Some see this Lenexa site as doomed.
In the last few decades this freestanding building on a bustling road across from railroad tracks has gone from longtime bars to numerous restaurants specializing in a variety of cuisine – Mexican, barbecue, comfort food, pizza and burgers, breakfast and lunch, and more.
But now Todd Johnson has moved in, spending six months refurbishing the building (12804 Santa Fe Trail Drive) – upgrading fixtures and equipment, removing layers of vinyl flooring for tile, and adding cushy booths with their own TVs and game consoles.
His Strip’s Chicken Strips, BBQ & Brewing opened there this month, joining sister operations in Merriam and Olathe.
“I’ve had eight years to perfect the food we are offering, and a year to perfect our mixed drinks and the beer we have come up with,” Johnson says. “And everything in the building works now.”
Chicken strips and fries are Strip’s top sellers. Instead of chicken tenders, Johnson uses hand-cut chicken breast strips with a hand-crusted pretzel-breading.
House-made pork tenderloins (hand-cut in-house from fresh, never frozen USDA No. 1 pork loin) come with his secret sauce (described as a zesty mayo). He also has the Squeal Parmesan (pork tenderloin with marinara, mozzarella and Parmesan). The Big Piggy has two pork tenderloins instead of a bun, “It’s kind of crazy, three or four meals in that,” Johnson says.
Pork burgers are 100 percent whole pork loin, flame-grilled. His signature pulled pork (smoked for 13 hours over local pecan wood) comes with strawberry barbecue sauce, and onion strings. The menu also includes jumbo wings, bowls, honey-kissed crispy nuggets, chicken sandwiches and wraps, and chicken Parmesan.
Strip’s offers 13 sides including smashed potatoes and gravy, freshly fried pork rinds, crispy portobello strips, white chicken chili, mac-and-seven-cheeses, and salad.
For dessert, it has crème brûlée cheesecake with Luxardo Maraschino Cherries marshmallow sauce, and Todd’s Ultimate Monster Cookie with M&M’s, chocolate chips and oatmeal crunch with bacon on the bottom.
The dining room of the Lenexa location now has six expansive, high-backed booths, each featuring a TV for watching shows or playing games. For art, there’s a large photo featuring the Johnson family at each booth, telling a story that triggered the name of his beers.
He currently has nine selections:
59 Diner Broasted Amber. Johnson grew up on his family’s farm near Erie, Kansas, earned a degree in agronomy from Kansas State University in Manhattan, and then was an executive vice president of a bank for a dozen years.
He said he never thought he would become a chicken restaurateur like his grandma, Virginia, who owned 59 Diner, south of Erie on U.S. 59 highway, for a dozen years, bringing “broasted” chicken to the community. Or his great aunt, Zella, who opened a KFC nearby. His 59 Diner Broasted Amber is made at Kansas City’s Vine Street Brewing Co. (a rubber chicken is the tap handle).
“Perhaps the first beer created to pair well with fried chicken,” Johnson said.
Hay Monster Light Blonde. There’s a photo of him as an infant, snuggled on his mother Julia’s lap (circa 1968) with his dad and two uncles standing in front of a towering wall of hay bales. His Hay Monster Light Blonde beer is a nod to the beers his uncles would be drinking on those steamy Kansas summer days. It is brewed by Sandhills Brewing (a hay hook is the tap handle).
Peach Wheat. As a preteen, he raked hay and snapped green beans for his grandparents. In return he learned how to make a flute from a wheat stalk and gum from wheat berries. Johnson’s peach wheat beer is a nod to those times and made by Manhattan Brewing Co. in Manhattan, Kansas.
Flamingo Cranberry Lemonade Double Sour. Strip’s customers have enjoyed Johnson’s made-from-scratch pink lemonade with cranberry juice since the first location opened. Now he has it on tap, as well as a whiskey cranberry lemonade, and Flamingo Cranberry Lemonade double sour beer made by Manhattan Brewing (a pink flamingo is the tap handle).
Steve the Goldendoodle Hazy New England IPA is in honor of his goldendoodle Steve, who passed away Easter morning at age 11. It is made at Sandhills Brewing.
Gunslinger Gold West Coast IPA is in homage to his father, Pat, and sister, Robin, both devoted deer and wild turkey hunters. It is brewed by Red Crow Brewing Co. in Olathe (a golden riflescope is the tap handle).
Limousine Saison. His family raised Angus but as a preteen he chose to raise Limousin, a French breed, and won Grand Champion Beef Steer in 1979 at the Neosho County Fair. Now his Limousine Saison is brewed by Red Crow (it has a cowbell as a tap handle).
Safari Honey Bun Porter is a collaboration with Transport Brewery in Shawnee and Gardner. Johnson had been dove hunting in Beaver, Kansas, when he stopped in a local eatery. They showcased six of their own craft beers on tap. A couple of weeks later he returned to brew with them, adding his new beer to a restaurant he owned and operated in Chanute, Kansas.
Cabeza de Vaca. Meaning cow head, the light beer is from Johnson’s 2005 recipe and brewed by Mission’s Sandhills Brewing using Johnson’s 2005 recipe.
Johnson first opened Strip’s in a former Wendy’s (1110 E. Santa Fe St., Olathe) in 2016. He expanded to Waldo in 2021, refurbishing a former KFC/Long John Silver’s building, just blocks from a hugely popular Chick-fil-A.
He shut down his Waldo location earlier this year, citing a number of break-ins. (Abelardo’s Mexican Fresh is opening in the spot).
In late 2023, Johnson opened Strip’s (5831 Merriam Drive) in Merriam, near IKEA. It features a Kansas City Chiefs “fan cave” for watch parties. It also has a pool table, two dart boards and an outdoor patio, and carries Johnson’s beers.
In the spring, he will add raised beds in the back parking lot of the Lenexa location to grow vegetables for the restaurant. A longtime customer of the building recently stopped by and told him how another Todd operated Todd’s Tavern there in the 1950s.
Johnson also has a growing catering operation – from box lunches to wedding buffets – and a catering liquor license. The Strip’s locations also are available to rent for private events.
