KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Another member of the Country Club Plaza’s lineup has shuttered its doors, effective immediately.
On Monday, Jan. 20, Brio Italian Grille posted a sign on its door, simply thanking customers and stating “This location has closed.”
The restaurant, situated at the corner of Nichols Road and Pennsylvania Avenue, has occupied the Plaza since the early 2000s. It barely scraped through the COVID-19 pandemic after its parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and closed “71 of its 92 remaining restaurants,” Restaurant Business Magazine reported.
Brio’s website confirms the closing, with Kansas City’s pin removed from the store locator map and no open hours listed. By Tuesday, crews had already taken the storefront sign down.
Now, the nearest location is St. Louis, Missouri, with approximately 30 others scattered across the country.
Chuy’s closed in a similar fashion in June 2024, with a note taped to the door apologizing for the inconvenience and thanking its long-time customers.
WATCHING IT GO
Watching Brio’s sign get hoisted off the two-story restaurant was a little dispiriting for an employee of a neighboring Pilates studio.
“I just think it’s sad. I feel like the Plaza is going down whereas I would like to see it go up,” said Lina Sattarin at Pure Barre.
The now shuttered restaurant is in the same block as the long vacant Plaza movie theater, whose marquee has sat empty since 2019. Across the street, makeshift fencing attempts to conceal a dirt lot that resulted from demolition for an anticipated Nordstrom anchor store. Nordstrom pulled out in 2022.
READ MORE: Nordstrom confirms it’s not coming to the Plaza, so what now?
The Plaza’s ownership group, The Village Collection, took over last summer. In a statement issued Tuesday, its CEO implied that the closure was by design and a step towards improvement, with more closures to come.
“Since the acquisition, our team has been hard at work envisioning the future of Country Club Plaza. We are eager to transform the Plaza to the gorgeous shopping and dining destination which everyone can be proud of. With that, Kansas Citians can expect to see some strategic closures as tenants leave or relocate to help pave the way for important renovations and improvements,” wrote Drew Steffen, CEO and President of The Village Collection.
MAYOR LUCAS WEIGHS IN
With just 18 months to go before the World Cup arrives in Kansas City, KCTV5 asked Mayor Quinton Lucas above the closure and what it means for getting improvements in place before then.
He expressed concerned for the staff members who are left to find new jobs with little notice in the case of some closures on the Plaza, but he said he has no such worries about the future of the Plaza.
He remarked that the two-story Italian restaurant chain is a large space, as is the space where Mexican restaurant chain Chuy’s was located on the opposite end of the Plaza. Chuy’s closed soon after the Plaza’s ownership changed hands.
“I think they have been transparent about saying that maybe that giant shopping mall style restaurant is not the sort of thing that you’re going to continue to see,” Lucas said.
Soon after buying the Plaza, its new owners shared a vision more local and unusual tenants. No one has stated conclusively that Brio’s closure coincides with the end of its lease, but Lucas said the expressed vision is bound to involve closures when leases end and are re-negotiated or not renewed.
“When you think of some of the most interesting areas in the city — the Brookside Shops, Crestwood, going out of my city, Parkville, Prairie Village — you have these places where you go where you know you’re finding something dynamic, unique and interesting. And I think that’s what they’re trying to build,” Lucas said. “But I am probably as bullish about the Plaza as I have been in at least the last 20 years, and I think you’re going to see them delivering even further.”
SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT
Sattarin is hopeful. The owners made it clear in the beginning that they would be making improvements in phases, with security improvements first.
“I’ve already seen positive changes happening in terms of safety,” she said.
That gives her some confidence that the closures could be more about an overhaul than an exodus.
BRIO GIFT CARDS
Some KCTV5 viewers expressed concern about Brio gift cards they could no longer redeem locally.
Brio is the same restaurant group as Bravo!, which has a Northland location. KCTV5 called that Bravo! location to ask if they would accept Brio gift cards and they said they would.
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