Anton's, the taproom and steakhouse that has anchored 1610 Main Street in Kansas City's Crossroads since 2012, will serve its last meal Friday, closing for good after 14 years in business. Owner Anton Kotar has cut his staff from 85 people down to roughly 25, and he says the restaurant's customer base has shrunk to about 1,600 people a month.
Kotar told KCTV that Anton's revenue has dropped sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to rising Kansas City taxes and repeated minimum wage increases that forced him to cut staff again and again. The exact scale of that drop is described differently across reporting: KCTV reports Anton's now brings in about $960,000 a year and roughly $80,000 a month, down from more than $4 million annually before COVID-19, while kansascity.com reported last year that Kotar described his revenue falling from $4 million to $1.6 million since the pandemic. Kotar also told kansascity.com that once he eventually closes Anton's, he does not plan to open another business in Kansas City, Missouri.
For its final days, Anton's is offering half-price meals to cash customers and 25% off for card customers through Friday, when the doors close after the final service. Kotar has also said health issues may send him into disability, adding a personal weight to the restaurant's last week.
Rising Costs Squeeze Restaurants Across Kansas City
Anton's troubles echo pressures playing out across the region's dining scene. Trey Meyers, a representative of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association, said food costs are up as much as 25% and that customer spending at local restaurants has declined, a dynamic the association says is pushing Kansas City restaurant owners to grapple with both food and labor cost pressures.
Those pressures aren't unique to Kansas City's dining rooms. The restaurant industry employs almost 100,000 workers and ranks as the region's third-largest occupational group, according to The Beacon. The outlet notes that rising food prices and rents rank among the most common reasons restaurants close, and cites the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's finding that consumer spending has weakened as foot traffic and leisure activity slow. The National Restaurant Association estimates that labor and food costs alone account for 66% of restaurant expenses, per the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and its research found that cost pressures and staffing shortages contributed to an uptick in area restaurant closures during the second half of 2023. A National Restaurant Association survey found 48% of operators reported higher same-store sales in October compared with a year earlier, while 35% reported lower sales and 48% reported lower customer traffic.
Anton's joins a list of closures that The Beacon describes as reading like a who's who of Kansas City hospitality, including Corvino Supper Club, D'Bronx, Bar K and Homesteader Cafe. Happy Gillis, the longtime Columbus Park favorite, closed last year after nearly two decades in business following an air-conditioning issue and staffing challenges, according to Kansas City Magazine.
Other KC Concepts Are Growing, Not Shrinking
Even as Anton's shutters, other Kansas City food and drink businesses are expanding. The Daiquiri District opened its first downtown storefront in 2026 through the city's Open Doors program, landing at 408 E. 31st St. near Martini Corner in a roughly 3,000-square-foot space that formerly housed Barrio Taqueria, according to Startland News. The storefront arrived through Open Doors!, an initiative led by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City and the City of Kansas City, Missouri.
Owner James Thomas said business has been great, and the operation's revenue has doubled and tripled since opening. Howlin' Fowls hot chicken, powered by District Biskuits, runs the food kitchen inside the space, and the bar is open Tuesday through Sunday — 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. The Daiquiri District uses deals to keep customers coming back and hosts DJ watch parties for Kansas City Chiefs games, and it plans to expand its menu with frozen Bloody Marys, sangrias and mimosas alongside its signature daiquiris, with potential for a future cocktail lounge, rooftop events and additional menu offerings, per the same account.
More than 20 Kansas City small businesses are moving into empty downtown storefronts through the city's Open Doors program ahead of the World Cup, KCTV has reported. Other growth is planned elsewhere in the metro for 2026: Disco Burger is opening a brick-and-mortar location in Brookside with an expanded menu, Kata Nori is expanding from the Crossroads to a second location in Overland Park, and Tiki Taco — already with five KC-area locations — plans three more, according to Kansas City Parent. Telia Bar & Kitchen is also planning a three-story concept in downtown Overland Park with a main-floor American restaurant, rooftop bar and a basement speakeasy called Night Owl.
For now, Anton's regulars have through Friday to get one more meal in at 1610 Main Street before the Crossroads staple closes its doors for good.
