Lilico's Taverna

Lilico’s Taverna is a Spanish-style tinned-fish taverna in the Crossroads Arts District, opened in late 2025 by longtime Kansas City restaurateur Shawn McClenny and his wife Carolina, and named for Carolina’s late father, a Spanish-born, Cuba-raised immigrant to Kansas.

Description

Lilico’s Taverna is a Spanish-style informal cafe and “taverna” located at 1615 Oak Street in the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City, Missouri, in a roughly 3,000-square-foot space that was formerly home to The Pairing: Wine & Grocer. The concept is built around the “sangria, tins and snacks” format — canned (tinned) seafood such as sardines, anchovies, sea bass, scallops, tuna, and mussels, served alongside charcuterie, pinchos skewers, cocktails, sangria, and small snacks.

The restaurant leans into the Spanish tradition of sobremesa — lingering at the table after a meal — and positions itself as a social, no-reservations gathering spot. Coverage notes a deliberate appeal to a younger, social-media-native (“TikTok generation”) audience and a décor sensibility influenced by the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.

The food and identity reflect a Spanish-Cuban family heritage, tying the tinned-fish-taverna trend to the owners’ personal lineage.

Ownership and history

Lilico’s Taverna is owned by Shawn McClenny, a longtime Kansas City restaurateur, and his wife Carolina McClenny, whose family is of Spanish-Cuban heritage. The restaurant’s name honors Carolina’s late father, Orlando “Lilico” Cortes (pronounced Lee-lee-co), who was born in Spain and lived in Cuba before he and his wife Manuela were helped by a church to relocate to Kansas amid Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Shawn McClenny’s prior Kansas City ventures include Hogshead (opened 2017 on the Country Club Plaza in partnership with chef Clark Grant; closed after about two years in 2019) and One Block South (a large Johnson County entertainment complex that did not survive the pandemic, with its lease ending in 2021). Lilico’s was reported as opening around mid-to-late November 2025.

Tier classification

Tier 1. Lilico’s Taverna is an owner-operated, locally owned restaurant run by a longtime KC restaurateur and his wife, with a concept rooted directly in their family’s Spanish-Cuban heritage and named for a family member — a personal, KC-grounded venture with no chain affiliation. That direct tie between the owners’ own roots and the restaurant’s identity is exactly what Tier 1 measures.

Menu

Last verified: 2026-07-24 · Source: press documentation (The Pitch¹; KCUR²; Startland³; KSHB via search capture) — official site lilicoskc.com unreachable (HTTP 403) at verification time · URL(s): https://lilicoskc.com (blocked) · https://www.thepitchkc.com/lilicos-taverna-offers-a-social-atmosphere-for-snacks-sangria-sobremesa/ · Confidence: Medium (fullest published capture of the opening-era menu; no official re-pull possible)

STATUS FLAG (2026-07-24): third-party listings now mark Lilico’s Taverna CLOSED — Yelp (“CLOSED,” updated July 2026) and Apple Maps both show it closed; the official website returns 403.⁴ No press confirmation of a closure located yet. Menu below is preserved as the operating-era record.

“Sangria, tins and snacks” format. Spanish-style tinned seafood taverna built for social lingering (sobremesa); no reservations, casual walk-in format. Last-documented hours (The Pitch): Tue–Thu 4:44pm–11:11pm · Fri–Sat 4:44pm–1:11am · closed Sun–Mon (an earlier official-site capture said Wed–Sun, doors 4:44pm — schedule shifted at least once).¹⁵

Tinned seafood (conservas)

• Rotating tins — sardines, anchovies, sea bass, scallops, tuna, mussels, octopus; brands documented include Fishwife, IASA (branzino), Mariscadora — served with chips and cream cheese or creme fraiche — $10–$28²¹

Snacks and boards

• Mixed nuts — $8⁶
• Marinated olives — $9⁶
• Bleu cheese chips — $10⁶
• Bread with olive oil — $5⁶
• Tini bikinis — Spanish grilled-cheese bites — $12⁶
• Charcuteria — three meats, three cheeses — $32⁶
• Pinchos skewers — Spanish tapas-style skewers — price³¹

Drinks

• Sangria — red; the house signature — under $10; happy hour $4–$5 (open–6pm)¹⁶
• Cocktails — Cocavino; Cuba Libre; Jalavino Blanc (house white with jalapenos) — under $10¹

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Links

• Website: https://lilicoskc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilicoskc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Lilicos-Taverna-61581598505515/ (located 2026-06-23; previously flagged “not found”)

