The Rockhill Grille plans a July opening in the former Cashew space in the Crossroads

The former Cashew space will reopen in early July under new owners with a new name, menu and decor.

The Rockhill Grille, at 2000 Grand Blvd., will be an upscale American grill offering such items as oysters, tater tots stuffed with jalapeno cheese and garlic aioli, chicken salad sandwiches, brussels sprouts salad and entrees like duck confit and filet mignon.

It will be open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and will be closed Sunday. It will have about 60 employees.

Zach Marten and Bret Springs, partners in Kansas City’s Back Napkin Restaurant Group, began consulting with the Cashew in October 2015. They purchased the restaurant and bar and signed a lease for the 20,000-square-foot, four-story building in February. They closed the Cashew’s first two floors in mid-February for renovation. The third floor has still been booking private events.

They are naming the new restaurant after William Rockhill Nelson, co-founder of The Star in 1880.

Marten and Springs said they were attracted to the location because of the growth in the area, including new hotels, and the building’s “unbelievable views of downtown.”

The second floor will have a library/study feel with wood-paneled walls and leather seating. One room can seat up to 80 people for private events and will be named after Nelson’s mansion on Brush Creek, known as Oak Hall, which is now the site of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

The third-floor event space, which can seat up to 200 people, will close the last two weeks of July for renovation.

Marten and Springs opened Coal Vines restaurant on the Plaza in early 2011 and then Westport Ale House in March 2014. They put RND Corner Grille in the former Round Corner Drug space in Lawrence in mid-December.

The Back Napkin Restaurant Group offices will be on the fourth floor of the Grand building.

Now in Westport

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers opened Tuesday in Westport.

The company specializes in chicken fingers made from chicken that has never been frozen, as well as its secret-recipe Cane’s sauce, crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, freshly brewed sweet tea and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

It demolished the former Boston Market/Verizon building at 4040 Mill St. for the new restaurant, which seats 98 inside and 16 outside. It also has a drive-through.

The Baton Rouge, La., company recently opened locations in Lawrence and Blue Springs, and an Overland Park restaurant is scheduled to open later this year.

Sportibles expands

Kansas City’s Sportibles is expanding with two new stores.

It plans to open in Ward Parkway Center, 8600 Ward Parkway, on Monday.

Another location is planned for the City Market next to the Arabia Steamboat Museum, at 400 Grand Blvd. It is scheduled to open July 15.

“We do really well in interior malls. And what was unique with the City Market space, it has an exterior door and an interior door leading into the Arabia Steamboat Museum,” said Sportibles founder David Walby.

Walby started the sports collectibles and fanwear company in 2002.

He also has locations in Independence Center, Oak Park Mall and the Olathe Landing at 2006 E. Santa Fe in Olathe.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 1:03 PM with the headline "The Rockhill Grille plans a July opening in the former Cashew space in the Crossroads."