Longtime Kansas City bakery, deli owner retiring. Here’s what’s next
“Hey, Miss Vee!”
Kansas Citians, particularly in the Marlborough neighborhood, often chirp the phrase as Allie “Vee” Toney walks past.
Those who call out her name recognize her from her shop at 8005 The Paseo, Vee’s Sweets & Treats Deli. Toney can hardly go anywhere without someone mentioning they’ve had one of her sandwiches or pastries.
“I was in Memphis, Tennessee, and somebody said, ‘Hey, Miss Vee!’ at the restaurant,” she told The Star in a phone interview this week.
Breaking the hearts of some of her aforementioned fans, Vee closed her shop on Christmas Eve. She’s looking to retire.
The silver lining: someone else is taking it over, changing the name but keeping a lot the same.
Today, the lights are off and doors are locked. The inside is stripped down to its bare bones while the space is being prepped to repaint.
Toney misses the spot, but she feels ready to move on. “I’m fixing to be 68. It’s time for me to do something else,” she said. “I don’t wanna work, work, work, you know.”
Enter Sheree Hudson, who will reopen the spot as The Deli Grind.
The recipes and menu will be the same, though Hudson is looking to add a few salads and other menu items. She hopes to reopen the spot on Feb. 2.
“We could never replace Miss Vee,” Hudson said. “We just wanna maintain.”
Hudson and Toney go a ways back — Toney went to school with Hudson’s mom, and each other’s families are acquainted.
When Hudson heard Toney was retiring, she inquired about buying the business. Though she’d long dreamed of having a deli of her own, she never thought it would be possible.
Then, Toney delivered the news Hudson never expected to hear.
“Thirty-four days later she called me back, and she was like, ‘You have it,’” Hudson said. “And I was like, ‘Are you sure?’”
Toney was sure.
As for the original owner and local figure, Toney started the business in 2008 with her husband, Andrew. Toney had worked in delis and bakeries like M & M and Lamar’s since she was a young girl.
Later in life, Toney and her husband struggled with addiction. Victory over that looked like putting their energy into something positive.
“After we got clean and sober we decided to do something better,” Toney said. “So we opened up the shop.”
On the menu: deli sandwiches with fresh bread, doughnuts, and fritters that are “as big as your face.” Breakfast sandwiches, cookies and pie are also sold at the deli.
Andrew died in 2019, making the workload heavier on Toney, especially as she’s gotten older. “It was just different without him,” she said. “I didn’t have that extra hand.”
Since announcing her retirement, Toney’s been touched, and perhaps a bit surprised, by the community’s outpouring.
“It was just so much love. It was amazing,” she said. “I didn’t have a clue that I touched so many people with just the little stuff I had.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 8:00 AM.