See also

• crossroads-arts-district
• Registry

Sources

1. KCUR — “Kansas City dips into tinned fish trend at new Crossroads restaurant” (2025-10-05) — https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2025-10-05/kansas-city-tinned-fish-crossroads-lilicos-restaurant — accessed 2026-05-30 (concept, address, owners, Lilico name origin / Spanish-Cuban heritage)
2. Startland News — “Fresh in the tin: Crossroads cafe targets TikTok generation for laid-back canned seafood cuisine” (2025-10) — https://startlandnews.com/2025/10/lilicos-taverna/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (~Nov 2025 opening, address, former The Pairing space, McClenny prior ventures Hogshead & One Block South, Dalí décor)
3. The Pitch — “Lilico’s Taverna offers a social atmosphere for snacks, sangria & sobremesa” — https://www.thepitchkc.com/lilicos-taverna-offers-a-social-atmosphere-for-snacks-sangria-sobremesa/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (sobremesa concept, social atmosphere)
4. IN Kansas City — “In Culinary News: Lilico’s Taverna” — https://www.inkansascity.com/eat-drink/news/in-culinary-news-lilicos-taverna/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (concept confirmation)
5. Lilico’s Taverna — official website (hours, happy hour) — https://lilicoskc.com/ — accessed 2026-06-23 (open status, current operating hours; gallery content dated December 2025)
6. KC Restaurant Week — Lilico’s Taverna participant listing — https://www.kcrestaurantweek.com/lilicos-taverna — accessed 2026-06-23 (2026 KC Restaurant Week participation; open status)
7. Yelp — Lilico’s Taverna (Updated April 2026) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/lilicos-taverna-kansas-city — accessed 2026-06-23 (recent activity/photos; address; phone)
8. Facebook — Lilico’s Taverna — https://www.facebook.com/p/Lilicos-Taverna-61581598505515/ — accessed 2026-06-23 (active business page)

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 4 sources. Owner confirmed as Shawn McClenny (with wife Carolina) per base-data hypothesis. Exact opening date flagged provisional (sources report ~November 2025). Instagram (@lilicoskc) confirmed; no public Facebook page located at draft time — flagged “not found.”

PASS-4 status re-verification (2026-06-23): registry_status confirmed active. Live official website with current hours [5], 2026 KC Restaurant Week participant listing [6], and a Yelp profile updated April 2026 [7] all confirm ongoing operation at 1615 Oak St — no relocation, rebrand, or successor. Source-link remediation: located the official Facebook business page [8] (previously “not found”); the Links section and Sources list were updated accordingly. All four original source URLs remain live; none dead or hijacked. Opening month remains provisional.

Footnotes

1. The Pitch — “Lilico’s Taverna offers a social atmosphere for snacks, sangria & sobremesa” — https://www.thepitchkc.com/lilicos-taverna-offers-a-social-atmosphere-for-snacks-sangria-sobremesa/ — accessed 2026-05-30. Asserts: charcuterie, pinchos skewers, sangria; sobremesa / social-lingering concept. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. KCUR — “Kansas City dips into tinned fish trend at new Crossroads restaurant” (2025-10-05) — https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2025-10-05/kansas-city-tinned-fish-crossroads-lilicos-restaurant — accessed 2026-05-30. Asserts: tinned-seafood (conservas) concept — sardines, anchovies, sea bass, scallops, tuna, mussels; sangria; owners and the Lilico name origin. ↩ ↩²

3. Startland News — “Fresh in the tin: Crossroads cafe targets TikTok generation for laid-back canned seafood cuisine” (2025-10) — https://startlandnews.com/2025/10/lilicos-taverna/ — accessed 2026-05-30. Asserts: tinned seafood, pinchos skewers, cocktails; ~Nov 2025 opening; former The Pairing space. ↩ ↩²

4. Yelp — Lilico’s Taverna, listing header “CLOSED,” updated July 2026 — https://www.yelp.com/biz/lilicos-taverna-kansas-city — and Apple Maps place listing (marked closed) — https://maps.apple.com/place?place-id=I6DAEEAFBBC95DC90 — both accessed via search 2026-07-24. Asserts: business marked permanently closed on third-party listings; not yet press-confirmed. ↩

5. Lilico’s Taverna — official website (hours) — https://lilicoskc.com/ — accessed 2026-06-23. Asserts: open Wed–Sun, doors at 4:44 p.m.; Spanish-style tinned-seafood taverna concept. (Re-fetch 2026-07-24: site returns HTTP 403.) ↩

6. KSHB 41 / local coverage of Lilico’s opening (captured via web search 2026-07-24; original: “A new Spanish tavern will soon open in Kansas City’s Crossroads district,” syndicated via Yahoo News) — https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/spanish-tavern-soon-open-kansas-191947555.html — asserts: snack pricing — mixed nuts $8, marinated olives $9, bleu cheese chips $10, bread with olive oil $5, tini bikinis $12, charcuteria (3 meats/3 cheeses) $32; overall price range $7–$20; happy-hour sangria $4–$5. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