A Johnson County eatery that started as a pop-up in Lenexa is growing into a space of its own.
Red Kitchen: Cien por Ciento Mexicana has begun serving up Mexican cuisine in downtown Overland Park — the restaurant’s first stand-alone space.
The restaurant is in a “soft launch” phase at the moment, with a grand opening planned for no later than the beginning of March.
Red Kitchen operates at 7926 Santa Fe Drive
- The restaurant moved into a space on the west side of downtown Overland Park, near the Peanut and The General Store + Co.
- Local catering company The Table previously occupied the space.
- Red Kitchen operates from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day.
Red Kitchen serves “100%” Mexican-style street food
At Red Kitchen: Cien por Ciento Mexicana, customers will continue to find the breakfast burritos and tamales for which the eatery became well known in Lenexa.
But the new space will also offer up some new options — including a “Godinez menu” (or “office worker” special) that comes with soup, an entree, rice, beans, corn tortillas, dessert and an aqua fresca — a popular fruity Mexican beverage — for $15.99.
The restaurant will also serve coffee from Lenexa’s Maps Coffee & Chocolate, and tortilla chips from Lawrence-based Caramelo.
Owner Alejandra de la Fuente said the Overland Park menu is still in an experimental stage, with potentially more options to come.
“My concept is 100% Mexican food — there is nothing in here that is Tex-Mex oriented,” she said. “I want (customers) to be able to explore the real flavors of Mexico.”
Red Kitchen originally opened in 2017
De la Fuente said the expansion into a full stand-alone storefront felt like a good next step, in part because it allowed her to expand the restaurant’s menu and capabilities. For example, some of those limited breakfast and lunch items — like the previously weekend-only chilaquiles —will now be offered every day.
Red Kitchen first arrived on the Johnson County scene as a pop-up at the Lenexa Public Market. It eventually moved into a larger anchor stall there, where it gained a loyal following.
But her passion for food goes back even further than that. De la Fuente grew up with a love of cooking, helping her parents in the kitchen and cooking up dishes for her friends and family.
With the new Overland Park space, she hopes to share those same flavors and that same feeling of warmth that she’s come to associate with Mexican cuisine. The goal, she said, is to make it feel like a little “hole-in-the-wall” Mexican restaurant right in Johnson County.
“I want people to know the richness and the authenticity of homemade Mexican food,” she said. “When they walk in, I want them to feel welcome.”
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