Bamboo Penny's

Bamboo Penny’s is a chef-driven Thai restaurant in Leawood’s Park Place development, opened in spring 2021 by local restaurateurs Penny and Doug Mufaka. It is the flagship of the Mufaka family’s small KC-metro restaurant group and the older sister concept to neighboring Aqua Penny’s. The 5,400-square-foot space serves elevated traditional Thai cuisine and fusion dishes alongside a craft-cocktail program and a seasonal rooftop bar, the Bamboo Room.¹²

Description

Bamboo Penny’s is the flagship restaurant of chef-owner Penny Mufaka, occupying a roughly 5,400-square-foot space at 5270 W 116th Place in Leawood’s Park Place shopping center.¹ The menu centers on traditional Thai flavors — balancing sweet, sour, salty, and spicy with aromatic herbs and spices — across stir-fried, steamed, grilled, and slow-stewed dishes, alongside upscale fusion plates such as pineapple fried rice and mango duck.²¹ The restaurant pairs its food with a craft-cocktail program and operates a seasonal rooftop bar and lounge, the Bamboo Room, available Friday and Saturday evenings and for private events.²

The restaurant operates 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with weekday happy hour.²

Ownership and history

Bamboo Penny’s is owned by Penny and Doug Mufaka, a husband-and-wife team who have built and operated independent KC-metro restaurants for more than a decade.¹ Penny Mufaka, a native of Thailand, brought roughly 25 years of food-industry experience to the venture; the couple previously opened Thai House in Kansas City, Missouri, and KC Thai in Overland Park before launching Bamboo Penny’s as their third concept in Leawood’s Park Place in spring 2021.¹

The family later added a fourth concept, the coastal seafood and raw-oyster bar Aqua Penny’s, in the same Park Place development in April 2024.¹ The Mufaka group operates as a small, locally owned cluster of independent restaurants with no corporate parent or franchise affiliation.¹

Links

• Website: https://bamboopennys.com/[^site]
• Phone: (913) 232-7695²
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bamboo-pennys-leawood[^yelp]

Sources

Disputes

• Relationship to Aqua Penny’s — clarified, not a conflict. Bamboo Penny’s and Aqua Penny’s are two DISTINCT concepts from the same owners (Penny & Doug Mufaka), both in Leawood’s Park Place. Bamboo Penny’s is the older Thai flagship (2021, 5270 W 116th Pl); Aqua Penny’s is a coastal seafood/raw-oyster bar (2024, 11652 Ash St). Different names, menus, and addresses — separate Registry pages are correct.
• Founding-year figure. Official site shows “Founded 2013” (likely owners’ overall Thai-dining tenure); verified Park Place opening is spring 2021.

See also

• aqua-pennys

Footnotes

1. The Pitch KC, “Thai House, KC Thai owners to open third restaurant in Leawood’s Park Place,” March 16, 2021. https://www.thepitchkc.com/thai-house-kc-thai-owners-to-open-third-restaurant-in-leawoods-park-place/ — asserts: 2021 Park Place opening; owners Penny & Doug Mufaka; prior concepts Thai House (KCMO) and KC Thai (Overland Park); 5,400 sq ft at 5270 W 116th Place; Thai cuisine with fusion dishes; Bamboo Room rooftop bar; later sister concept Aqua Penny’s (April 2024). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Bamboo Penny’s official website. https://bamboopennys.com/ — asserts: name, address 5270 W 116th Pl, Leawood KS 66211; Thai cuisine; chef-owner Penny; hours (Sun–Thu 11–9, Fri–Sat 11–10); phone (913) 232-7695; Bamboo Room rooftop bar. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