Sitting in his new Lenexa eatery this week, Snack Bar co-owner Norberto Romero “still can’t believe” the restaurant is his.
Though it’s the first restaurant of his own, neither Norberto nor co-owner Oscar Romero (same last name, but no relation) are new to the food and drink world.
Oscar owns and operates popular breakfast eatery AR’s Breakfast and Brunch, and Norberto worked as a manager of Leawood pub O’Neill’s Restaurant & Bar for 23 of its nearly 25 years in business.
But for both of them, Snack Bar marks the beginning of a brand new chapter — and a first for the restaurant itself. The new bar and bites concept softly opened at the end of December, serving Mexican street food and cocktails.
Snack Bar opened at 7789 Quivira Rd.
- The eatery occupies a space at the Lenexa Plaza shopping center, just off West 79th Street and Quivira Road.
- Italian and Mediterranean cafe Papagallo Gyro Cafe previously occupied that space, before it closed in 2024.
- Snack Bar is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Snack Bar serves Mexican snacks and sweet treats
The menu at Snack Bar features casual bites like tortas (Mexican sandwiches), elote, burritos, wraps and salads.
For those with a sweet tooth, Snack Bar also serves other treats like ice cream, crepes and homemade aguas frescas (drinks made with water and fruit).
On the boozy side, Snack Bar also offers cocktails like margaritas, sangria, palomas and micheladas.
Both Oscar and Norberto are originally from Turitzio Michoacán, Mexico, and both of their families also worked as street vendors in Houston — two places where street food is widely popular.
The menu reflects that time, Oscar said, by featuring a lot of the classic snacks their families sold further south.
By creating Snack Bar, they also wanted to provide a family-friendly place where both kids and their parents could find something to enjoy.
“We wanted to come up with a concept that serves fruits and snacks and also alcohol,” Oscar Romero said. “So you can bring your kids to get some ice cream and you can get a sangria. It’s a little bit of something for both sides.”
The duo might expand the concept later on
Depending on how things go, Norberto and Oscar said there might be more Snack Bars in Johnson County’s future.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but the two would like to open another location for the concept by the end of the year.
“We’re hoping that it will (expand),” Oscar said. “This concept is easy to open anywhere.”
For now, though, he said he’s excited to get to know the Lenexa community and partner with locals in similar ways that he’s been able to through AR’s in Overland Park and Olathe — including donating food to local nonprofits and working with local schools to provide things like teacher discounts.
“It’s a very diverse area,” Oscar said. “We want to have that same outreach so we can become a big part of the community and help out.”
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