Kansas City fall restaurant guide: Who’s opening, growing, succeeding — despite COVID

Most restaurants have just been trying to survive the pandemic.

But Liberty’s Jousting Pigs BBQ has been bustling — so much that its owners decided to open a second location, landing on the former Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque building in Kansas City, Kansas.

The location near the Kansas Speedway and other attractions was a draw, but so were the building’s amenities that have proved so popular during the pandemic: a carryout area, drive-thru and a larger kitchen to serve a growing catering operation.

“I definitely still have concerns: What to-go boxes are we going to get this week? Concerns about getting enough employees out there to manage everything. Everyone struggling to get materials — our sign company, the menu boards. It’s hurry up and wait,” said John Atwell, co-owner. “But it will be an awesome location. We’re very excited.”

Restaurant industry officials call the pandemic one of the most devastating and disruptive events of our lifetime. Restaurants are still contending with the delta variant surge and mask mandates, disruptions in supply chains, rising food costs and a shortage of workers.

But despite the hurdles, Jousting Pigs BBQ and dozens of other restaurants are opening new locations across the metro this fall and winter.

“I think we will still struggle to get back to where we were. We will struggle with supply issues, with getting fully staffed, through the winter,” said Bill Teel, executive director of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. “But with all the restaurants opening, that is a good sign our industry is strong and can withstand difficult times.”

Opportunities

Nationally, about 90,000 restaurants closed permanently or long-term from April 1, 2020, to April 14, 2021, according to the National Restaurant Association.

But the Kansas City metro, sheltered a bit from the vagaries found on the coasts, had about 100 closings, according to records The Star maintains. That’s about equal to the same period before the pandemic.

Just a few examples: Beignet in the City Market, Bluestem in Westport, three area Kneaders Bakery & Cafe locations, and the Webster House in the Crossroads. Even mainstays shuttered, including Boulevard Bakery & Pastries, Gojo Japanese Steak House, both Don Chilito’s and Italian Delight by Avelluto in Mission, and Rheinland Restaurant in Independence, with some owners just deciding to retire.

But the metro has seen an influx of new openings as prime restaurant spaces — many move-in ready — become available, and as area shopping centers remodel and expand.

Wichita’s HomeGrown, a breakfast and lunch spot, took the Avenues Bistro space in Brookside. Sail Away Wine self-serve wine shop and bistro opened in North Kansas City. In midtown, Mesob Restaurant & Rhum Bar added the fast casual and carryout operation Taste Island Grill next door. IHOP opened the nation’s first Flip’d by IHOP in Lawrence in late September.

Many are touting expanded outdoor seating, considered safer than dining indoors during the pandemic. For example, Kansas City distillery J. Rieger & Co. in the East Bottoms is adding the Electric Park Garden Bar with an open-air patio bar and an adjoining atrium to serve as an indoor/outdoor extension of its tasting room.

Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue opened in Lenexa, complete with a large patio — its first new location since opening in Lee’s Summit in 2015.

One of Kansas City’s biggest success stories, Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, has new restaurants in Independence, Lenexa, Shawnee and south Kansas City, as well as in other markets, with busy carryout operations. And more are coming, including one in south Overland Park for early December, as well as a ghost kitchen in New York City, and five more restaurants in Texas.

“The plan all along has been to build the footprint, not only in Kansas City but nationwide. I think we are right on target for our growth,” said Mitch Truster, vice president of development for Hawaiian Bros. “The price point is a real value, the speed at which we can prepare our food is second to none, and that has helped us survive.”

A Hawaiian Bros competitor, Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food, also announced plans to enter the market with several locations in the works.

Steve and Julie Zanone opened a Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken franchise in Kansas City, Kansas, in 2016, but during the pandemic their catering business has been booming.

“We cook on-site for corporations, feeding employee shifts from the middle of the night to the weekend with our mobile fry unit. Gus’s to the masses. It is really going gangbusters,” Steve Zanone said. Now they’re expanding.

Their new south Overland Park restaurant at 7935 W. 151st St. opened on Sept. 27 with a 20-year lease. The Zanones also are looking at locations in Lee’s Summit for a mid-2022 opening, and they plan a Northland restaurant for late 2022 or early 2023.

The Summit Group shuttered its popular Boru Ramen Bar in Waldo in June 2020, when it struggled to find workers during the pandemic. But a few months later they reopened it as Boru Asian Eatery with a few more “mainstream items” that would have broader appeal.

Then in September 2020, the owners signed a lease for a red brick restaurant building in the south Plaza. Nick and Jake’s previously operated in the spot but it was one of the first area restaurants to confirm it would not reopen after the shelter-in-place order was lifted.

Summit Group’s Third Street Social opened there in late July.

“When we noticed it was empty there weren’t a lot of restaurants looking 18 months down the road, they were in survival mode,” said Andy Lock, partner. “So it was a risk but it was a calculated risk.”

Challenges

Kansas City-based Chicken N Pickle opened two restaurants during the pandemic.

They were fortunate to have an outdoor entertainment concept, including pickleball and other games, where their customers could spread out. Even at 25% capacity during pandemic mandates, some of their venues could hold about 500 people.

Still, if not for the pandemic they would have opened one or two additional locations by now.

