Italian restaurant says goodbye to Olathe as local businesses shutter for highway project

After serving Olathe residents and families for nearly seven years, Toni’s Italian Restaurant served its last customers at its Santa Fe Street location on Sunday.

“Saying goodbye to our Olathe location has been incredibly difficult, not just for our guests but for us as well,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday. “These last few days have been bittersweet, and it’s hard to walk away from a place filled with so many memories.”

Toni Curri and Mario Maluko opened the Olathe location in 2018 and a new location in Shawnee about two months ago — which will serve as the restaurant’s home base moving forward since it’s been hard for the owners to find a new spot to rent in Olathe.

“Unfortunately the closure is entirely due to the upcoming I-35 Highway project,” the Facebook post read. “This past year has been one of the most stressful for our family as we’ve searched for a new location in Olathe. While we’re grateful to still have our Shawnee restaurant open, we haven’t yet found a space that fits our needs.”

The nearly $200 million project is for needed improvements on Santa Fe Street from Ridgeview to Mur-Len roads, and to construct a new interchange at Interstate 35. According to previous Star reporting, city officials say the interchange has a crash rate about six times the national average.

In order to make improvements, the city has to acquire the land and purchase properties — valued at nearly $22 million total — demolish them and make way for the project. The project is expected to displace 20 businesses and construction is set to begin in late 2026 or early 2027 and will last through 2029, according to previous Star reporting.

The city is scheduled to host a public meeting on March 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Indian Creek Library (16100 W. 135th St.) for residents to learn more about the improvements.

Olathe spokesperson Cody Kennedy told the Star via email that the city has been in constant communication with all of the property owners and businesses affected by the project.

“As set forth by strict state and federal laws in the process, we provide advisory services and administer payments needed to accommodate moves. Tenants are however required to find their own location,” Kennedy said in the email.

Toni’s Italian is one of the businesses that leased its location and required to find a new spot, but it’s been hard to find a replacement because of high rent for other buildings in the area, Bajram Maluko, the owners’ father and father-in-law, told the Star on Thursday.

The Santa Fe Street location cost about $7,500 per month, he said. Other locations the family explored were asking for $12,000 a month and another for $23,000 a month.

“That’s too much spaghetti,” Maluko said. “We got three families feeding from this business, you know? … It’s hard because everything’s expensive now, it’s not easy.”

The Double Nickel, a local bar, announced it will also close its doors because of the Santa Fe project after serving Olathe for 30 years. Mary Armstrong, the Double Nickel’s owner for eight years, declined to comment further on the bar’s closure and the project.

AR’s Breakfast and Brunch closed its spot at the intersection at the end of the year, but it hopes to find a new location in town soon. Bikes for the Likes of Us relocated to downtown Olathe, and Evexia Health and Fitness moved to a new studio on Antioch Road in Overland Park.

Karen Morris, the owner of Sweet Tee’s Coffee Shop on Santa Fe, told The Star that her business won’t have to close for the construction, but the road closures will affect how customers will access her shop.

“I think about 60 to 70% of our customers come off of Santa Fe,” Morris estimated. “Hopefully the shopping center will work with us on some signage to help direct customers in entering the shopping center.”

While she won’t have to close and she understands the need for the roadway improvements, she’s sad to see the impacts it’s had on her friends and fellow local business owners who rent out spaces.

“That’s the thing I’ve struggled with the most is the ones who have the most impact are those who don’t own their properties,” Morris said. “The landlords are going to get their fair value for their property, but for the business to find a place to move with inflation on rent… They [the city] are making efforts to help these businesses but it’s still not enough based on how the market is.”