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Crossroads Cantina is a Mexican-inspired restaurant and margarita bar at 1925 Baltimore Avenue, opened in late November 2025 by Rockhill Restaurant Group — the Zach Marten and Bret Springs company behind The Rockhill Grille, The Wise Guy and Cleo Club, all within a few blocks. A one-time Mobilefone telecom building painted sandy pink and eucalyptus green, it has a tile-lined bar and a glass sunroom full of cacti whose roof retracts into an open-air patio. Chef Clark Grant calls the food “a modern take on Tex-Mex” built on more traditional technique: scratch salsas from dried chiles, pecan-wood rotisserie chicken and a wood-fired grill, birria taquitos, enchiladas in rojo, verde, cremaqueso and mole, a green-chile burger and a $59 ribeye. Reviews have praised the room, the staff and the margaritas and been harder on the kitchen; the restaurant says menu refinements are ongoing.

Description

Crossroads Cantina is a lean corner building at 19th and Baltimore, directly behind The Wise Guy on Main, that Marten and Springs bought and reworked from its life as a telecom store.12 The walls are washed in sandy pink and eucalyptus green, a painted sign on the west exterior advertises a “Mexican joint,” and the interior runs to a tile-lined bar with high-tops, booths and banquettes, flickering tabletop flames and textured Southwestern walls.324 The showpiece is a heated sunroom wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass along the front — built where the parking lot was — planted with towering cacti and houseplants; retractable roof panels and side walls open it into a patio in good weather.24 IN Kansas City described the effect as “equal parts desert sunset and urban oasis.”4

The kitchen belongs to Clark Grant, the group’s executive chef. “It’s kind of a modern take on Tex-Mex, if you will,” he told the Star. “We’re using more traditional techniques than Tex-Mex” — everything from scratch, proteins and vegetables over wood fire, sauces from dried chiles.2 He built the menu from dishes he came to love in Chicago and Georgia kitchens, taste-tested by several of the cantina’s cooks who are from Mexico, and he is explicit that “you’re not gonna find too many esoteric ingredients on our menus.”2 The rotisserie chicken over pecan wood is the dish he tells guests not to skip.2 The dinner card opens with green-chile queso, guacamole, street-corn dip and a sikil pak (a Yucatecan pumpkin-seed dip), “Mexican mozzarella sticks” of queso Oaxaca in corn tortillas, chicharrones, an ahi tuna tostada with salsa macha, Tejano nachos with barbacoa, elote deviled eggs and birria taquitos; mains run through a woodfire-grill section (rotisserie chicken, mojo shrimp, citrus redfish, a $59 ribeye with poblano rajas butter, a green-chile burger with chorizo mayonesa), fajitas from $16 (portobello) to $36 (hanger steak), enchiladas rojo / verde / cremaqueso / mole, and tacos by the trio.5 Chips and a garlicky house salsa arrive free.3

The bar is margarita-first: a house Espolòn version frozen or on the rocks, a $18 “La Suprema” with Lalo blanco and egg white, a jalapeño-hibiscus Picosa, a Cazcabel coconut margarita that started as a seasonal and was made permanent by demand, a strawberry-mezcal Fresa and a rotating Estacional, alongside a Carajillo, a prosecco-and-passion-fruit La Granadilla, a Paloma Flaca built on Libélula tequila and Fresca, a corn-husk Old Fashioned and a sotol “Cactus Water.”634 Happy hour, Monday–Friday 4–6, drops dips to $6, margaritas and sangria to $10 and beers to $5.6

Critics have split the room from the plate. IN Kansas City in December 2025 found the cocktails “simple, easy drinking and exceptionally made,” praised the birria taco, charro beans and jícama slaw, and called the place “ready for prime time” with “just a touch of refinement.”4 Kansas City Magazine’s June 2026 review was tougher: the margaritas, birria taquitos and chips-and-salsa delivered, but seafood struggled and several dishes felt “restrained and overly reliant on low-lift dishes,” with the critic arguing the menu “feels like it was opened by a restaurant group … reverse-engineered for reliability.” The restaurant told the magazine the redfish was coming off, refinements were underway and a courtyard space with its own lighter menu was planned.3

Ownership and history

Rockhill Restaurant Group is the Kansas City company of Zach Marten and Bret Springs, “longtime Kansas City restaurateurs” whose partnership began with Coal Vines Pizza on the Country Club Plaza in 2011, followed by Westport Ale House in 2014 and County Road Ice House in the Power & Light District in 2018.4 The Rockhill Grille, opened in the Crossroads in 2016, became the flagship and reoriented the group’s strategy around proximity; The Wise Guy, their Italian-American tavern in the former Rieger Hotel space at 1924 Main, followed in spring 2024, and Crossroads Cantina in late 2025 completed what IN Kansas City called “a carefully orchestrated culinary triangle” — a polished American, a casual Italian and a Mexican restaurant within a three-block walk.43 In 2026 the group added Cleo Club, a small cocktail bar at 2000 Grand, and it has run the Miracle holiday pop-up bar locally.72

