Lucie Krisman  - Leawood

Bamboo Penny’s owners opening seafood place in Leawood

Leawood Aqua Penny's

Seafood restaurant Aqua Penny's will open in southern Leawood this fall, serving classic seafood dishes and cocktails. Rendering courtesy of Aqua Penny's/Page Communications.

The restaurateurs behind Bamboo Penny’s in Leawood are one step closer to opening a new restaurant for classic seafood and cocktails.

The Leawood City Council on Tuesday approved final site plans for Aqua Penny’s, a new seafood restaurant planned for Park Place in southern Leawood.

The restaurant comes as the latest venture for local restaurateurs Penny and Doug Mufaka, who already own and operate a number of restaurants — including Thai restaurant Bamboo Penny’s, which operates just down the street from the future Aqua Penny’s site.

Following this week’s approval, representatives for the restaurant said Aqua Penny’s is aiming for a fall opening.

Leawood Aqua Penny's
Aqua Penny’s at Park Place will serve a range of seafood entrees and appetizers — such as crab cakes like the ones pictured above. Photo courtesy of Doug Mufaka.

Aqua Penny’s is coming to Leawood’s Park Place

  • The restaurant will move into a space on the northeast corner of Nall Avenue and 117th Street.
  • The space previously housed the Gordon Biersch Brewery, which shuttered in 2020.
  • The 7,100-square-foot space includes an outdoor patio with room for more than 100 customers, and it connects to the Aloft Hotel at 11620 Ash St.

The Mufakas opened Bamboo Penny’s two years ago

  • The Thai restaurant at 5270 W. 116th Place is known for its traditional Thai dishes and tropical cocktails, as well as its rooftop bar and lounge.
  • In addition to Bamboo Penny’s, the Mufakas own and operate a second Johnson County restaurant — KC Thai in Overland Park, as well as Thai House in Kansas City, Missouri.

The new restaurant is aiming for an October opening

  • The Aqua Penny’s menu will center around seafood, with items like seafood towers, oysters, steamed crab legs and tuna spring rolls.
  • The restaurant’s bar will also offer wine, champagne and craft cocktails.
  • The Leawood City Council unanimously approved the restaurant’s plans on Tuesday, voicing excitement for the new concept.
  • “Bamboo Penny’s has had a phenomenal success here in Leawood,” said Councilmember Jim Rawlings. “The food is wonderful, the service is wonderful, the ambiance is wonderful. So I’m excited that they’re doing an additional restaurant that I look forward very much to patronizing.”

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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.