Lucie Krisman  - Leawood

Mission Taco Joint opens in Leawood’s Park Place

Leawood Mission Taco Joint

Mission Taco Joint, a Missouri-based chain serving "West Coast-style" street food, has opened its first Johnson County location. Photo via Mission Taco Joint Instagram page.

Missouri-based Mission Taco Joint has officially opened its first Johnson County location.

The chain’s newest shop opened Thursday in southern Leawood.

Leawood Mission Taco Joint
Mission Taco Joint serves “West Coast-style” street food, which includes tacos on flour and corn tortillas and Tiki-themed cocktails. Photo via Mission Taco Joint Instagram page.

The new Mission Taco Joint is at Leawood’s Park Place

  • The restaurant opened in a 4,554-square-foot space at 11563 Ash St., that previously housed the Ainsworth restaurant and sports bar, which closed in 2020.
  • Mission Taco Joint neighbors Panache Chocolatier and the Barkley Square space that the Ice at Park Place occupies in the winter months.
  • Its regular hours are 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Mission Taco Joint serves up “West Coast-style” street food

  • The restaurant’s menu features a range of tacos on both corn and flour tortillas, including spicy chorizo, mango habanero shrimp and hot fried chicken.
  • In addition to tacos, Mission Taco Joint also serves burritos, tortas and appetizers like chips and guacamole and carne asada fries.
  • They also specialize in a variety of classic and Tiki-themed cocktails, including margaritas, palomas, piña coladas and mai tais.

This is Mission Taco Joint’s first Kansas location

  • Two more Kansas City metro area locations for the St. Louis-based chain already operate in Kansas City, Mo., in the Crossroads area and just south of the Country Club Plaza on Main Street.
  • Mission Taco Joint originally opened in 2013 and also has a number of other locations around St. Louis.
  • “We’re really excited to continue growing in the Kansas City area,” said Mission Taco Joint co-owner and CEO Adam Tilford in a statement. “This is our first location outside of the state of Missouri. The Park Place area is bustling and we look forward to bringing the Mission Taco Joint energy to this new community.”

Go deeper: Mission Taco Joint to open first Kansas location in Leawood

Hi! I'm Lucie Krisman, and I cover the city of Leawood and the Blue Valley School District for the Post.

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A bit about me and my background:

I'm a native of Tulsa, Okla., but have been living in Kansas since I moved here to attend KU, where I earned my degree in journalism. Prior to joining the Post, I did work for The Pitch, the Eudora Times, the North Dakota Newspaper Association and KTUL in Tulsa.