Korean BBQ restaurant taking over former Kansas City area Applebee’s
A new barbecue restaurant is opening in the metro — this one with a twist.
Let’s Go BBQ — an all-you-can-eat, robot-powered Korean BBQ restaurant — is moving into the Independence Center location at 18801 E. 39th St. S., Suite 2114.
It’s opening this fall in the mall’s former Applebee’s space.
While this is the first Let’s Go BBQ location, its owners have dreams of going national. For now, the concept is eyeing spots in Columbia and Johnson County, according to Holly Solomon, who’s handling acquisitions for the restaurant.
Kansas City will be home base for the group, Solomon said.
“It’s more like a destination, good place for team building, families and friends, birthdays, celebrations,” she said. “Things along those lines.”
Customers will pay a buffet price, then order different choices of protein and sides on a tablet.
The kitchen staff will place food items on a platter, which a robot waiter will roll to the correct table. Solomon thinks the robots especially will be a hit.
“They even — for a birthday — will place a cupcake on there and (the robot) can even sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to you, or a requested song,” Solomon said.
When the food arrives, customers will place the items onto a grill built into the table and cook each item to their liking. The buffet-style meal will last up to two hours.
Menu options include: beef tongue, bulgogi, pork belly and more. A halal menu will also be available, Solomon said.
Solomon encourages fans of traditional barbecue to stop by — they’ll find familiar cuts of meats and other options like steak and brisket.
“We have Korean sides plus Midwest-inspired sides,” she said. “It’s kind of a mix of both.”
Owner Isaac Karaaslan was previously part of I Can Barbecue, another Korean barbecue chain out of California.
Another Korean barbecue chain, KPot, is making moves in the metro. The New Jersey-based concept offers Korean hot pot, a cooking method that involves a communal dish filled with broth, noodles and other ingredients.
KPot first entered the metro in 2023 and has three locations: 7001 W. 135th St. in Overland Park; 1705 Village West Parkway in Kansas City, Kansas; and 8502 N. Jefferson St.
Last October, almost all of the metro’s Applebee’s locations closed almost overnight. The Independence Center spot, however, had already been closed for a few years.
Tony Moralejo, president of Applebee’s, said in a statement at the time that the decision to close the restaurants was made by the franchisee, not the brand.
Applebee’s was formerly headquartered in Kansas City. In 2015, it relocated to California, where its parent company, Dine Brands, is based. American Franchise Capital LLC took over the Kansas City area restaurants that year, forming local franchises Apple Central LLC and Apple Central KC LLC.
Applebee’s now has two locations left in the metro: 1100 N.W. Highway 7 in Blue Springs and 6069 NE Antioch Road in Gladstone.
Another is left in Harrisonville at 2401 Rock Haven Road.
Meanwhile, an all-you-can-eat Asian restaurant called All in One Eatery is moving into another former Applebee’s in Overland Park at 11000 Metcalf Ave.
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 12:05 PM.