Their old restaurants were beloved. Now, KC couple is back with new eatery, raw bar
The Parker Hollow — downtown Parkville’s newest restaurant — is bedecked in antique picture frames, crystal chandeliers and vintage mirrors.
Husband-and-wife owners Jonathan Justus and Camille Eklof wanted to incorporate an old-world style to make the space feel — in Justus’ words — “sexy.” The penny tile and cherry-wood china cabinets play into the 175-year-old building’s chic-but-historic aesthetic.
“It’s going to feel old, but not kitschy old,” Justus told The Star before the restaurant opened. He was a James Beard finalist in 2016 and previously owned Justus Drugstore in Smithville and Black Dirt in KC’s South Plaza neighborhood.
With a few days under its belt, The Parker Hollow at 100 Main St. in Parkville is welcoming reservations on Tok and first-come, first-served seating at the bar.
On and off for the past 94 years, the building had been home to Frank’s Italian Restaurant. But on Wednesday, bartenders served spritzes and a sous-chef oysters behind its marble bar. Painted lettering in the window which once advertised Italian food now reflects its new cuisine, a West Coast take on seafood.
“There’s some flavors you get from West Coast oysters that you just can’t get from East Coast oysters,” Justus said.
The menu is smaller for the time being, though Justus said on Wednesday that it would continue to expand. Some of its raw bar options include smoked tuna dip for $15, shrimp cocktail for $18, hamachi for $17 and more.
The kitchen serves steamed mussels for $18, grilled octopus for $25, a fisherman’s stew (mussels, shrimp, seasonal fin fish, zucchini, celery, fennel, scallion and parsley in a saffron-pernod-tomato broth) for $38 and more.
As for the drinks, a modest wine list and cocktails like the Old Coast Fashioned (bourbon, demerara syrup, aromatic bitters, orange peel) are on the menu.
For dessert, customers can dine on treats like an orange blossom saffron olive oil cake for $11 (complete with black walnut tuile and strawberry coulis).
Upstairs, Justus demonstrated how the large exterior windows crank open, allowing the fall air and sound of cars whizzing down Main Street to spill in. Eventually, Justus will also open the small patio attached to the side of the building.
The name of the restaurant, Parker Hollow, echoes the name of a little-known spot north of Parkville, nestled between a row of trees and a Missouri River bluff. Justus was searching for names that would have local appeal and thought Parker had some “regality” to it.
A long-expected debut
The Parkville spot marks a highly anticipated return for the couple.
Justus Drugstore served farm-to-table cuisine in Smithville from 2007 to 2018 before a buyer offered them a hefty sum for the building, and they accepted. Black Dirt was at 5070 Main St. from 2018 to 2019. (Justus previously told The Star that the New American restaurant was the wrong concept for the neighborhood.)
After hosting small dinner parties at their home and doing consulting for other restaurants, the pair has decided to step back into the restaurant world.
Parker Hollow’s hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.