Road to Main Street.

The offerings include desserts, Indian food, smoked meats and more.

Here’s a look at what’s new:

▪ Keisha Kandi Apples, 809 W. 39th St., Suite 150. Owner Keisha Allen created some unique candy apple flavors for her daughter, Kennadi, on her first birthday. They were such a hit, she posted photos on Facebook and began taking orders. Then she expanded to cheesecakes in a jar, selling them through Wilson’s Pizza & Grill in Kansas City, Kansas.

Now in a new retail shop, she sells a variety of candy apples including caramel, strawberry shortcake, Oreo, cinnamon, and pecan.

She also has a variety of cheesecakes in a jar — strawberry, apple pie, peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, cinnamon bun, confetti cake, banana pudding, pineapple upside-down cake, “Snicker,” sugar-free apple pie and more.

Other products include strawberry shortcake cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, cheesecake cones, waffle cups, donuts, 7Up pound cake and peach cobbler.

Products vary daily but customers can order their favorites in advance.

Allen also offers catering with platters of stuffed cheesecake strawberries, pans of banana pudding cheesecake, and a variety of decorated treats for special occasions, including pretzel sticks, Oreos, Rice Krispies Treats, candied apples and chocolate-covered strawberries.

▪ Shagan’s, serving Northern Indian cuisine, has opened a counter inside Midtown Market at 3967 Main St.

Butter chicken and chicken curry are on the menu daily. There are also two vegetarian options that change daily, such as aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower). Customers get two entrees, two sides and naan bread for $10.

Shagan’s is open for lunch Mondays through Fridays. It may add dinner hours soon.

Samandeep and Shagan Bajwa, along with their son, Manver, opened Shagan’s restaurant at 14521 Metcalf Ave. in Overland Park in October 2018. The Bajwas’ other sons, Mohabat and Shahbaz, also help out in the restaurant.

“My husband wanted to name it after me because I love to cook. He said we couldn’t call it anything else. It has to be Shagan’s,” she said.

The Westport location doesn’t have a full kitchen, so the family makes the dishes each morning at the Overland Park restaurant. If the Westport location takes off, they may expand to a permanent location.

▪ OurHouse KC, 1815 W. 39th St. Joe and Maggie Zahner’s new restaurant features smoked meats for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.

The menu includes pulled pork, smoked chicken salad and burnt end French dip sandwiches; Southwestern quinoa bowls with black beans, roasted peppers and corn; loaded fries to share; smoked chicken or burnt end stew pot pies; personalized pasta; and milkshakes and sundaes for dessert.

Brunch is served Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and includes German pancakes, avocado toast, brisket sandwiches, Cobb salads, quinoa bowls, and burnt end and Southwestern pulled pork skillets.

It also has a coffee bar serving house-made pastries and cookies, along with coffee drinks including an iced Nutella latte and Nutella hot chocolate.

It has live music on the rooftop patio most nights.

▪ Pantry Goods, 910 W. 39th St. The delivery-only grocery added a retail location in April. Owner Marcelle Clements carries produce, meats and grains from local farmers and uses plastic-free packaging.

Other 39th Street updates

▪ Oddly Correct coffee bar has operated at 3940 Main St. for a decade. It closed Tuesday as it prepares to relocate.

It is currently doing a pop-up in its roasting facility at 3934 Main through July. It plans to reopen at 4141 Troost Ave. in early August.

▪ Transit Coffee plans an August opening in Oddly Correct’s old spot. It will have a rotating menu of roasters from Kansas City, Minneapolis and Greenville, South Carolina. The menu will include espresso drinks, teas and cocktails, and some food items including local baked goods.

Eric Rosell, Nick Hinckley and Ben White are the owners. Rosell also is a partner in PH Coffee in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood near downtown.