After fire shut down KC-area restaurant, it’s back. ‘Bigger and better’
It’s been two years since fans of The Krave have had their stuffed turkey leg fix.
After a catastrophic fire shuttered the Raytown restaurant, husband and wife Shawniece and Chris Nicholson almost moved on. They left KC for Las Vegas and planned to open a concept in Nevada, but Chris couldn’t ignore the pleas from his community in the Heartland.
“My husband was like, ‘Kansas City wants us,’” Shawniece recalled in a recent interview with The Star.
It seemed providential. Chris was on Facebook Marketplace and happened to see that the former Sandbar location was for sale. So, he jumped on it and quickly clinched the deal. Then, the couple moved back home.
“I think it was just all God’s plan,” Shawniece said. “It went really fast.”
The Krave will reopen, this time at 9807 U.S. Highway 40 in Independence. Its grand opening will be Aug. 5. Its predecessor, Sandbar, was a beach-themed bar that closed a few years ago.
While the new Krave location will have a few tweaks, it aims to bring the same level of hospitality.
“They were looking for a nice place where they could just enjoy good food, good vibes, and just good company,” Shawniece said of her customers.
This time, however, they’re serving a 21 and over crowd. It’s certainly not a nightclub, Shawniece said, but she wants her customers to enjoy bites and beverages while taking time away from their kids.
It’ll be slightly more upscale than its former spot, she added. It’ll be reservation-only on the weekends, with additional seating options at the bar and on its patio.
Entertainment will be offered throughout the week, and open mic nights will take place on select evenings.
They won’t, however, be throwing out old menu favorites.
“I have to,” Shawniece told The Star, then laughed. “They’ll probably go crazy if I don’t.”
The focus is still comfort food, so expect burgers, wings, oxtail ramen bowls, seafood ramen bowls and funnel cake.
The restaurant serves nine different flavors of lemonade — coconut, blueberry and Starburst, to name a few — which can be mixed with any type of alcohol.
The Krave initially opened in 2023 at 9700 E. 63rd St. in Raytown, but an electrical fire in September 2024 damaged its roof, according to previous reporting by Fox4.
Shawniece and Chris were devastated by the closure, and yet, they knew some good would rise from the ashes.
“It was like everything we worked so hard for just went up in flames,” she said. “We felt like — we have to bounce back. We can’t let this stop us.”
Fans have been messaging them constantly since the closure, asking when they’re coming back. Their reopening announcements on social media have been a source of celebration for many, Shawniece said.
“Our community loved what we had going on, so we wanted to ensure that we would come back bigger and better. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”