‘No!! Say it isn’t so?!’ KC restaurant closing. But Johnson County spot in the works

Nearly a decade after opening in Waldo, District Pour House + Kitchen is closing.

Dan McCall and Jason Rourke opened the bar and grill, at 7122 Wornall Road, in September 2013.

On the restaurant’s Facebook page Monday morning, the owners said: “All good things must come to an end. February 19th will be our final day of business. We want to thank everyone in the community that has supported us over the last 10 years. This place would be nothing without the staff and guests that have helped us make such fond memories at this location. So please, come stop in and help us say goodbye to this chapter.”

Fans posted such comments as:

“So sad. We will miss your district club and bloody Mary! Thanks for being there and in waldo!”

“I’m going to miss my bourbon slushes!!”

“No!! Say it isn’t so?!”

The lease was up, and negotiations fell through.

“The landlords were really nice to us and have been nice to us all through COVID,” McCall said. “But the space is too big for us now. We aren’t as full as we used to be.”

It has a scratch kitchen and craft cocktail bar. Menu items include burgers, cold-smoked salmon sandwiches, Reubens, mussels, duck risotto, steak poutine, Madeira chicken, meatloaf and wings. It has about 20 employees.

The owners have been working on a Johnson County location for a couple of years and plan to open District Pour House + Kitchen at 11101 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, in May, calling it an “up-and-coming area.”

“So I’m happy with that at least,” McCall said. “It is a smaller, more manageable space.”

The Romanelli Shops spot in Waldo was long home to Romanelli Grill and then The Gaf restaurant and bar.

The Classic Cookie & Cafe also recently closed in the Romanelli Shops. A spokesman for the shops declined to comment.

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