Iconic KC restaurant reopening as new concept soon. Here’s what to expect
James Beard-nominated chefs Johnny and Helen Jo Leach know full-well what Happy Gillis meant to the community.
Craving breakfast this summer, the Leach family headed down to 549 Gillis St. for a bite with their daughter (it was her request, actually). Standing on the stoop, they pulled on the door to find the restaurant locked and lights off.
The Leaches tracked down owner Cory Stipp to investigate and discovered that weeks before, the air conditioner went kaput. Stipp said he wasn’t planning to reopen. Would he consider selling it, they asked.
The answer, as readers may have guessed by now, was “yes.”
During an interview with The Star on Tuesday, the couple sat in the space as employees put nails into walls and swept floors. They’re calling it Dear Donna, a similar concept named after Johnny’s mother. It’s full steam ahead toward the finish line, which will be sometime this month.
While the Leaches’ concept has an updated look and different menu, they want the spirit of Happy Gillis to carry over into Dear Donna.
“Super welcoming, bright, fun. You come here every day,” Helen Jo described the atmosphere. “People feel like they can’t wait to come back. We’re all neighbors.”
Exceptional customer service and relationships with the staff is part of their strategy.
“I think there’s a lot of everything that we all loved about (Happy Gillis),” concurred the couple’s business partner and co-owner, Sondy Bojanic. “A huge element of that is the neighborhood feel.”
During Dear Donna’s first phase, the couple plan to serve customers from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’ll be a lunch menu with breakfast options, but Johnny and Helen Jo want to gather feedback from the neighborhood.
“As we learn more about our guests and about ourselves and the space, we’re very eager to expand those offerings to kind of give people more of what they want,” Johnny said.
A look at Dear Donna’s menu
He spun around a laptop that revealed the restaurant’s menu: sweet potato mochi doughnuts; egg and cheddar bun with hash browns and secret sauce, add shoulder bacon; a Dutch baby (like a pancake) with fried chicken and salted buttered maple syrup; a fried fish sandwich with spicy olive tartar and lettuce; and more.
They plan to lean into the building’s history and offer some sundries and grab and go options. Eventually, they’ll offer more of Helen’s pastries as they gather more days under their belts.
Prices weren’t listed on the items, but the trio promised that nothing will be over $20. It’s not a fancy place.
“We’re not trying to puff our chests out or be chef-y with anything,” Johnny said, “but when you taste what we’re cooking, we want people to feel like we did it with a lot of intention and care.”
The casual-but-intentional menu is a switch up from their restaurant inside Hotel Kansas City, The Town Company. Though they love that space, too, it’s fun to experiment with the entire spectrum of culinary offerings.
The two are James Beard Award semifinalists for their work at Town Co. — and not for the first time. Helen Jo is in the running for Outstanding Pastry Chef, and Johnny’s vying for the Best Chef: Midwest.
Downtown, they’re serving octopus and lamb. Here, they’re perfecting French fries.
“The first thing we thought about was making the best French fries you could possibly make,” Johnny said.
That’s been a bit of a science: finding the best potatoes, cooking them for the right amount of time at the perfect temperature. Plus, Helen Jo promised a drool-worthy sour cream and onion dip will be paired with it.
They plan to offer daily specials. Helpful that the farmers market is nearby.
Overall, the menu won’t be too complicated. So don’t worry, neighbors, that your hangout will be replaced by white tablecloths and caviar.
“Not a lot of explanation needed,” Johnny said. “Just something you want to come back for and eat on a weekly basis.”
There will be a few cocktails and a little bit of wine and beer. It’ll offer a specialty coffee blend, too.
Building on a neighborhood staple
The building’s history isn’t lost on them, either.
In the middle of an interview with The Star, Jo Marie Guastello — the daughter of the owner of Gillis Sundries — walked in.
“That fish sandwich was — well, that’s all I’ve been doing is talking about it all day,” she told the Leaches.
Guastello’s father, Carmelo “Chee-Bay” Guastello, operated Gillis Sundries in the space from 1946 to 1986. After that, it was Columbus Park Sundries, then auteur restaurant SORedux. Happy Gillis opened in 2008.
It’s encouraging to know that longtime neighbors like Jo Marie want to see Dear Donna succeed.
“As we’ve been working, the neighborhood has been super supportive, coming on by,” Helen Jo. “That’s been really getting us through our days.”
For 80 years, the corner spot at 549 Gillis St. has been a place for the neighborhood to gather. It’s operated under many different hands, names and concepts. Now it’s the Leaches’ turn.
It’s exciting, though perhaps they feel a bit of pressure, they admitted.
“We feel insanely lucky to come into a space that has been a well-regarded restaurant … that people are dying for it to open up,” Johnny said. “That’s amazing. That’s exactly what we want.”
The old Coca-Cola bottle sign will stay.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 5:00 AM.