For at least a thousand years people have been eating and drinking outside of their own homes. The first known “restaurants,” were not restaurants at all. In ancient times, they looked more like food carts or stalls found in the local marketplace serving food made in people’s own homes that they then sold to hungry locals and strangers in exchange for coins.
Eventually, restaurants became big business, especially when they started serving both food and alcohol. Soon stand-alone establishments where meals or refreshments could be purchased and enjoyed on premise in the company of other people began popping up in every town. Many bar and tavern owners lived above their business, basically operating their own restaurant out of their home.
Depending on where you live in Kansas City, present-day zoning laws have made finding a local restaurant, bar, or coffee shop within walking distance from your own home unlikely, especially in the suburbs. This is a shame because you have to admit, there is something incredibly charming (and more than a little convenient) about discovering one operating out of a former home in your own neighborhood.
So what does it take to turn a domicile into a darling spot to stop in for a bite and drinks? Let’s take a look at the first restaurant in America for inspiration.
America’s First Restaurant was in a Former Home
In 1652, a prosperous Englishman, Francis Brinley, built a two-story, two-room house for his family in Newport, Rhode Island, on land he received from his brother-in-law. The home was simply built, with practical clapboard walls and low ceilings with large beams in the main living room built around a massive stone fireplace that served as the kitchen and hearth. Next to the fireplace was a small staircase that led upstairs to Brinley’s only bedroom.
He and his family called this place home for 21 years before Brinley sold it to William Mayes Sr., who then enlarged the humble abode, adding a third floor and a new gambrel roof. It became The White Horse Tavern, which began serving guests in 1673. The comfortable tavern and inn developed a following and soon was the place where town business was discussed and decided. It was the meeting place of the colony’s general assembly, its criminal court, and city council. During the Revolutionary War, it was also used to house troops.
The tavern is still operating today, 352 years later, and is considered America’s first and oldest operating restaurant. In 1972 the building became a National Historic Landmark.
Over the years, Kansas City has also enjoyed its fair share of residences turned into popular restaurants or bars, with some still in operation today. Let’s take a look at what it took to turn just a few of these homes into destinations for dining and drinking.
Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor
The story of Stroud’s, home of pan-fried chicken, starts in south Kansas City in 1933, when Helen Stroud and her husband, Guy, turned an old roadhouse located near 85th and Troost into a fireworks stand first, and then a barbecue shack that served beer on Sundays during Prohibition. Law enforcement turned a blind eye to the restaurant’s “wet” reputation, as Stroud’s was technically located outside Kansas City proper.
When World War II rationing made beef too expensive, Helen worked with what she could get and turned a simple “yardbird” into a craveable, portable feast—pan-fried chicken. Using the freshest chicken available, she instructed her cooks to break the birds down, heat grease in a large, cast-iron pan, and lightly dredge each piece in a simple mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. The result was chicken that was shatteringly crisp and golden brown.
Helen continued to run Stroud’s until the mid-1970s when Mike Donegan and Jim Hogan, two bartenders from Kelly’s Westport Inn, bought the business. They purchased her original location and hired two of Helen’s cooks, and together, with her recipe book, they created the family-style chicken dinner we know and love, complete with your choice of chicken (white, dark, or both), salad or chicken noodle soup, green beans, chicken gravy, your choice of potato, and a basket of house-made cinnamon rolls. They were forced to close the original Stroud’s location in 2006 when the roadhouse was demolished by the city to widen 85th Street.
Donegan, his twin brother, Dennis Donegan, and Hogan decided to pool their money in 1983 and purchase the Oak Ridge Manor property in North Kansas City from Louise Sandstrom, who had been operating Sandy’s Oak Ridge Manor Teahouse there for 29 years.
Oak Ridge Manor was originally a two-room log cabin built in 1827 on land granted to David Hale, a pioneer who built it for his family. Today, inside the front entry of Stroud’s, guests can still see the original frame of the log cabin, along with a copy of the original land grant signed by the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams.
