Kansas City sandwich shop closed after 50 years. Now a new restaurant is moving in

Praise be: Westport will add a new brunch joint later this year.

Holy Brunch, which started during the pandemic as a food truck, plans an August opening at 204 Westport Road.

Owner Drew Stewart’s menu runs the gamut from hot wings to Philly cheese burritos to a Belgian waffle sandwich with cheesy eggs, powdered sugar, chicken and syrup.

Most recently, the space was occupied by DVA Percent, a streetwear shop that has since moved around the corner to 4035 Broadway. But from 1969 to 2017 it was home to Mario’s, a delicatessen famous locally for its meatball grinder. (Sheila Shields, a longtime Mario’s employee, ran Sheila’s Grinder Shop in the space from 2017 to 2019.)

“We’re doing some cosmetic work inside, but it’s nice because we don’t have to build out too much due to its history as Mario’s,” Stewart said.

The building was recently purchased by Roman Khachaturyan, who owns DVA Percent, Stewart said.

He plans to keep late hours to take advantage of Westport nightlife.

“We’ll be Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to midnight — and then probably till 2 a.m. eventually,” Stewart said. “We’ve got those apartments going in up the street (in the former Katz Drug Store building ), plus people leaving all the places in Westport. I think late-night will be good for us.”