This immense venue — on the corner of bustling Westport Road and Broadway — has been dark for nearly a year and a half. A new tenant expects to have a new, family-run restaurant in the space by fall.
Dos Lokos Sports Cantina plans a September opening at 401 Westport Road (the former Fountain Haus). The owners — who couldn’t stop smiling Thursday — celebrated by popping champagne outside as curious bystanders looked on.
Dos Lokos Sports Cantina at 401 Westport Road; photo by Joyce Smith
“It will be your favorite spot for sports, to drink a beer and have authentic Mexican food,” said Alejandra Aguirre, owner with her husband Raul Aguirre, and brother Alex Flores. “We are going to have a lot of our culture in this building.”
Her parents long had a thriving business making and selling meals out of their Kansas City area home, she said, using recipes their family brought from their native Mexico.
They are still working on the Dos Lokos menu but plan to offer Parrillada (different cuts of meat, marinated and then cooked over a grill, and served at the table with housemade tortillas).
The restaurant is expected to have 50 to 60 employees.
The partners looked for a year for the perfect venue and said they found it in the Westport spot with its large kitchen, rooftop deck and basement tiki room (more details to come, they said).
And while some prospective tenants thought the space was too large, Alejandra said, “It’s perfect.”
They want to open in time for Día de los Niños Héroes on Sept. 13.
HopCat previously opened in the new $2.5 million multi-level building in early 2017, then added a basement tiki bar, TikiCat, a few months later. It closed temporarily during the pandemic shelter-in-place order, but then never reopened.
Fountain Haus, the former LGBTQ-friendly restaurant and nightclub at 401 Westport Road; photo by Joyce Smith
Fountain Haus, an LGBTQ-friendly restaurant and nightclub opened in 2022, spread out over the three-floor, 13,032-square-foot space including a rooftop “pool deck.” It closed in late January 2024.
Fountain Haus, the former LGBTQ-friendly restaurant and nightclub at 401 Westport Road; photo by Joyce Smith
Charlie Lowe and Sam Hagan of Crossroads Real Estate Group handled the negotiations for the landlord.
Westport currently has several options for Mexican cuisine including Taco Naco KC, Cancun Fiesta Fresh, and Brix Modern Mexican Cuisine.
The area has recently seen a surge of new activity with the addition of such operations as Chambre Coffee, Tiffany Bakery, and Le Champion coffee and wine bar.
Holy Brunch KC plans to open in July at 4128 Broadway and AR’s Breakfast & Brunch also is opening soon at 4117 Pennsylvania Ave.
Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.
