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Milwaukee Delicatessen Company is a deli, pizza counter and whiskey bar on the ground floor of the 1881 Cosby Hotel building at 9th & Baltimore in downtown Kansas City’s Library District. It revives — by name and in the same room — a German deli that Albert and Laura Ladzinski ran on this corner from the 1900s until 1938. The current version opened November 20, 2013, after the building was rescued from demolition, and is run by Pizza 51’s Jason and Shannon Pryor with managing partner Jon Gerner. Expect Usinger’s corned beef Reubens two ways, Pizza 51 pies by the slice or up to 26 inches, 19 taps, more than 100 whiskeys and an $8 Old Milwaukee Fashioned that comes with a Busch Light sidecar.

Description

The deli occupies the corner storefront of one of downtown’s oldest surviving commercial buildings, a block west of the Library streetcar stop.12 The restoration kept the room’s marble floors, ceiling murals and handcrafted balcony; the bar was built from wood reclaimed from the building itself and styled after the 1881 original, and the deli’s sign at the corner of 9th and Baltimore was recreated from historic photographs.321 The Pitch’s 2026 sketch: “a wooden storefront with window lighting” on Baltimore.4

The sandwich list is built around Usinger’s meats from Milwaukee. The Central Branch Reuben is the Kansas City version — Usinger’s corned beef, Festival sauerkraut, marinated tomatoes, Russian dressing and Swiss on rye — and the Milwaukee Style Reuben swaps the Russian for grain mustard, which is how, the founders told The Pitch at opening, “in Milwaukee they use whole-grain mustard instead of Russian dressing.”56 A half-pound hot pastrami, a turkey panini, roast beef au jus, a lager-braised pulled pork and a salmon BLT round out the board; at opening the corned beef came from Boyles in Kansas City and the rye from Sasha’s Baking Co. next door.56 Pizza is Pizza 51’s recipe, sold by the slice or in 14-, 18- and 26-inch rounds, with a gluten-free 8-inch; the Highway Special is the house combination.56 Kansas City Magazine’s slice survey gave the cheese slice a 2 of 5 — “great cheese flavor” — mostly because the tip had been cut off and boxed separately “like some sort of Sicilian threat.”7

The bar is the other half of the business: nineteen taps, a whiskey list past a hundred bottles, and a short cocktail card (Famous on Paper, Passion Project, Rabbit Hole, a seasonal sangria).15 The Pitch’s Kylie Volavongsa wrote up the Old Milwaukee Fashioned in May 2026 — batched simple syrup and bitters, a choice of brandy, whiskey or bourbon (brandy for the authentic Wisconsin version), an orange peel, and an 8-ounce Busch Light on the side, for $8.4

Ownership and history

The Ladzinskis’ deli, 1900–1938

Albert and Laura Ladzinski, German immigrants who had run a deli in Chicago, came to Kansas City in 1900 and opened the first Milwaukee Delicatessen Co. at 809 Delaware Street.32 Within the decade they moved to the ground floor of the Cosby Hotel at 9th and Baltimore (The Pitch dates the tenancy 1908–1938, replacing Dixon’s Bar), where the deli was a business lunch by day and “a hub for celebrities, local politicians and area cosmopolitans” by night, known for German dishes and drink; a surviving photograph shows Albert welcoming the first post-Prohibition beer delivery in December 1933.326 Albert died in 1934 and the business passed to his son-in-law, Lester Quinn, who in 1938 moved it to the Fairfax Building at 11th and Baltimore and renamed it The New Yorker Restaurant.32 The corner space then sat empty until a blueprint company took it in 1955 (the site names Gary Lane, Clio Robert Lane).32

The building

The structure began in 1881 as the Wood’s Building, one of downtown’s first multistory commercial blocks, home to offices and to physicians including Martha Dibble, one of the city’s first women doctors; it shared a façade with the Wright House hotel. Joseph Cosby combined the two into the 66-room Cosby Hotel in 1899. The hotel’s upper floors closed in 1964, and the whole building was vacant from 1995.28 In July 2010 the city put it on the dangerous-buildings list for a failing west wall and ordered an emergency demolition despite its National Register status; the wrecking crew was called off with less than a day to spare after the Downtown Council and preservationists intervened.8 Sunflower Development Group — Jason Swords with architect Lon Booher — bought it in July 2011 and carried out a roughly $2.9 million mixed-use rehabilitation using state and federal historic tax credits, with Historic Kansas City, Rosin Preservation and the EDC of Kansas City involved; offices went upstairs and a restaurant space was planned for the ground floor.823