Marten framed the cantina as diversification without leaving the block: “We’re trying to diversify a little bit, and a lot of that comes from us trying to stay in this area and have a group of restaurants that are basically next door to each other … We wanna continue to fill a niche here.” Springs: “Honestly, we’re just having fun.”2 The partners said they wanted to keep prices reasonable, with most items under $30.2

The Pitch listed the opening for November 20, 2025, with a kitchen running Tuesday–Saturday 5–10 p.m.; the Star found it “quietly opened … about a week ago” on December 4, then serving 4–11 p.m. Tuesday–Thursday and until midnight Friday–Saturday.12 By summer 2026 it had added lunch and Sunday and Monday service, running from 11 a.m. seven days a week, with a separate lunch menu at lower prices.78

The space

The building at 1925 Baltimore was a Mobilefone store — “a quiet telecommunications building” — before the group bought it; the old brick structure was kept and the parking lot became the sunroom.243 Construction date and earlier tenants:.

Last verified: 2026-08-28 · Source: the restaurant’s own dinner, lunch and drinks PDFs (file names dated Q2 2026) linked from crossroadscantinakc.com · Confidence: High. Dinner prices shown; lunch prices in parentheses where they differ. Lunch tacos are two per order, dinner three. Transcribed with the restaurant’s own spellings.586

Appetizers

  • Queso — green chile queso ($8; add chorizo $3) · Guacamole ($9) · Street Corn Dip — grilled sweet corn, sour cream, tajín, cotija ($8) · Dip Duo ($16)
  • Mexican “Mozzarella Sticks” — queso Oaxaca, corn tortillas, salsa verde, guacamole ($12)
  • Chicharrones — green chile hot sauce, arbol salsa ($5)
  • Ahi Tuna Tostada — guacamole, salsa macha, radish, cucumber, cilantro ($15)
  • Nachos — Tejano style, charro beans, barbacoa, jack cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream ($14)
  • Elote Deviled Eggs — pickled jalapeño & grilled sweet corn relish, cotija, tajín ($9)
  • Quesadilla — chicken ($13) / barbacoa ($14) / shrimp ($14) / cheese ($11)
  • Birria Taquitos — jack cheese, consommé ($14) · Spicy Coctel de Camaron — gulf shrimp, avocado, cucumber, guajillo salsa ($15)

Soups & salads

  • Caesar — roasted poblano dressing, cotija-masa croutons ($15; lunch $14) · Cantina Salad — rotisserie chicken, guacamole, bacon, chipotle ranch ($19) · Taco Salad — mini taco bowl, charro beans, seasoned beef, sweet corn pico ($18; lunch $17) · Tortilla Soup — rotisserie chicken, charro beans ($6 / $12)

From the woodfire grill

  • Rotisserie Chicken — roasted red pepper chimmi-mojo, elotes ($26; lunch $24) · Shrimp — mojo marinated, summer squash, peppers, rice ($28) · Redfish — citrus marinated, salsa macha, rice ($26) · Ribeye — poblano rajas butter ($59; dinner only) · Green Chile Burger — chorizo mayonesa, white American, chopped green chile, fries, chipotle ketchup ($19; lunch $18)

Fajitas (corn or flour tortillas; add rice & beans $6)

  • Chicken ($19) · hanger steak ($36) · jumbo shrimp ($27) · steak & shrimp ($34) · portabello mushroom ($16)

Enchiladas (add rice & beans $6)

  • Rojo — seasoned ground beef, jack cheese, guajillo sauce ($18; lunch $15) · Verde — green chile rotisserie chicken, verde sauce ($18; lunch $15) · Cremaqueso — grilled shrimp, cremaqueso sauce, avocado salsa verde ($19; lunch $16) · Mole — barbacoa, jack cheese, mole sauce ($18; lunch $15)

Tacos (3 at dinner / 2 at lunch, with rice and charro beans)

  • Shrimp ($18 / $15) · Redfish, blackened ($17 / $14) · Steak, carne picadillo ($18 / $15) · Chicken Tinga ($17 / $14) · Portabello Mushroom ($16 / $13) · Birria, with consommé ($21 / $17)

Sides

  • Rice ($6; lunch $3) · Charro Beans ($8; $4) · Esquites ($8; $4) · Jicama Slaw ($8; $4)

