Dennis Laffoon said these past few weeks have really been difficult as he and his family are permanently closing the Frontier Steakhouse, 9338 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
“It’s totally heartbreaking for me to have to sell the restaurant, and quit the business,” he said. “It’s really been hard on me and my brother going through all this. We have to thank all our customers, all our help for everything done through the years. Everything comes to an end at some point. It’s been hard, really hard.”
The customers were like family to them, he said.
This weekend, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, they will hold a sale of memorabilia, art, statues, plaques and items on the walls at the Frontier Steakhouse, plus some remaining kitchen equipment, he said. Anyone attending will have to wear masks, socially distance, and the number of persons inside will be limited, he added.
That liquidation sale also is being held online at https://www.estatesales.net/KS/Kansas-City/66112/2746773?fbclid=IwAR2VmPnjcHcn81uci2nWMqfBadPn0kVgoUb_dHvk1srineX1loMTAWy1Lw0, and people may contact him about the items without having to attend in person.
The Frontier restaurant was started by his father and mother, and the proceeds of the sale will be going to support his mother in a nursing home, he said. She will turn 100 later this month, is in a wheelchair and is in pretty good health.
Laffoon said the property is being sold and he can’t release the buyer’s name at this time. However, the building will likely be demolished and probably turned into a gas station, a fast-food place or something else on the corner of 94th and State. The Frontier Steakhouse site is located next to the Homefield project currently under development.
In a video posted on his Facebook site, Laffoon stated there were many reasons for the closing, including the need to pay for his mother’s expenses at the nursing home; the COVID-19 pandemic, where restaurants were closed to dining for some time; higher property taxes every year; and the expenses of an older building.
Although Dennis and his brother Ron are retirement age, he said they’re not wealthy enough to retire and will have to keep working.
Ron is working for his son, and Dennis will continue playing music. Dennis has some shows lined up starting in April. He’s hoping that COVID-19 will be under control by then. Probably, they will be outdoor shows, he added.
“Kansas City, Kansas, will never be the same without them,” Lou Braswell, a customer, said earlier this week when she heard about the closing.
“It’s a great loss because they’ve been there forever, and started out with a little building, and grew it into a very well-known restaurant, a much-loved restaurant,” Braswell said.
Dennis’ latest video, about the liquidation, is at https://www.facebook.com/dennis.laffoon/videos/10220611662859154.