This little building, near the intersection of 63rd Street and Troost, has been vacant for many, many years. Its last incarnation was as a carry-out Chinese joint. But in these economic times, the space might be ideal for some creative entrepreneur to revive the idea of a "dinette" -- you know, smaller than a diner but serving short orders. Or maybe a new kind of carry-out venue? Thai, Malaysian or Vietnamese? Hey, how about a crepe shop?
Since the late 1980s, several Indian restaurants have come and gone in this location at 9036 Metcalf in Overland Park (in the strip center that is also home to Hikari Japanese steakhouse, the Village Lebanese restaurant and Jen Jen's Chinese Restaurant). The last operation to take up residence in the space was the India Cafe, but the best-known tenant was probably the Udipi Cafe, an all-vegetarian venue. Isn't it time for another Indian restaurateur to take a gamble on the location?
An elderly neighbor of mine likes to talk about a long-forgotten restaurant at 31st and Troost called Norman's, which served a complete fried chicken dinner for under $2. It's been decades since Troost was a dining destination, so it's hard to imagine that it was once a vital entertainment district with movie theaters, nightclubs and popular dining spots like the Bluebird Cafeteria.
A long-vacant venue at 3647 Troost, which was last operated as a combination deli and ice cream shop, seems to have some signs of life at last. Someone is doing some interior renovations to the storefront space. Anyone know what's going on there?
For decades, this unassuming storefront at 7815 Wornall Road was the home of the Berliner Bear, a popular German restaurant owned and operated by Joel and Nettie Womack -- and, years later, by their son Bill. They served very good sausages, potato salad and apple strudel. The popularity of German food has always waxed and waned in Kansas City, despite the city's historically large German-American population. Berliner Bear was, until the Rheinland Restaurant opened in Independence, one of the few places in the metro that still served sauerbraten and weinerschnitzel.
The last tenant of the free-standing building at 5400 West 95th Street in Prairie Village was the Tien Tien Pan-Asian Buffet. That was nearly two years ago.
The venue looks forlorn, surrounded by overgrown grass and scraggly shrubs, but the interior was actually quite snazzy the last time I ate there, when it was the Green Tea Restaurant & Bar back in 2006.
Plus, the corner location would be an asset for a fledgling restaurateur looking for a high-profile venue. It's time for someone to buy this restaurant!
Melbee's might have been too swanky for this particular stretch of Johnson Drive; the closest neighboring restaurant is Town Topic, which is currently offering a double hamburger for 99 cents. But the vacant space -- still being leased by Jerry Gaines of Block & Company -- would make a nice little neighborhood dining spot for some clever entrepreneur. The porthole in the front door practically cries out: seafood!
Posted
by CJ Janovy
on Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 1:00 PM
click to enlarge
Attention, entrepreneurs! This one-time walk-up ice cream and hot dog stand -- with a primo location on 39th Street's "Restaurant Row" -- is for lease. The place was closed all summer, damn it, so it's time for someone to grab it.
While we always love an outdoor sculpture of an ice cream cone, we're thinking it doesn't have to be an ice cream and hot dog stand. We'd be just as happy with a walk-up burrito and churro stand. (Come to think of it, some authentic Mexican might give the Chipotle across the street a run for its money.)
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