Margaritas & cocktails

  • House — Espolòn blanco, house sour, agave; frozen or rocks ($14) · La Suprema — Lalo blanco, egg white, Alma Finca ($18) · Picosa — Tanteo jalapeño tequila, hibiscus, Ancho Reyes Verde ($14) · Coconut — Cazcabel coconut tequila, Coco Lopez, lime, tajín ($14) · Fresa — Cazcabel repo, mezcal, strawberry ($14) · Estacional — rotating seasonal ($14) · chilada or michelada +$2 · “iceberg” frozen-margarita float +$3
  • Carajillo ($16) · La Granadilla — Wheatley vodka, vanilla, Chinola passion fruit, prosecco ($16) · Paloma Flaca — Libélula, lime, salt, Fresca ($14) · Old Fashioned — Buffalo Trace, roasted corn husk simple, Vago elote ($14) · Sangria, white or red ($14) · Cactus Water — Desert Door sotol, watermelon, Chareau, Mineragua ($14)
  • Beer: Modelo Especial, Dos Equis, Victoria, Pacifico, Tecate ($7); Dos Equis N/A ($6)
  • Happy hour Mon–Fri 4–6 p.m.: $6 dips, $10 margaritas & sangria (excluding La Suprema), $5 beers

Sources

Footnotes

  1. “KC Sipps: James Beard Award semifinalist chef’s restaurant to close, three new spots open,” The Pitch, 2025-11-20. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: “A new Mexican restaurant and bar opens November 20 in Crossroads. From the same team as The Wise Guy and Rockhill Grille … set in a lean corner building behind The Wise Guy, and the kitchen is open Tuesday – Saturday from 5 – 10 p.m.” ↩ ↩2

  2. “Mexican-style bar and restaurant opens in Kansas City with ‘great margaritas’,” The Kansas City Star, 2025-12-04 (syndicated via Yahoo News). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: owners Zach Marten and Bret Springs bought the old brick building, once a Mobilefone store, and painted it sandy pink and eucalyptus green; quietly opened “about a week ago” at 1925 Baltimore Ave; group includes The Rockhill Grille and The Wise Guy; Marten “great margaritas, great music” quote; heated sunroom with retractable roof and side panels, built on the former parking lot; tile-lined bar; chef Clark Grant, “modern take on Tex-Mex,” scratch cooking, wood fire, dried-chile sauces, Chicago and Georgia background, Mexican-born cooks vetting the menu, pecan-wood rotisserie chicken, “not … too many esoteric ingredients”; December 2025 prices and hours (4–11 Tue–Thu, 4–midnight Fri–Sat); happy-hour pricing then; Marten and Springs quotes on staying in the neighborhood; Miracle KC pop-up. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  3. Tyler Shane, “A beautiful new ‘Mexican joint’ highlights both the strengths and shortcomings of Kansas City’s growing restaurant group model,” Kansas City Magazine, 2026-06-05. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: group timeline (Rockhill Grille 2016, The Wise Guy eight years later, Crossroads Cantina December 2025); “Mexican joint” painted sign on the west exterior; former telecommunications company building; eucalyptus and pink walls, tile bar, tabletop flames, retractable-roof dining room; happy hour and lunch positioning; $59 pecan-wood ribeye; complimentary chips and salsa; coconut margarita made permanent; critique of execution (deviled eggs, tuna tostadas, redfish, shrimp enchiladas, fajitas); redfish coming off the menu, refinements underway, planned courtyard with its own menu; restaurant open as of June 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. “Reservation for One: Crossroads Cantina,” IN Kansas City, December 2025. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: former Mobilefone store at 1925 Baltimore; Marten and Springs’ history (Coal Vines 2011, Westport Ale House 2014, County Road Ice House 2018, Rockhill Grille 2016, The Wise Guy spring 2024 in the former Rieger space); “culinary triangle” / three-block plan; interior and sunroom description; executive chef Clark Grant; dip duo, sikil pak, rotisserie half chicken over pecan, charro beans, jícama slaw, birria taco, verde enchiladas; cocktail praise; “ready for prime time” verdict. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  5. Crossroads Cantina — official dinner menu (PDF “CC_DINNER_Q226”). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: every dinner item and price in the Menu section; three-taco format; ribeye $59; nut-oil allergy note. ↩ ↩2

  6. Crossroads Cantina — official drinks menu (PDF “CC_DRINKS_Q226”). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: margarita and cocktail builds and prices; beer list; happy hour Monday–Friday 4–6 PM ($6 dips, $10 margaritas & sangria excluding La Suprema, $5 beers); chilada/michelada and “iceberg” add-ons. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Crossroads Cantina — official website (Squarespace), home page and navigation. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: name; address 1925 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, MO 64108; hours (Mon–Thu 11–11, Fri–Sat 11–midnight, Sun 11–10; kitchen closes an hour before); “Rockhill Restaurant Group”; links to Lunch/Dinner/Drinks PDFs, Resy reservations, Toast gift cards, employment page, Instagram @crossroadscantinakc; “Other Concepts” listing The Rockhill Grille, The Wise Guy and Cleo Club; no first-party ordering link; no phone number published. ↩ ↩2

  8. Crossroads Cantina — official lunch menu (PDF “CC_LUNCH_Q226”). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: lunch prices cited in parentheses; two-taco format; no ribeye at lunch; side prices $3–4. ↩ ↩2

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On the record — ks.city/registry/crossroads-cantina · record updated 2026-08-28