St. Louis-based chain Mission Taco Joint opens first location in Johnson County

St. Louis-based Mission Taco Joint has expanded again in the Kansas City area.

It is now open in Park Place, 11563 Ash St., Leawood. The Ainsworth had formerly operated in the spot but closed in November 2020.

After a remodeling, the 4,554-square-foot space has a main dining room and bar area with about 120 seats, along with a patio next to Park Place’s outdoor common area, which is used for concerts and movies in the summer and ice skating in the winter.

Mission Taco Joint is known for its specialty tacos such as its Mango-Hop-Anero Shrimp taco (with beer-battered fried shrimp, red cabbage slaw, fresh mango salsa, smashed avocado, and mango-hop-anero aioli habanero aioli), and burritos such as the South Beach burrito (with grilled chicken, cilantro rice, smashed black beans, Oaxaca cheese, guacamole and chipotle aioli).

Other menu items include flautas, empanadas, and quesadillas, along with tiki cocktails.

Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The Leawood location is the company’s third in the Kansas City metro and its first outside of its home state of Missouri. It opened in the Crossroads in 2017 and added a South Plaza location in 2018.

It was founded in 2013 by brothers Adam and Jason Tilford, and now has five locations in the St. Louis area, although one is temporarily closed after a fire.