Chicken, seafood restaurant opening in downtown KC. ‘Make people’s day’
Gary Hill hopes to open his new restaurant in bustling downtown Kansas City before the World Cup.
That’s shooting for the moon, he said. But even if he misses that deadline, he’ll still be on high-traffic Oak Street, close to City Hall and T-Mobile Center, etc.
His fourth location of Charlie D’s Seafood & Chicken is opening soon in the former El Pulgarcito Express at 1124 Oak St. It’s serving many of the same menu items customers love — including its famous Charlie’s fish dinner — with a few new eats.
Most notably, it’ll serve “cafeteria-style” lunch. Hill theorizes it’ll get customers through lines faster. Each day, the chefs will prepare a different lunch and place it in warmers, perfect for city officials on tight lunch breaks.
“We put love in the food, so we love to make people’s day,” he said. “If we can put love into the food, which in turn comes to the people that run the city, I think the city would be a better place.”
Also on the menu: Philly cheesesteaks, Charlie’s chicken sandwich (with special sauce), fish tacos, jambalaya, tilapia, gumbo, chicken wraps and more.
Unlike the other locations, it’ll serve beer and other alcoholic drinks.
The new spot will be the fourth active location for Charlie D’s. Its others are at 5111 Aradat Drive, 600 E. 99th St. and 12323 E. U.S. Highway 40 in Independence (which also has a drive-thru).
Founder Charles Drone started the company in 2000 — at the time called Charlie D’s Catfish Cabin — and Hill purchased it in 2013. Hill made an abrupt career pivot from construction and corporate cleaning to restaurant ownership, but he’s found it to be a rewarding change.
“I enjoy making people happy,” he said. “I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy changing people’s days. You can have a bad day and come and eat food and change your whole perspective.”
Hill is currently building a nonprofit for kids called The Big Catch, which aims to teach inner city children entrepreneurial skills.
“You can start from something and make something out of your life,” Hill said.