They were worried about not getting some construction materials such as steel. Restaurant equipment orders can be behind six months or more, and costs continue to rise.

They’ve also seen traffic slow down at their Texas locations as the delta variant surges, but sales at the North Kansas City restaurant have been steady this summer and into fall. Another location is expected to open in Overland Park’s Prairiefire in November.

“We remain bullish on 2022 for sure,” said Bill Crooks, managing partner for Chicken N Pickle.

But the pandemic continues to pose a number of other challenges this fall:

▪ Delta variant. The National Restaurant Association’s recent mid-year survey found that some adults have stopped going out to eat, and a third said they would not go out to eat if they had to wear a mask and/or show a vaccination card.

Indeed, Foodlove Cafe in the Crossroads saw significant increases each week until its grand opening, right around the time the delta variant surged. Traffic is still growing but at a much slower rate.

“That delta mess was all in the news. We kept advertising, we kept pushing,” said Kim Cole, chef and co-owner. “It’s been up and down. Some nights there would be nobody for happy hour, nobody for dinner, and we would end up sending people home.”

David M. Block, president of Block & Co. Inc. Realtors, has had a stream of restaurant clients over the spring and summer, looking at drive-thru restaurant buildings, locations that were previously restaurants so they don’t have to spend so much on infrastructure, and even sit-down restaurants.

“It was really hopping … and it is still active,” he said. “But to get some of the new ones to pull the trigger they want to see the lifting of the mask mandate. The new mask mandate and the shortage of employees have put a damper on restaurant sales.”

Kansas City and a few suburbs, as well as Jackson and Wyandotte counties, require masks inside public places. Other area counties do not.

▪ Hiring. Kansas and Missouri were among the states that added restaurant jobs in July and August.

Still, many operations are struggling to find enough workers, even after unemployment benefits run out for many and other pandemic assistance has gone away.

“So some restaurants are closed on say a Monday or Tuesday, some that aren’t doing lunch, or reduced menu selections,” said Teel of the Kansas City restaurant association. “People need to be patient and understanding. It might not be the dining experience they are used to. Restaurants are trying to do the best they can.”

With competition for employees escalating, some restaurants offered signing and retention bonuses, and promised more flexible hours.

In light of restaurant workers’ recent walk-offs over wage disputes and unfair labor practices, advocacy group One Fair Wage announced the “Wages Can’t Wait — Service Workers Action and Relief Fund” to encourage employees to remain in the industry and advocate for a fair wage.

▪ Costs are up. According to the association’s survey, 91% of operators are paying more for food, 84% have higher labor costs, and 63% are paying higher occupancy costs. Profitability is down with 85% of operators reporting smaller margins than before the pandemic. Some restaurants are passing on the costs to customers, while some are trying to absorb the costs, for now.

▪ Supply chains. 95% of restaurant operators say their restaurant experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items during the past three months.

“We are differently feeling the crunch of the supply chains issues,” said Lock of Summit Group. “In a lot of circumstances we just eat it. Our profit margins are a lot smaller right now.”

Changes

With many consumers working from home, traditional lunch and dinner times are blurred.

Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken in Kansas City, Kansas, now sees lunch extending to late afternoon, while dinner customers are coming in earlier — and later, even families coming at 8:30 p.m. on a weeknight.

Food delivery surged 128% in August compared with the same month two years ago, according to market researchers the NPD Group, and it now represents 10% of off-premise visits. Drive-thru visits were up 11% in August compared to August 2019.

Consumers now expect online ordering, electronic payments and curbside pickup. They’ve enjoyed the temporary dining spots set up outdoors on sidewalks, parking lots and streets and want cities to make those permanent, according to the National Restaurant Association surveys. That also holds true for alcohol to-go orders.

Cocktails to-go are here to stay in Missouri and Kansas, but with restrictions.

More to come

New restaurants will be opening their doors across the metro this fall into the winter.

Among the most anticipated will be the first local Whataburger, a favorite of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. News broke in June 2020 that it would enter the Kansas City area, and four are scheduled to open this year, with the Independence location maybe first this fall, followed by Lee’s Summit. But the Texas-based chain is not releasing any opening details.

Mahomes is part of a franchise group that plans 30 in the region.

On a hilltop overlooking the Country Club Plaza, Prime Social rooftop lounge plans a November opening in time for the Plaza lighting ceremony. Then, in early 2022, Ocean Prime Restaurant will join it on the third floor of the 46 Penn Centre building.

Crestwood’s Cafe Europa Gourmet Market & Bakery will relocate to the south Plaza and expand, as well as add a Leawood location in early February.

Wichita’s Meddys Mediterranean Eatery & Craft Bar plans to open in Corinth Quarter redevelopment in Prairie Village later this year. The metro’s first Taco Bell Cantina, complete with beer, wine and sangria, has a permit for a spot in Westport but no opening date has been announced.

Mitch Benjamin’s Leawood restaurant, Meat Mitch Barbecue, has been in the works since spring 2018. He hopes to finally open in the newly renovated Ranch Mart Shopping Center in mid-November.

“There have been delays, one after the other. Then the pandemic slowed everything as well,” Benjamin said. “But the sign is on the building, that’s pretty fun. And we love the location so much. We feel it is A-plus. We couldn’t be more excited.”