A locally-owned Italian restaurant that got its start in Olathe has planted roots further north.
Toni’s Italian Restaurant opened its doors in Shawnee last week, in the former home of breakfast eatery Flapjacks ‘n more.
Toni’s Italian Restaurant is at 22716 Midland Dr.
- The restaurant moved into a space at the Shawnee Crossings shopping center, just off Shawnee Mission Parkway and Kansas Highway 7.
- Flapjacks ‘n more occupied that space for roughly a year before it abruptly closed in October.
- Toni’s Italian Restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sundays, as well as Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. (It’s closed on Mondays.)
Toni’s Italian Restaurant serves traditional Italian fare
The restaurant’s menu features classic Italian dishes like chicken piccata, spaghetti carbonara, lasagna and shrimp scampi.
Toni’s also serves handmade pizzas (to which customers can add toppings of their choice), as well as salads and appetizers, like fried ravioli and dipping bread.
The restaurant also features a wide selection of wines, which co-owner Mario Maloku said are an new addition to the Shawnee location only.
“Wine is supplemental, and (the food and wine) complement each other,” he said. “Everybody has a different style of cooking, and the food is somewhat different everywhere you go for Italian, but I would say ours is pretty unique.”
This marks the second location for Toni’s (for now)
Co-owners Toni Curri and Mario Maloku opened the restaurant’s flagship location at 1808 E. Santa Fe St., in Olathe in 2018. The duo was not new to serving Italian cuisine.
Before opening Toni’s, they owned and operated Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Napoli’s Italian Restaurant with Maloku’s family —a group of longtime restaurateurs with Italian roots.
Due to impending construction near the original Toni’s location as part of the I-35 and Santa Fe Corridor Project, Maloku said the fate of the Olathe location is currently up in the air — though he said the Olathe spot will likely ultimately end up leaving its current space, whether that means closure or relocation.
But regardless of what happens down south, he said, he’s optimistic about what Toni’s has to offer Shawnee.
Some of the restaurant’s regulars from Olathe have even already stopped by the new spot, and he hopes to continue to build the restaurant’s following in its new community.
“It gives us a good amount of confidence when we see people telling us that they’re happy to see us here,” he said. “We got lucky, to say the least. We plan to be here for many, many decades.”
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