For 25 years, the intersection of 95th Street and Mission Road has seen many beer glasses clinking, many plates of Irish pot roast and country fried steak served, and many sports fans cheering on their favorite teams.
That was always the vision for Brian Schorgl when he set out to open his own business.
An entrepreneurial family, the Schorgls had operated multiple Pay-Less grocery stores sprinkled across Prairie Village. Schorgl himself spent his childhood helping out at those stores.
So later on at 30, planting something of his own where Prairie Village meets Leawood, right in the middle of his family’s “neck of the woods”, felt right to him.
That idea became O’ Neill’s Restaurant and Bar, which Schorgl opened with the help of his family in March 2000. This spring, the locally-owned pub and eatery will celebrate 25 years — an experience that he said has been “unreal.”
O’ Neills got its start in Prairie Village
The pub and restaurant first opened at 4016 W. 95th St., where Walgreens is now.
In 2009, O’ Neill’s jumped across Mission Road, into the Leawood space it now occupies at the Ranch Mart North shopping center. It has been at 9417 Mission Road ever since.
The restaurant serves comfort food staples like fish and chips, burgers, country fried steak, and smoked baby back ribs. The walls are adorned with sports memorabilia from the teams that patrons have cheered on over the years.
“I just wanted to have, honestly, a neighborhood place where people could go hang out, relax and have a sense of community,” Schorgl said, “along with some good food as well.”
The name of the pub is a nod to Schorgl’s family, which has O’Neills on both the maternal and paternal sides. Schorgl’s middle name is also O’Neill.
The west side entrance to the restaurant lays this connection out visually, with a framed family tree showing both sides of the family by the door. (“If the restaurant was on fire, this is the first thing I’d come back to save,” Schorgl remarked while pointing out the family tree.)
Schorgl said he’s been able to keep the wheels turning at O’Neills over the years, thanks, in part, to head chef James Nelson (who is now a managing partner).
His parents, Nancy and Charles Schorgl, and his brothers also helped out in the restaurant in various ways. His cousin, Chris Wilson, built the oak bar, that customers still sit at inside the Leawood space today.
“One of the main reasons this place has been able to go 25 years is the amount of amazing people that have worked here,” he said. “I’ve just been blessed with some really, really good people. You can’t do it without good people, especially in this business.”
O’Neill’s was Schorgl’s first restaurant
O’ Neill’s was Schorgl’s first restaurant and bar of his own, but being behind the counter at one wasn’t new to him.
Schorgl spent his college years at the University of Missouri working alongside his cousin at popular sports bar Fieldhouse.
Later on in Kansas City, he also worked for the Gilbert-Robinson restaurant group, which created Kansas City-based bar and grill chain Houlihan’s.
Owning and operating his own restaurant hasn’t been without challenges, Schorgl said. O’Neills had to make it through the COVID-19 pandemic and the related rises in labor and food costs.
But through that, he said, the regulars at O’Neills maintained a steady presence. In fact, he’s even been able to watch some customers grow up from children in car seats to, in some cases, employees at the restaurant.
“They become more than guests in the restaurant — they become good friends,” he said. “That’s been one of the best things about this, the friendships I’ve made along the way.”
Schorgl has festivities planned for the anniversary
In the immediate future, O’Neill’s will celebrate the 25th anniversary with $25 three-course meal specials.
Later in the spring, Schorgl said he also wants to host a block party in the restaurant’s parking lot.
In the long-term future, he’d love for O’Neill’s to stick around for another 25 years. But for now, he’s taking it one day at a time.
“It’s been an honor to carry on my family’s legacy of doing business in this neighborhood,” he said. “I’ve met some of the greatest people and fostered some great relationships.”
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