Third Coast Pizza in Lenexa has a new neighbor.
Sean Meyer, owner of Third Coast Pizza, is well aware of this. In fact, he’s spent a good amount of time there in the past few weeks.
That’s because Sara McGinty’s, the new bar next door, is his. Meyer had always wanted to open a bar, and when Hillcrest Thrift moved its retail shop and donation center out of the space, the stars finally aligned.
The start of that new chapter began when Sara McGinty’s opened its doors in August.
“I just decided to give it a whirl,” he said. “Things always kind of work out for a reason.”
Sara McGinty’s opened at 7822 Quivira Road
- The bar opened in a space at the Quivira Square shopping center, just off 79th Street and Quivira Road.
- Hillcrest Thrift left that space to relocate to 12202 College Blvd. in Overland Park.
- Sara McGinty’s is open from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. daily.
Sara McGinty’s is a “neighborhood dive”
Sara McGinty’s offers a range of local beers on tap — from local breweries like Lawrence-based Fields & Ivy and Pathlight Brewing, which closed its Shawnee taproom but still sells beer around town.
“With everything we do, we try and support local as much as possible,” Meyer said.
On the food side, Sara McGinty’s serves the same Chicago-style deep dish pizzas that Third Coast Pizza is known for. Customers can either create their own pizzas, or choose from a range of specialty pizzas.
For example, the “Second City” offers mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, ham, ground beef, pork sausage, yellow onion, mushrooms and green peppers. The “Lenexa BBQ” comes with mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, thinly-sliced beef, pickles, jalapeños and green onions.
In addition to pizzas, the menu also offers a variety of sandwiches, pastas, and appetizers like wings and mozzarella sticks.
As for a bar’s name, that’s a mix of the name of his kids’ first childhood pet (a pit bull mix named Sara) and the name of the owner of an Irish pub in the movie The Boondock Saints.
With dart boards on the walls and multiple pool tables, Meyer said the goal was to make Sara McGinty’s not just a bar, but a true neighborhood hangout. Eventually, he said, he’d like to host pool and dart leagues at the bar.
“Basically, what we’re trying to do is to have a local neighborhood kind of dive, but like a clean dive,” he said. “Just something that the neighborhood can come in and enjoy.”
Sara McGinty’s is the owner’s first bar
Meyer opened Third Coast Pizza at 7820 Quivira Road roughly six years ago.
When the space next to it became available, he said it posed an opportunity for the restaurant and the bar to maximize space by sharing a kitchen.
But at this point, Third Coast Pizza and Sara McGinty’s share more than a kitchen. Meyer said he’s already seen some regular customers from Third Coast Pizza become regulars at the bar too.
Though he has worked in restaurants since his teenage years, Sara McGinty’s marks a new chapter for Meyer as his first bar. Ultimately, he said, getting to try out something new has been an exciting opportunity.
“It’s been really solid,” Meyer said. “And we’re organically growing.”
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