A local bar and grill appears to have its sights set on downtown Olathe.
In city documents, Austins Bar and Grill is listed as a future tenant that could be included in the redevelopment of multiple retail and restaurant spaces along Cherry Street.
On Tuesday, the Olathe City Council is considering a proposed Community Improvement District, a special sales tax district, for the Cherry Street project.
Austins aims to take over a Cherry Street space
- A rendering from Tuesday’s Olathe City Council meeting packet depicts Austins in the southernmost part of the redevelopment — a currently vacant space at 114 N. Cherry St.
- The restaurant would be a couple of doors down from the also-vacant space where Vader’s Bar & Deli previously operated, before it closed in 2024 due, in part, to impending redevelopment downtown.
- The scope of the project entails interior demolition and expansion of the current buildings on the property and addition of a rooftop seating patio, along with landscaping, facade and other related improvements.
- City documents say redevelopment should wrap up and new tenants should open for business in 2026.
Austins specializes in “sports, spirits, and steaks”
- The restaurant serves classic pub fare like burgers, hot chicken sandwiches, mac and cheese, and chicken fried chicken.
- The menu also serves appetizers like chicken wings, sliders, fried pickles and “bang bang” shrimp.
- Austins also offers a variety of beers and cocktails, like Bloody Marys and margaritas.
- Austins currently has two Olathe locations and one in Gardner. (It’s unclear at this point whether the downtown location will serve as an expansion or a relocation of an existing spot.)
Multiple other businesses are coming to downtown
- Austins comes as the latest in a growing number of new additions to the area, as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to revitalize its downtown.
- Local eateries Pizza 51, Third Street Social, and Char Bar also plan to open new locations in downtown Olathe — all of which are popular on the other side of the state line in Kansas City, Missouri.
- Local bike shop Bikes for the Likes of Us also recently opened downtown, after relocating from its former spot off Santa Fe Street and Interstate 35.
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