Irish favorite won’t reopen after chef’s killing; Brady & Fox could never be replicated, building owner says

The restaurant space previously home to East Brookside’s Brady & Fox is now available for lease, its owner confirmed, noting the building has been dark since the shooting death of beloved Kansas City chef Shaun Brady, a steadfast leader within the local Irish community.

“We’ve been working with the family and we have all agreed that it is time to lease the space to another restaurant,” said Butch Rigby, owner of the building at 751 E. 63rd St.

“We are never going to replicate what Brady & Fox was. It was about the ownership,” he continued. “We are honored to be a part of that restaurant experience.”

Brady and Graham Fox Farris worked 20 hour days to launch the restaurant by St. Patrick’s Day in 2022.

But Brady, a married father of two and beloved chef, was killed during rush hour while taking out the restaurant’s trash in August 2024. Two teens were later charged with second-degree murder, although one of the young men was released from custody in December with all charges dropped.

Farris left the restaurant a few months before the shooting and it was to be rebranded as just Brady’s KC.

The casual, family-friendly Irish-American restaurant had an open kitchen, a large print of the stone house in Ireland in which Brady grew up, and a “whiskey lounge” — an area of the dining room with sofas and cozy chairs, designed for drink and conversation.

Brady & Fox at 751 E. 63rd St. in East Brookside; photo by Joyce Smith

The furnishings and some equipment will be sold. But the kitchen infrastructure will remain.

The 5,000-square-foot corner space can be downsized to 4,000 square feet for a smaller restaurant operation.

“We feel confident that we will find another local restaurant concept,” Rigby said.

Brookside Poultry had previously operated in the space, closing in January 2022, citing pandemic recovery-related challenges.

Erin McGrane of Clemons Real Estate is handling the lease negotiations.

Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.