One Johnson County restaurant is turning over a new leaf, literally. It’s called Strips Chicken, BBQ and Brewing, and its newest location is in Lenexa. The eatery has been planting the seeds for fresher flavors, growing and harvesting their own fruits and vegetables for a year now. From garden to table, the restaurant’s owner, Todd Johnson, has been replanting its roots, so to speak. Johnson tells KMBC 9 he spent thousands of dollars on garden beds, plants, seeds, soil and a watering system just shy of a year ago. “We had this area down on the end of the parking lot that couldn’t be seated. So I asked the city was OK if I put a garden in there, and we came to an agreement,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot more work in a lot of ways, to do this type of stuff, but it’s worth it for sure … It’s so rewarding.”Right now, starting to sprout are tomatoes, garlic, pansies, coffee and alfalfa. There’s also dill, kale, peppers and basil growing. He uses produce from the garden for sandwiches and salads on the menu. Johnson expects several of these fruits and vegetables will be ready for picking by April or May. His plan is to potentially add a few more garden beds this summer. “I’m excited to be able to offer those things and try to break away from us being considered a fast-food restaurant because we’ve always made over 40 things from scratch … We just happened to start out in the former Wendy’s,” Johnson said. Since Johnson didn’t get the Lenexa garden beds finished until March 2025, after opening in November 2024, he’s only had one year reaping the benefits of the produce.”This year we’re going to have these plants ready to go, as many as we can,” Johnson said. The agronomy major-turned-restaurant owner is also icing a new creation.”I originally got the idea when I was in Mexico at a bar and they had a scorpion inside a small ice cube, and so I thought that was kind of cool,” Johnson said. His version is with edible flowers — specifically pansies. “And they keep forever, so you don’t have any worries about the flowers going bad,” Johnson said. The flower-frozen ice balls are served in the restaurant’s six old-fashioned cocktail varieties. Johnson plans to start making flavored ice cubes with spices and jalapeños soon. He said he’ll also start selling frozen soups this summer. “Really, it’s just a lot of fun for people to be able to go out in the garden. The kids can pick some cherry tomatoes if they never even done that before, see where the food comes from,” Johnson said.
LENEXA, Kan. —
One Johnson County restaurant is turning over a new leaf, literally. It’s called Strips Chicken, BBQ and Brewing, and its newest location is in Lenexa.
The eatery has been planting the seeds for fresher flavors, growing and harvesting their own fruits and vegetables for a year now. From garden to table, the restaurant’s owner, Todd Johnson, has been replanting its roots, so to speak.
Johnson tells KMBC 9 he spent thousands of dollars on garden beds, plants, seeds, soil and a watering system just shy of a year ago.
“We had this area down on the end of the parking lot that couldn’t be seated. So I asked the city was OK if I put a garden in there, and we came to an agreement,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot more work in a lot of ways, to do this type of stuff, but it’s worth it for sure … It’s so rewarding.”
Right now, starting to sprout are tomatoes, garlic, pansies, coffee and alfalfa. There’s also dill, kale, peppers and basil growing. He uses produce from the garden for sandwiches and salads on the menu. Johnson expects several of these fruits and vegetables will be ready for picking by April or May. His plan is to potentially add a few more garden beds this summer.
“I’m excited to be able to offer those things and try to break away from us being considered a fast-food restaurant because we’ve always made over 40 things from scratch … We just happened to start out in the former Wendy’s,” Johnson said.
Since Johnson didn’t get the Lenexa garden beds finished until March 2025, after opening in November 2024, he’s only had one year reaping the benefits of the produce.
“This year we’re going to have these plants ready to go, as many as we can,” Johnson said.
The agronomy major-turned-restaurant owner is also icing a new creation.
“I originally got the idea when I was in Mexico at a bar and they had a scorpion inside a small ice cube, and so I thought that was kind of cool,” Johnson said.
His version is with edible flowers — specifically pansies.
“And they keep forever, so you don’t have any worries about the flowers going bad,” Johnson said.
The flower-frozen ice balls are served in the restaurant’s six old-fashioned cocktail varieties.
Johnson plans to start making flavored ice cubes with spices and jalapeños soon. He said he’ll also start selling frozen soups this summer.
“Really, it’s just a lot of fun for people to be able to go out in the garden. The kids can pick some cherry tomatoes if they never even done that before, see where the food comes from,” Johnson said.
Comments are closed.