Waldo Pizza expands to new Kansas City spot, with a twist. But another location closed

Waldo Pizza delivery has long been available to downtown residents — the restaurant’s generous delivery radius extends from its base of operations near the intersection of 75th Street and Wornall Road all the way to the river.

Now, though, you can also pick up one of its pies at Crossroads Food Stop, which opened last year at 1600 Campbell St.

Crossroads Food Stop is a ghost kitchen, sometimes called a virtual or cloud kitchen. It leases space to operators to prepare food for delivery and takeout only — no indoor dining. Waldo Pizza, which signed on in June, is one of nearly 20 businesses currently leasing kitchen space there.

“It’s just a new way to serve more people in that area,” said Waldo Pizza owner Steve Kingery. “We just have one cook at a time working. Labor is the most expensive part of running the business right now, and this way we can get by with a little lower overhead.”

The menu is limited to pizza and a few appetizers. As at the Waldo location, there are also gluten-free options.

Waldo Pizza opened two “express” locations last year in local grocery stores, which allowed customers to place an order when they arrived and shop while it’s prepared. The Overland Park location, inside Cosentino’s Market at 8051 W. 160th St., is still going strong, Kingery said, but they’ve closed the Blue Springs location inside the Cosentino’s Price Chopper at 1101 S. Missouri 7 highway.

“They opened at about the same time, but Blue Springs didn’t take off the way Overland Park did,” Kingery said.

Crossroads Food Stop offers food from Mother Clucker, Raj Express Indian Kitchen, Luna Azteca Mexican Grill and many other businesses. You can order in several ways: Online at crossroadsfoodstop.com; through the major delivery apps like Grubhub, Doordash and UberEats; or in-store at 1600 Campbell St. at a touchscreen kiosk.