‘Everything must end.’ After 2 decades, Johnson County restaurant changes name, concept
In December 2020, Blue Moose Bar & Grill said it would be closing in Prairie Village after nearly 20 years. It blamed the pandemic.
But after coronavirus relief packages, it reversed that decision the same month.
Now owner and operator K.C. Hopps Ltd. is changing the concept.
The space, in the Shops of Prairie Village at 4160 W. 71st St., temporarily closed Wednesday. After a remodeling it is scheduled to reopen as Gravity, a modern American restaurant and bar, later this spring.
“The Blue Moose had a long and successful run. However, everything must end. We are excited for the opportunity to bring Prairie Village a new and exciting concept,” Ed Nelson, president of K.C. Hopps, said in a statement.
Gravity will have a “very eclectic beer menu,” including a focus on local brewers, and it will have a new draft system with 60 different craft beers.
The name refers to the amount of sugars that will ferment into alcohol during the beer brewing process, the company said.
Gravity also will have an “elevated” wine list. Craft cocktails will include High Society with Bumbu rum, honey, and ginger simple syrup, floated with absinthe and garnished with a candied lemon, and Workday Fix with Buffalo Trace bourbon, ginger simple syrup and half squeezed orange — served on a large ice cube and smoked with cinnamon.
The menu will have freshly prepared modern American dishes that will change seasonally. Dishes will include calamari, seasonal flatbreads, shrimp salad, a Keto steak and kale bowl, lemon salmon BLT, filet and frites, guajillo-braised short rib, Hawaiian chicken bowl, and seafood linguini.
It will be open for lunch and dinner daily. It also will have brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as a weekly happy hour with food and drink specials.
The bar and cocktail area will be on the south side of the building, Blue Moose’s former dining room. The covered patio will be an extension of the bar and lounge area.
The new dining room, on the north end, will be “lighter and brighter” than the bar area, with a modern decor with booths and chandeliers.
Blue Moose opened in the space in April 2002. K.C. Hopps had previously operated Mosaic Bistro and Wine Bar there for 15 months.
The Red Bridge Blue Moose closed in September, and Tanner’s Bar & Grill moved into the location. But K.C. Hopps continues to manage it. It still has a Blue Moose Bar & Grill in Lenexa, along with Stroud’s in Overland Park and Mission, and other concepts.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 1:07 PM.