In 1998, Kansas City received its first James Beard Award when Stroud’s was honored as an “American Classic.” The James Beard Foundation had been giving out chef and restaurant awards—often called the “Oscars of the food world”—since 1990, but this was the first year they created a category for comfort-food establishments.
The House
When Malisa Monyakula first acquired the small blue house located next door to her restaurant during the pandemic, she considered all of her options for what to do with it. The house sat next to the Westwood location of her restaurant, Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop.
At first, she used it for storage, but eventually, a team member suggested turning the cottage into a side hustle: a tiny neighborhood dive bar. The idea made good business sense: The space shares a liquor license with Lulu’s, so customers could come and go between the restaurant and the new bar.
The bar, which has been dubbed The House, has turned into a hot neighborhood hang with a seasonal list of cocktails, beer, and wine, while food can be brought over from Lulu’s next door if hunger strikes.
“Westwood doesn’t really have a bar, just restaurants with bars, and there are people from the neighborhood who come see us every night. We’re open just to socialize, meet friends, and hang out. We needed something fun, and it’s walkable for so many who live around here,” says Nick Jovanavic, the vice president of operations for Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop.
In addition to a tiny indoor seating area outfitted with a bar and decorated with colorful, kitschy thrift-store finds, guests can grab a seat at one of the many picnic tables scattered in the front yard or sit around the firepit located under the shade of the trees on the patio.
They’ve begun decorating the entire house quarterly around a theme. Gourmet s’mores kits for people to use at the firepit are for sale. Customers can also rent the house for private parties and neighborhood celebrations. The House is open Friday and Saturday, and they are considering opening on Thursdays too, this spring. Check their Instagram page for seasonal hours and offerings.
Clay & Fire
The 100-year-old house on the hill in the Westside neighborhood, now painted sunny yellow with red trim, has lived many delicious lives over the last 20 years. Tucked in next to a strip of retail stores and apartments on one side and a residence on the other, the petite home was likely grandfathered as a commercial space over the course of many years of restaurant use. For the last four years, it has operated as Clay & Fire, a restaurant serving dishes from Georgia, Armenia, and Turkey, owned by Westside developer and restaurateur Adam Jones.
The house was first home to Lill’s on 17th, a dog-friendly neighborhood tapas bar owned by Trelle Osteen, a well-traveled former TWA flight attendant who named the restaurant after her own pooch. Osteen used the upstairs of the house as her office, and only the outdoor patio and first floor seated diners from 2004 to 2012. During that time, Osteen allowed Todd Schulte, now chef and co-owner of Earl’s Premier and Bacaro Primo, to rent a corner of her upstairs office, where he installed a gas stove to launch his first food business, The Happy Soupeater, a soup-delivery business, from that space.
In 2013, the chef Ryan Brazeal opened Novel in the house. Serving New American cuisine, it was Brazeal’s first restaurant. He covered the walls in reclaimed barn wood, hung proper art on the walls, and squeezed tables and chairs into every corner. He constructed a bar area for cocktails, and opened up the second floor to seat a total of 70 guests. One of the biggest contributions that Brazeal made was to expand the back wall and build a proper commercial kitchen and dishwashing station.
“I chose the house because it had character, it looked quaint, and had this romantic and warm vibe on the inside,” explains Brazeal, “but those were the same things that made the space really challenging to operate as a restaurant. The tread on the stairs was really steep, and we had to warn people not to hit their head going up and down the stairs. The air-conditioning unit that came with the house was fine for a home environment, but not for a working restaurant. Once 70 people each clocking in at 98 degrees packed into the space, it warmed up quickly and the unit just could not keep up.”
In 2018, he and his partner, the chef Jessica Armstrong, finally made the decision to leave the house on the hill to open Novel in a location in the Kansas City Crossroads Art District. They had outgrown the old house, and it was time for someone else to launch their next concept there. Jones did just that when he opened Clay & Fire inside the former home in 2020.
Bisou
Caitlin Benedict had been on the hunt for just the right place to open her combination French-themed coffee café and hair salon and spa when she saw the two-story, red-brick duplex on the Westside that dated back to 1905. It had clean lines and a small front yard that was situated right next to I-35.
