Johnson County pizza restaurant opening to-go, delivery outlet in Kansas City

Sean and Chris Meyer, owners of Third Coast Pizza, say the dine-in, carry-out and delivery restaurant they opened in Lenexa three years ago is “Chicago-inspired, locally driven.”

Now they are expanding with a new location at 3001 Mercier St. in Kansas City, scheduled to open in January.

It will serve Chicago-style deep dish and regular crust pizza for take-out and delivery only. Hours will be 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.

Sean Meyer started cooking with his mom when he was just 4 years old, while growing up in Chicago — prepping the lettuce for tacos, boiling noodles and making sauce for spaghetti.

The family was in walking distance of a variety of restaurants but he was partial to Chicago-style deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs.

They moved to Prairie Village when he was in fourth grade. His first job at 15 was as a dishwasher at an area restaurant and he worked his way up to management.

He went to the University of Kansas for an English degree with plans to be editor. But he dropped out 15 credits shy of a degree after he was hired at a small greeting card company.

“I still worked at a restaurant part-time, even though I had a 9-to-5,” he said. “I hated being an editor. I was stuck in a cubicle. The restaurant business was more fun and it was active.”

He became a manager at several area restaurants before opening Third Coast Pizza with his wife, Chris. She had worked in the service side of the industry. The restaurant, at 7820 Quivira Road, Lenexa, opened in 2019.

Menu items include specialty pizzas such as My Kind of Town (with mozzarella, ham, pepperoni, ground beef, bacon and Scimeca’s Italian sausage and meatballs) and The City in a Garden (with mozzarella, red onions, Roma tomatoes, artichoke hearts, green olives, black olives, mushrooms and green peppers).

Customers also can create their own pizzas. It offers a choice of deep dish or traditional crust.

The Lenexa location also has wings, chicken strips, garlic toast, mozzarella sticks, meatballs, Detroit-style chili (without beans), salad, oven baked pastas, French dip and Italian beef sandwiches, Vienna beef hot dogs, and more.

Meyer’s mother, Jan, makes the cheesecake and he uses his late mother-in-law’s recipe for the restaurant’s carrot cake.

Third Coast Pizza also has a dozen flavors of Ice Cream Factory ice cream, made in Eldon, Missouri.

“We try to do as much local as we can,” he said.