The revival, 2013–

Jason and Shannon Pryor had opened Pizza 51 at 5060 Oak Street on September 15, 2004 (a second Pizza 51 followed in Olathe). For the Cosby corner they partnered with Jon Gerner, a front-of-house veteran of Grand Street Cafe and Lawrence’s Free State Brewery, who became managing partner.9610 The Milwaukee Delicatessen Company opened November 20, 2013, with the restored 1881 details on view, a deli-and-pizza menu and a bar.106 It was a Best Deli finalist in The Pitch’s Best of KC 2023.11 The official site describes the restaurant as operating “in partnership with Pizza 51.”1

Last verified: 2026-08-28 · Source: the restaurant’s own menu page at milwaukeedelikc.com/menu · Confidence: High. Transcribed from the official site; drinks listed without prices there.5

Sandwiches (add a side or small garden salad $2)

  • Central Branch Reuben — Usinger’s corned beef, Festival sauerkraut, marinated tomatoes, Russian dressing, Swiss on rye. ($13)
  • Milwaukee Style Corned Beef Reuben — Usinger’s corned beef, Festival kraut, grain mustard, Swiss on rye. ($13)
  • Hot Pastrami — half-pound smokehouse pastrami, Swiss, mustard or horseradish, on rye. ($15)
  • Turkey Panini — Usinger’s roast turkey breast, mozzarella, marinated tomatoes, greens, house dressing, garlic mayo on sourdough. ($12)
  • Roast Beef — Usinger’s roast beef, Swiss, crispy onions, roasted mushrooms, pepperoncini, on bun au jus. ($12)
  • Baltimore Club — roast beef and turkey, pepper jack, bacon, greens on rye. ($12)
  • Pulled Pork — lager-braised pork, poblanos, cheddar on ciabatta. ($12)
  • Grilled Cheese — three-cheese blend with tomatoes on sourdough; bacon +$4. ($10)
  • Meatball — meatballs, fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic, marinara on bun. ($10)
  • Salmon BLT — garlic-and-herb grilled salmon, marinated tomato, greens, bacon, cheddar on sourdough. ($13)

Pizza

  • Build your own — slice: cheese $4.50, toppings $0.95 each · 14-inch (serves 2–3): cheese $14, toppings $1.74 · 18-inch (3–5): cheese $18, toppings $2.25 · 26-inch (6–8): cheese $29.99, toppings $4.50 · 8-inch gluten-free $6.99 plus toppings.
  • Highway Special — pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onions, olives. (slice $7.50 / 14” $21.99 / 18” $27.99 / 26” $47.99)
  • Cowtown — pepperoni, sausage, beef, Canadian bacon, Romano. · Veggie Delight — mushrooms, olives, broccoli, onions, peppers, spinach. · 4 or 5 for $7.50 — choose-your-toppings slice.

Salads (add chicken or sardines $4; salmon $6)

  • Seasonal — strawberries, quinoa, black-pepper walnuts, basil-sugared goat cheese on spring greens. ($10)
  • Wedge — house meats, bleu cheese, romaine, vegetables, buttermilk dressing. ($10)
  • Mediterranean — baby greens, chickpeas, tomato, kalamata olives, feta. ($10)
  • Garden — mixed vegetables and mozzarella on a romaine blend. (full $8 / side $4)

Soup, sides & sweets

  • Bowl of soup, made daily ($6) · Seasoned breadsticks ($3.99; garlic/mozzarella +$1.99–2.99) · German potato salad ($4) · Deli slaw ($4) · Cottage cheese ($4) · Chips ($2) · Cake slice ($6)

Drinks

  • Sodas, fresh-squeezed lemonade and limeade, house ginger beer, specialty sodas and juices.
  • Cocktails: Famous on Paper, Passion Project, Rabbit Hole, Seasonal Sangria, Old Milwaukee Fashioned ($8 with 8-oz Busch Light sidecar; brandy, whiskey or bourbon).4
  • 19 beers on tap; 100+ whiskeys.1

