Cook Shack Cafe closed today

Over five years after retired Kansas City firefighter Bill Crow opened a small, unassuming diner at 8950 Wornall, he’s closed it down. Back in 2008, Crow called the restaurant the Cook Shack Cafe and brought in several family members to help him run the place. The Cook Shack Cafe – which served breakfast and lunch only – closed for good after today’s morning shift.

“I’ve been crying about it all morning,” said one of the waitresses. “We just couldn’t afford to keep it open any more.”

The tiny free-standing building has had a long history as a restaurant: In the 1960s, it was a burger joint called the Mark-Ninety Drive-In; a friend of mine recalled taking her youngster there and recalled the signature sandwich as “little burgers smothered in onions like White Castles, but on a bigger bun.” For nearly two decades, beginning in 1986, the venue was a Middle Eastern restaurant called the Kabob House.