Correction: The name of the prospective restaurant is Campesino Mexican Grill and Cantina. An earlier version of this story called it Jefe’s Campesino.
Campesino Mexican Grill and Cantina plans to open in downtown Mission this summer.
Owned by members of the same family behind El Maguey Mexican Restaurant, which has several KC metro locations, Campesino is set to take over the space most recently occupied by Stroud’s Express storefront at 5405 Johnson Drive.
It’s the latest hope for a storefront that was once home to beloved neighborhood hangout Lucky Brewgrille, which operated for two decades before closing near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the owner’s first foray into Johnson County
- Owner Gerardo Jaime, who operates an El Maguey in south Kansas City, Mo., old the Post that his family has been trying to get into Johnson County for years.
- He said Campesino’s will have a smaller menu than El Maguey but more drink options.
- Jaime added that they hope to expand with more locations and are eyeing Overland Park, Lenexa and Olathe, in particular.
- “The area, honestly,” Jaime said when asked about what attracted him to Mission. “The square footage it has, we’ll be able to do a lot with it.”
Campesino’s is set to open in August
- That will allows staff time to take summer vacations and prepare for the opening, Jaime said.
- Jaime said the restaurant will use the entire space formerly occupied by Lucky Brewgrille, which was there before Stroud’s Express moved in for a brief and ultimately unsuccessful two-year run.
- The new restaurant will also have a full bar, televisions and a patio, Jaime said.
More than 20 flavors of margaritas will be on the menu
- Those flavors include papaya, tamarindo and guava.
- The menu will also go beyond traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes and will feature salmon, mango tilapia and sopes.
- “It’s pretty much your basic Mexican restaurant, but with additional things than what you really expect — your typical rice and beans and cheese and what not,” Jaime said. “We changed up the game a little more than anything, in that store in particular.”
Go deeper: Stroud’s Express shuts down, ending Mission ‘experiment’
