Westport restaurant — known for its lobster rolls, pizza, mac-and-cheese — shuts down

Mickey’s Hideaway has closed less than three years after opening in Westport.

It posted a notice on its website and Facebook page, saying, “It’s been a pleasure serving you. Mickey’s Hideaway is permanently closed for business. Thank you for your support and patronage.”

It was known for its brown butter lobster roll (served only on Fridays with fresh Maine lobster), burgers and its specialty macaroni and cheese dishes including one with smoked burnt ends and pickled jalapeno. It also had Detroit-style pizza for a time.

Culinary Virtue, owners of the restaurant, directed customers to the other concepts it manages in Westport — Char Bar Smoked Meats & Amusements, Beer Kitchen and Port Fonda. It also is a partner in Meat Mitch barbecue restaurant in Leawood.

Fans left such comments on its Facebook page as:

▪ Where else can I get a brown butter lobster roll

▪ My Mac & Cheese.. My green dip...

▪ OMG I can’t believe I won’t have that burger again...

James Westphal and Mark Kelpe, founders of McCoy’s Public House, at 4057 Pennsylvania Ave., closed it in late 2018 after nearly 22 years. They reopened it as Mickey’s Hideaway in late 2019.

“The pandemic hit and it has been a struggle to build a strong repeat customer base. After everything that has happened we are still not at a point where we had a sustainable business model,” Westphal said. “We opened a restaurant with the intention of operating it successfully for many years. We know what it takes to operate successfully in Westport. But the last few years have shown us that sometimes you can’t ‘hard work’ yourself out of difficult times.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 10:23 AM.