The now-shuttered Lenexa Applebee’s near Oak Park Mall may soon see new life as the newest location for First Watch, the popular Florida-based breakfast, brunch and lunch chain already with several other Kansas City area restaurants.
Earlier this week, the Lenexa Planning Commission voted 8-0 to approve a revised final plan for First Watch to make exterior changes to the former Applebee’s Oak Park location at 12242 W. 95th St. Commissioner Don Horine absent.
The amendment was part of the consent agenda, which means the planning commission considered the change alongside a series of other procedural items and didn’t individually discuss it.
The chain is known for its breakfast menu
Some of the chain’s featured items include freshly-sliced and juiced fruits and vegetables, made-from-scratch French Toast, omelets and more.
It has six other locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area, including in Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee and Prairie Village.
It previously appeared as the Best Breakfast Spot in the Johnson County Post’s Best of Johnson County in 2022 and a choice breakfast location in 5 To Try.
It will replace the old Applebee’s
First Watch will be the first new restaurant in the location in the Oak Park Commons shopping center in 34 years.
The original tenant, Applebee’s, occupied the space from 1989 to 2023. It closed in November.
“The lease was up and the landowner decided not to renew,” Carrie Hellyer, area director of Applebee’s franchises, said at the time. “We were told the shopping center is for sale.”
At the time, the Oak Park Commons shopping center had a sign posted along 95th Street advertising contact information for Legacy Development, the property management group for the retail development.
Changes were approved for the spot
The commission’s approval on Monday gave the green light for First Watch to convert the sidewalk on the south side of the space to an outdoor dining patio.
It also included site modifications such as: landscaping and property maintenance, mill
and overlay within the adjacent parking lot, re-striping of parking spaces, and the addition of bicycle parking.
Lenexa city documents gave no timeline for when the restaurant will open.
Other future Lenexa breakfast restaurant news: Cardboard Corner Cafe, known for board games and waffles, coming to Lenexa Public Market
