Vegan restaurant eyes spot on KC’s Country Club Plaza. Another is coming soon
Gigi Jones is slowly transitioning her space at 1103 Westport Road to something else.
She’s already put up some signage inside Gigi’s Vegan + Wellness Cafe for The Seed Kitchen, a new restaurant that will sell food on a sliding scale. She’s also been working with chefs in the area to create a “totally different menu.”
Meanwhile, Jones is in negotiations to move Gigi’s to a spot on the Country Club Plaza. She’ll be able to announce the specific spot once she signs a lease, hopefully in the next couple weeks.
If the Country Club Plaza deal doesn’t go through, she’ll move Gigi’s somewhere else. The Seed Kitchen aims to launch June 15. The new Gigi’s opening date is dependent on when Jones finalizes her location.
When the 1103 Westport Road spot transforms into The Seed Kitchen, customers will walk in and order food without set prices.
Customers can donate as much as they see fit or “pay it forward” by covering future customers’ meals.
The Seed Kitchen will be supported by the nonprofit KC Health Initiative, which seeks to give families of all income brackets access to nutritious food.
“These mothers are now going to (fast food restaurants) for 99 cent burgers and fries for their children,” she said. “I’ve been there.”
Many of the fruits and vegetables at Jones’ Westport restaurant are grown in her garden behind the cafe.
Jones said she’s still figuring out exactly what it will serve at The Seed Kitchen. But she is planning for customers to be able to take home seed packets to grow their own fruits and vegetables in addition to purchasing meals.
As part of the transition to The Seed Kitchen, packets of vegetable seeds sit in a box on the counter near the cash register.
“When you look at life, everything was formed from a seed — from us to the food we grow,” she said. “It takes one seed to spark life … and that’s what we’re doing here.”
Gigi’s opened in 2020, right before the pandemic.
Jones — who’s known in the community as “Gigi the Vegan” — had the same vision then as she does now: to show her neighborhood the magic of healthy eating.
Gigi’s sells a variety of juices and smoothies, as well as other options like the falafel bowl and soul tacos.
Jones also hosts the annual Midwest Soul VegFest in October at the Swope Park Pavilion.
Fellow Vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude will close Sunday in the Crossroads.
The restaurant has been open for 13 years at 333 Southwest Blvd. and is one of few plant-based restaurants in the metro.
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM.