Jonathan Justus may open new restaurant in the Crossroads

May open are the operative words here. No firm funding is currently in place for Jonathan Justus — the talented chef-owner of the Justus Drugstore restaurant in Smithville — to follow his vision and open a new restaurant in historic Film Row. Justus says a Kansas City-based management team is working with him to find investors for a casual-dining spot, to be called Universal: A Modern American Brasserie.

The proposed restaurant would be in the 1930s structure at 1700 Wyandotte that was, for decades, the Kansas City office of the Universal Studios Film Exchange. The inset frames designed to hold the latest Universal movie posters are still features of the building’s facade.