Johnson County Mexican restaurant expands in landmark Kansas City restaurant building

The former longtime Nichols Lunch spot in midtown will soon be home to another locally owned restaurant.

Taqueria La Nueva will open at 3906 Waddell Ave., just off Southwest Trafficway, in early 2023. The owners also have an Overland Park restaurant.

The menu includes tacos, quesadillas, tortas and burritos. It also sells meat by the pound, nachos, chips and queso, and tortas.

It has Taco Tuesday specials, and a popular Menudo special (a traditional Mexican soup) on Saturdays and Sundays.

One of its most popular items is its quesabirria taco.

“It is sort of a mix of a taco and quesadilla but I feel like it is its own thing,” said Julia Rohrer, owner with her husband, Juan Lozano. “We cook the beef for hours and hours, and serve it with the broth so it is like a French Dip taco.”

They opened a restaurant at 12561 Antioch Road in 2020. Lozano also is the chef.

The couple plan to freshen up the midtown location before opening.

“We’re super excited about the location and that we can expand our family-owned business into Missouri, and for more people to try our food,” she said.

Nichols Lunch operated for 85 years and had been at the Waddell location since at least 1947 before closing in 2006.

KC Kitchen & Pizzeria most recently operated in the building but closed in July.

This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 12:13 PM.