Gram & Dun

Gram & Dun is a New-American restaurant and bar on the Country Club Plaza, opened in 2012 as a Kansas City restaurant-group concept (originally Bread & Butter Concepts).

Description

Gram & Dun is a New-American restaurant and bar on the Country Club Plaza at 600 Ward Parkway, opened in 2012.¹² It describes itself as offering “culinarily-driven fare” with particular attention to pairing food with cocktails and an emphasis on local purveyors and quality, sustainable sourcing.³

The restaurant occupies a prominent Plaza corner and has operated as a Plaza dining-and-bar fixture since opening, consistently reviewed across local food media and reservation platforms.¹²

Ownership and history

Gram & Dun opened in 2012 as a concept of Bread & Butter Concepts, the Kansas City restaurant group founded and led by Alan L. Gaylin (a former Houlihan’s executive). Bread & Butter’s portfolio at its peak included Gram & Dun, Urban Table (Prairie Village), Stock Hill (a Plaza steakhouse), BRGR Kitchen + Bar, and Taco Republic.⁴⁵

In November 2019, Bread & Butter Concepts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Gaylin attributed the financial difficulty in part to out-of-state partners who could no longer fund losses. The group had earlier sold BRGR Kitchen + Bar and Taco Republic to the owner of Louie’s Wine Dive.⁴⁵

Current ownership of Gram & Dun (post-2019 bankruptcy) is uncertain. The restaurant’s website currently displays branding associated with “WV Inzant Restaurants,” which may indicate a change of ownership or operating group since the Bread & Butter era. Confirm the present owner/operator before finalizing the Ownership field.

Tier classification

Tier 2. Gram & Dun is a locally operated Plaza restaurant, but it originated as one concept within a multi-unit Kansas City restaurant group (Bread & Butter Concepts) rather than as an owner-operated, single-establishment business — the multi-market-group qualifier that defines Tier 2. It is genuinely a local KC concept (not a national chain), which keeps it above Tier 3, but it lacks the owner-operator/founder local-rootedness that defines Tier 1.

Sources

1. Gram & Dun at the Country Club Plaza — OpenTable — https://www.opentable.com/gram-and-dun — accessed 2026-05-30
2. Gram & Dun — Country Club Plaza dining directory — https://countryclubplaza.com/dining/gram-dun/ — accessed 2026-05-30
3. Gram & Dun — official site — https://www.gramanddun.com/ — accessed 2026-05-30
4. “Two Kansas City Area Restaurant Chains File For Bankruptcy Five Days Apart” — KCUR — https://www.kcur.org/news/2019-11-14/two-kansas-city-area-restaurant-chains-file-for-bankruptcy-five-days-apart — accessed 2026-05-30
5. “Bread & Butter Concepts Sells BRGR Kitchen + Bar and Taco Republic…” — Feast Magazine — https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/article_6589e614-349c-11e9-ac80-7f8572c96d30.html — accessed 2026-05-30

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 5 independent sources (official site, OpenTable, Country Club Plaza directory, KCUR, Feast). The 2012 opening, Plaza address, New-American/bar concept, and Bread & Butter Concepts origin are well-corroborated. Current (post-2019-bankruptcy) ownership is unconfirmed and flagged; the “WV Inzant Restaurants” branding on the current site needs verification.

Footnotes

1. OpenTable — Gram & Dun. https://www.opentable.com/gram-and-dun — asserts: 2012 establishment; Country Club Plaza; American/gastropub; active reservations. ↩ ↩²

2. Country Club Plaza — dining directory, Gram & Dun. https://countryclubplaza.com/dining/gram-dun/ — asserts: 600 Ward Pkwy, KC MO 64112; active. ↩ ↩²

3. Gram & Dun — official site. https://www.gramanddun.com/ — asserts: “Kansas City’s original gastropub”; 600 Ward Pkwy; current operator branding is W. Vinzant Restaurant Group (rendered “WV Inzant” in the footer logo). ↩

4. KCUR — “Two Kansas City-area restaurant chains file for bankruptcy five days apart” (Nov 14, 2019). https://www.kcur.org/news/2019-11-14/two-kansas-city-area-restaurant-chains-file-for-bankruptcy-five-days-apart — asserts: Bread & Butter Concepts (founder Alan Gaylin) Nov 2019 Chapter 11; Gram & Dun opened by B&B in 2012. ↩ ↩²

5. Country Club Plaza (Facebook) — current-owner post. https://www.facebook.com/countryclubplaza/posts/976943497800121/ — asserts: Gram & Dun now owned/operated by Whitney Vinzant / W. Vinzant Restaurant Group (Bread & Butter was the original operator, 2012, but exited via the 2019 bankruptcy). (: exact date of the B&B→Vinzant handoff.) ↩ ↩²