The new Gram & Dun location is now open in this KC-area casino. Take a look
Gram & Dun — Kansas City’s high-end, well-known restaurant on the Country Club Plaza — has just opened its second spot.
The new restaurant inside Argosy Casino & Hotel (777 NW Argosy Casino Parkway in Riverside) quietly opened Wednesday. For the most part, much of it is the same. Customers can still order Asian pig wings and dine by candlelight, but the casino location has some differences.
For one, a sushi bar stands between the main dining room and an overflow/private dining room. While the Plaza location at 600 Ward Parkway also offers sushi, this is the only location where customers can sit at the same bar where their rolls are being prepared.
The casino location’s executive chef Dominick Decaria said there are a few new menu items, too.
The 8-ounce filet mignon for $58, 16-ounce ribeye for $53 and 14-ounce prime rib for $50 are all debuting at the new menu.
It’ll have all its classics: seasonal coconut curry for $24 (jasmine rice, Swiss chard, wild mushrooms, roasted red bell pepper, broccoli florets, winter squash, spiced peanuts and micro cilantro), blackened shrimp and grits for $24 (blackened smoked-cheddar grits, Worcestershire and avocado gravy, fresh jalapeño and micro cilantro), and more.
The new spot will feature the same drinks, too, like fan-favorite The Smoking Dun for $14 (Old Grand-Dad bourbon, Rothman & Winter orchard cherry, applewood smoked ice, rosemary and lemon).
The restaurant seats about 215 people at the moment, and borrows a similar look and feel from its sister on the Plaza.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our talents for food and beverage,” Decaria said. “We completely gutted the space. It’s all completely brand-new.”
Tentatively at the end of February, a massive 100-person patio will open. It’ll have the full dining and bar experience, too, said Tyrone Myrick, vice president of marketing for Argosy.
“Up north, there are limited elevated experiences like this,” he said. “You have to drive south of the river to find a lot of options.”
Before Gram & Dun moved in, the restaurant space in Argosy Casino was home to Journey Steakhouse, which was there for 20 years. After it left the space in August, Myrick said the casino sought to find a beloved Kansas City brand to replace it.
“We wanted to look: ‘What’s a local brand that connects or aligns with what we believe is an elevated experience?’” Myrick said. “Gram & Dun just seemed to check those boxes in terms of what they’re offering.”
At the moment, the restaurant is still in its soft launch phase, and reservations aren’t open yet.
It’s taking walk-ins and is open for regular hours, which are: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, and 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays.
Brunch will be offered Saturdays and Sundays.
Though the restaurant is still in its infancy, Myrick said the excitement for Gram & Dun’s second location has been palpable. It helps that it’s the second iteration of a restaurant fans know and love.
“We started teasing it a couple months ago, and the closer we got to today, the more people were interested in what was happening,” he said.
Gram & Dun first started on the Plaza under Bread & Butter Concepts.
Burgeoning restaurant group W. VinZant Restaurants took over the concept in 2020.
Run by Whitney VinZant, the group will soon open a concept called American Fire in the former Fairway Houlihan’s at 2820 W. 53rd St., Suite 123.