Pegah's Family Restaurant

Pegah’s Family Restaurant is a Persian-American family diner that has anchored Shawnee’s Johnson Drive corridor since 1987 — nearly four decades of all-day breakfast, homestyle comfort food, and genuine community investment that have made it one of the longest-running independent restaurants in the KC metro.¹

Description

Pegah’s Family Restaurant occupies a singular position on Johnson Drive in Shawnee — a diner that has operated continuously from the same address since 1987, outlasting recessions, the pandemic, and the broader collapse of independent diners across suburban KC.¹² The menu is classically American: all-day breakfast served until 8 p.m., house-made soups, pancakes, Reuben sandwiches, country fried steak, and seasonal specials — all prepared from scratch rather than pre-processed.¹² The atmosphere is warm, unhurried, and deliberately family-facing.

The restaurant takes its name from Pegah, a Persian given name meaning “dawn” — a detail that telegraphs the founding family’s Iranian heritage and reflects both the restaurant’s emphasis on morning service and its cultural roots.³ Owner Moe Sharifi and an original business partner opened the Johnson Drive location in 1987 with a straightforward vision: serve good food fast in a genuinely welcoming environment.⁴ That vision held. Moe’s son Rameen Sharifi now helps operate the growing enterprise, making this a multi-generational family business with deep Shawnee roots.⁵

Beyond the Johnson Drive flagship, Pegah’s has expanded to five locations across the KC metro — a second Shawnee location, Lenexa, Lee’s Summit, and a newer fast-casual concept in Martin City — while retaining family ownership throughout.¹⁵

Ownership and history

Ownership

Period	Owner / Operator	Notes
1987 → present	Moe (Mo) Sharifi (family-owned)	Opened the original 11005 Johnson Dr location; later acquired additional sites
~2013 → present	Moe Sharifi + Rameen Sharifi (second generation)	Rameen joined operations; now co-manages expansion including Martin City concept5

Founding story

Moe Sharifi opened Pegah’s in 1987 alongside a business partner, naming the restaurant after the Persian word for “dawn” — a nod to the family’s Iranian heritage and the diner’s focus on morning service.⁴³ He bought out the original Johnson Drive location and over the following decades built it into a multi-location operation, becoming one of the most durable independent restaurant operators in Johnson County. His son Rameen took on an active ownership role approximately around 2013 and has since guided the chain’s more recent expansions.⁴⁵

The restaurant earned a moment of viral recognition when a social media post brought a wave of KC Chiefs fans to the Johnson Drive location, demonstrating the depth of its community standing.⁶

Pegah’s donates monthly to the Sunflower House, a Shawnee-based child advocacy center — a sustained charitable commitment that reflects the family’s investment in the community well beyond the restaurant itself.²

Links

• Official site: https://pegahs.com/
• Johnson Drive location page: https://pegahs.com/shawnee-pegah-s-family-restaurant-locations

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Pegah’s Family Restaurant official website — https://pegahs.com/ — asserts: name, address (11005 Johnson Dr, Shawnee, KS 66203), five active locations, hours (6:30 a.m.–8 p.m. daily), active operating status. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Yelp — Pegah’s Family Restaurant (Shawnee) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/pegahs-family-restaurant-shawnee — asserts: active, 122 reviews updated June 2026, all-day breakfast, from-scratch comfort food. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. “Pegah” is a Persian given name meaning “dawn” — widely documented in Persian language references. The name, combined with the Sharifi family surname (Persian origin) and contact email Rameen@Pegahs.com, indicates Iranian heritage. ↩ ↩²

4. Mill Valley News — “Pegah’s Family Restaurant benefits Shawnee for over 30 years” — https://www.mvnews.org/pegahs-family-restaurant-benefits-shawnee-for-over-30-years/ — asserts: Moe Sharifi owner, original business partner, 1987 founding on Johnson Dr, Sunflower House donations. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Startland News — “Pegah’s expands to Martin City” (January 2025) — https://startlandnews.com/2025/01/pegahs-martin-city/ — asserts: Rameen Sharifi quoted as co-owner; new fast-casual Martin City concept; five total locations. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. KSHB 41 — “Chiefs Kingdom brings business to Pegah’s Family Restaurant in Shawnee following viral post” — https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/chiefs-kingdom-brings-business-to-pegahs-family-restaurant-in-shawnee-following-viral-post — asserts: viral social media moment; community standing. ↩