Now Open: Tavern in the Village

If only all new restaurant owners had Kelly Manning’s problems. Manning opened the stylish Tavern in the Village restaurant four weeks ago at 3901 Prairie Lane, in the Prairie Village Shopping Center. The dining room has been packed almost since opening night, and it’s not unusual to find a one-hour wait for a table on a weeknight. I know, I tried to get in one Tuesday night, and the hostess told me, rather sheepishly, that the wait was actually running slightly over an hour.

Maybe Manning — a Mission Hills native — has finally found the successful recipe for creating a restaurant concept that can last in this location for more than two years. We’ll see what happens, I guess, in two years.