Minority-Led

Ixtapa closes JoCo favorite; owner says he won’t compromise family recipes or up prices as food, rent costs rise

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

Ixtapa Fine Mexican Cuisine has closed in Johnson County after five years. Co-owner Victor Esqueda blamed rising costs — rent, ingredients and more — for the closing of the restaurant at 7305 W. 95th St. in Overland Park, near the sprawling Shamrock Trading Company campus. “Everything has increased so much — food, alcohol 20 to…

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Coffee cluster percolating on one Troost block; will business support the buzz of six spaces to sip?

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

A new stretch of coffee shops in the 5500 block of Troost will test the caffeine tolerance of folks seeking a fix. Six options soon fill out the menu along this bustling corridor. Blackhole Bakery, High Hopes Ice Cream and The Littlest Bake Shop currently offer coffee along with their core menu items. But Blackhole…

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Rally unifies voices amid attacks on immigrants, LGBT+ rights; now it’s time to make noise, organizers say

By Tommy Felts / February 25, 2025

As anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies seeking to dismantle DEI efforts ramp up, Danny Soriano has seen inquiries and communication to his digital media business noticeably slow down, the Latino entrepreneur said. “Clients [suddenly seem] deterred from going with me — as opposed to somebody who’s not of color or white,” explained Soriano, the founder of…

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Rooftop Austin’s Bar & Grill just one step in unlocking Olathe’s ‘downtown renaissance’

By Tommy Felts / February 24, 2025

A century-old building in downtown Olathe will get new life as an indoor/outdoor restaurant complex known as County Square Commons — anchored by the popular Austin’s Bar & Grill. LANE4 Property Group and Austin’s are redeveloping the 10,859-square-foot building, which is expected to feature four or five storefronts on the street level at 114 to 126…

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Concert: Black rockstars don’t just exist — they innovated the genre; how KC artists are still (song)writing history

By Tommy Felts / February 24, 2025

A rock concert Friday at the newly opened Zhou B Art Center in Kansas City does more than place Black artists center stage for one night, said Malek Azrael; it spotlights that Black creatives belong in every musical space. “There is such a beautiful, Black presence in Kansas City and rock,” said Azrael, who is…

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