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Milwaukee Delicatessen Company — official website, home page. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: address 101 W 9th St, KC MO 64105; phone 816-471-6900; hours Mon–Thu 11–9, Fri–Sat 11–10, closed Sun; 19 taps, 100+ whiskeys; bar “built from wood reclaimed from our building” after the 1881 design; Toast online ordering; “one block west of the Library streetcar stop”; “in partnership with Pizza 51”; social links; 2026 copyright. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Jacob Antolini and Clio Admin, “Cosby Hotel (1881–1964) and Milwaukee Delicatessen Company,” Clio, 2024-08-03. Retrieved 2026-08-28 (rendered via Firecrawl) — Confirms: 1881 Wood’s Building (James A. Wood), Martha C. Dibble, Wright House hotel (Sampson Wright, 1880–84), Joseph Cosby’s 66-room hotel opened 1899; German immigrants Albert and Laura Ladzinski from Chicago, 809 N. Delaware, deli in the Cosby’s ground floor “in the first decade of the 20th century”; Albert’s death 1934; 1938 move; Robert Lane’s blueprint company 1955; hotel closed 1964; dangerous-building status 2011, Sunflower Development Group purchase July 2011, ~$2.75M renovation completed 2015 with Historic Kansas City, Rosin Preservation and EDC; sign recreated; 1933 beer-delivery photograph. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. Milwaukee Delicatessen Company — official website, “History of the Deli.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Albert Ladzinski and wife Laura, 1900, 809 Delaware; move to 9th & Baltimore; day/night clientele; Albert’s death 1934; son-in-law Lester Quinn; 1938 rename to The New Yorker and move to the Fairfax Building at 11th & Baltimore; space vacant ~20 years until Gary Lane’s blueprint company, 1955; Cosby Hotel upstairs; building empty “until 2010, mere weeks before it was to be torn down”; marble floors, ceiling murals, handcrafted balcony retained. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Kylie Volavongsa, “Drink This Now: Old Milwaukee Fashioned at Milwaukee Delicatessen Company,” The Pitch, 2026-05-05. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Library District, Baltimore Street storefront; $8 cocktail with 8-oz Busch Light sidecar; brandy/whiskey/bourbon options, batched syrup and bitters, orange peel; restaurant active May 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Milwaukee Delicatessen Company — official website, “Menu.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: every item and price in the Menu section; cocktail names. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Charles Ferruzza, “Milwaukee Delicatessen Co. serves a Reuben with a side of history,” The Pitch, 2013-12-23. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: 101 West Ninth; Jon Gerner as managing partner; original deli in the space 1908–1938 (after Dixon’s Bar), Ladzinski family, 1938 move to 11th & Baltimore; Milwaukee-style Reuben with whole-grain mustard; KC corned beef from Boyles; rye from adjacent Sasha’s Baking Co.; pizza from Pizza 51 recipes. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. “Here are the 43 best pizzas in KC,” Kansas City Magazine, 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Milwaukee Delicatessen entry, 2/5, “Great cheese flavor, but they cut the tip off the slice … like some sort of Sicilian threat.” ↩

  8. Justin Kendall, “Two developers save – and restore – the downtown Cosby Hotel,” The Pitch, 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: Lon Booher (architect) and Jason Swords of Sunflower Development Group; Woods Building 1881; Martha Dibble; Cosby conversion 1899; upper floors closed 1964; vacant from 1995; dangerous-buildings list July 2010; emergency demolition called off with under 24 hours to spare; $2.88M plan; ground-floor restaurant/retail, offices above; tax-credit financing. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Pizza 51 — official website. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: owners Jason and Shannon Pryor; opened September 15, 2004 at 5060 Oak St; Olathe location at 200 S Kansas Ave; partnered with Jon Gerner to open Milwaukee Delicatessen in 2013 in the restored 1881 Cosby Hotel; two Reuben variations; repurposed wood. ↩

  10. “Kansas City Spotlight: Milwaukee Delicatessen Company,” Kansas City Boutique. Retrieved 2026-08-28 (indexed excerpt; page not machine-retrievable) — Confirms: opened November 20, 2013, after restoration with Downtown Council assistance and landmark credits; Shannon and Jason Pryor teamed with Jon Gerner (Grand Street Cafe, Free State Brewery). ↩ ↩2

  11. The Pitch — Best of KC 2023 results portal, “Best Deli: Milwaukee Delicatessen Company.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 (rendered via Firecrawl) — Confirms: finalist, Best Deli 2023. ↩

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On the record — ks.city/registry/milwaukee-delicatessen-company · record updated 2026-08-28