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The Wise Guy is a Crossroads Italian-American tavern at 1924 Main Street, opened in April 2024 by Rockhill Restaurant Group co-owners Bret Springs and Zach Marten in the historic former Rieger Hotel building, serving Chicago-style thin-crust tavern pizza, pastas, Italian sandwiches, and salads.

Description

The Wise Guy is an Italian-American tavern in the Crossroads Arts District, designed to evoke the kind of old-school Italian taverns associated with New York and Chicago. The interior leans into a “Second City” atmosphere — dimly lit, with dark wood, red leather banquettes, and wall-mounted TVs that blend upscale-casual dining with sports-bar elements.

The menu centers on Chicago-style thin-and-crisp tavern pizza alongside Italian appetizers, pastas, chopped/Italian salads, and Italian sandwiches. Documented items include bruschetta, garlic knots, carbonara deviled eggs, chicken parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, carbonara, and a fried-parmesan chicken sandwich.12 A happy-hour program has been advertised with discounted pizzas, house cocktails, and beer.3

The restaurant occupies 1924 Main Street, the ground floor of the historic former Rieger Hotel building. The “Wise Guy” name is a nod to Prohibition-era gangsters — including Al Capone — said to have stayed at the Rieger Hotel; the owners deliberately preserved historic building details such as the original tile work and light fixtures.42

Ownership and history

The Wise Guy is owned by Bret Springs and Zach Marten, the co-owners of Kansas City’s Rockhill Restaurant Group.14 The group also operates Rockhill Grille (two locations) and the owners hold additional Kansas City hospitality interests, including partnerships connected to Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que and County Road Ice House in the Power & Light District, as well as the local license for the holiday-themed Miracle pop-up bar.12

Springs and Marten had reportedly wanted to open a pizza-and-pasta concept since closing Coal Vines on the Country Club Plaza in 2017, and The Wise Guy is the realization of that idea.2

The restaurant opened in April 2024 at 1924 Main Street, a space that had operated for roughly 16 years as a fine-dining establishment within the Rieger Hotel building before the hotel closed during the COVID-19 pandemic (in 2020) and the storefront sat vacant.124

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Kansas City Magazine, “There’s A New Italian Spot In Town.” https://kansascitymag.com/theres-a-new-italian-spot-in-town/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. FOX4 KC, “New restaurant moving into Rieger Hotel building in Kansas City.” https://fox4kc.com/business/new-restaurant-moving-into-rieger-hotel-building-in-kansas-city/ — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. IN Kansas City Magazine, dining-guide listing — The Wise Guy. https://www.inkansascity.com/eat-drink/dining-guide/the-wise-guy/ — accessed 2026-05-30 (page returned HTTP 403 on direct fetch; details corroborated via search excerpt). ↩

  4. KC Daily, “Who’s The Wise Guy?” https://www.kcdaily.com/p/whos-wise-guy — accessed 2026-05-30. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

See also

Categories
  • Kansas City–owned
  • Italian
  • Crossroads