Decade-old Kansas City seafood restaurant closed on New Year’s. Here’s what’s moving in

David Hudnall
·2 min read

Fidel Gomez hails from Hidalgo, the central Mexican state. He was raised on a farm, moved to the United States when he was 18, took a job washing dishes in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and eventually landed in Branson, where in 1999 he opened a Mexican restaurant called Little Hacienda.

There are now two Little Hacienda locations — the other is in Hollister, outside Branson. This spring, Gomez plans to expand to Kansas City, but with a different concept. He has taken over the lease at 4814 Roanoke Parkway off the Country Club Plaza, the former home of Jax Fish & Oyster Bar, which closed at the end of 2023 after nearly 10 years.

Little Hacienda is more of a traditional Mexican restaurant, familiar to Americans across the country. T’ähä Mexican Kitchen will draw from Gomez’s roots in central Mexico. (T’ähä means “dream” in Otomi, a dying language still spoken in certain parts of that region.)

“In Hidalgo, it’s a different cuisine than other parts of Mexico,” said his son, Jose Gomez, a recent University of Missouri-Kansas City grad who is also involved in the restaurant. “The last 10 or so years, people know about Oaxacan food and the cuisine on the (Mexican) coasts. We think we can bring something new to the KC food scene by reexamining the culture and indigenous food traditions from central Mexico.”

Fidel Gomez, owner of T’ähä Mexican Kitchen. Courtesy of Little Hacienda
Fidel Gomez, owner of T’ähä Mexican Kitchen. Courtesy of Little Hacienda

Gomez hasn’t finalized the menu yet, but expect an emphasis on moles and traditional dishes like barbacoa, where meats like lamb, goat or beef are slow-cooked inside agave leaves. There will likely also be some rabbit and deer on the menu — animals hunted both in southwest Missouri, where Gomez lives, and in Hidalgo.

“There are actually a lot of connections between central Mexico and the middle of the U.S.,” Gomez said. “It’s considered the breadbasket of Mexico — there’s a lot of produce grown there. And their cooking uses a lot from the land.”

Gomez said they are aiming for a late April opening. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays, with brunch on the weekends.