The first call she made was to the number on the real estate sign in the front yard, where she made an offer on the spot that was accepted. The second call was to her brother, Sean Benedict, a professional contractor who works on large-scale projects across the city. She was going to need her brother’s help to turn the first floor of the building into her dream coffee shop, Bisou, and the second floor into Second Story Salon & Spa.
“I’ve always been obsessed with the Westside,” explains Caitlin, “I love it because it feels like a small, intimate neighborhood, and it’s walkable. The City Market was another place I considered, and I also looked into Brookside. But I’m happy where I landed; I wanted to be close to downtown for Bisou to really feel like a true French coffee shop.”
The duplex, once owned by James Remley, had operated as a home for many years. Recently, his great grandchildren came to visit the family homestead and were thrilled to find the building had been painted with a crisp coat of white paint accented with decorative window boxes spilling over with greenery and flowers on the second story. A small gate leads into a charming outdoor patio set with tables and chairs and umbrellas, and on the inside is an effortlessly chic, tiny, black-and-white French coffee shop on the first floor, and a stylish salon on the second floor.
The siblings quickly began the long process of remodeling the space. Often working from 6 a.m. to midnight, they decided to leave the footprint of the building as is, and after gutting and renovating the kitchen and bathroom to code, they painted the walls and ceiling, stained the hardwood floors, crafted the marble coffee bar, installed handsome pocket doors, and built bookshelves, where Caitlin sells books, merchandise, and other sundry items.
“This place was a labor of love and a big investment for her, so I wanted to do it right,” says Sean. “She’s an artist herself, so she knew exactly how she wanted everything to look, and I tried my best to make it look like what she had in her head.”
Now that Bisou is open, Caitlin thrills to see people enter, order coffee and a pastry, and sit down and socialize with other people. Recently, she glanced up from the coffee counter to find the entire front room full of guests, each sitting at their own white marble bistro table, but all talking to each other across the room. Oui!
Saltwell Farm Kitchen
In 2020, Shantel Grace and her partner, the chef Rozz Petrozz, had gone foraging in the woods southwest of Clinton Lake near Lawrence, Kansas. After a successful afternoon, the two returned with the ingredients for dinner and a plan to convert the long-abandoned McKinzie farmstead they had stumbled onto in Overbrook, Kansas, into their new farm-to-table restaurant and family home.
The farm was homesteaded in 1856 by the McKinzie family, who had moved from Iowa to Kansas to fight for a free state. Absalom McKinzie homesteaded the land where the farm is located. In 1856, with help from his neighbors and several Indigenous families, he built the barn. Four years later they built the house.
Saltwell Farm Kitchen got its name from a neighbor, Jeananne Schirmer, whose family once lived at the farm. She told the couple about the artesian well on the property, and something stuck. Apparently, people would come by specifically to get water from this well, which was known for its salty water, and they gathered and chatted with each other as they retrieved water for their families.
After undergoing a year’s worth of construction, DIY projects, and shopping at yard sales for antique plates, cups, and silverware, the Saltwell Farm Kitchen opened in 2021 with Petrozz in the kitchen and Grace working the front-of-house. The couple met working at Grace’s restaurant, Ramen Bowls, and their collective industry experience makes the farm dinners feel effortless, with food that celebrates local farmers, foraging, and Midwestern cuisine.
The home holds the story of four other farm families, and as neighbors found out what Grace and Petrozz were doing, they began donating linens and objects that once belonged to the families that lived here.
Now, with two James Beard semifinalist nominations for Petrozz for Best Chef Midwest, their Friday and Saturday night dinners sell out quickly. When the weather is nice, they host a 45-seat dinner party in the backyard within a grove of walnut trees that have café lights strung between the branches. When the cold weather hits, the party moves inside to their maximalist garage-turned-dining room, and one simply can’t help but experience the history of the home and the energy of all who have lived and worked here.
“We come from families where there were always cookbooks and pictures on the wall, and in the world of serial restaurants with minimalist environments, we find we have to have a place that feels like our grandmother’s house,” says Grace.