Jasper Mirabile Jr.

Jasper Mirabile Jr. is a Kansas City chef, restaurateur, and broadcaster — a leading public face of the city’s Italian dining tradition. He runs Jasper’s, the restaurant his family founded in 1954, and has hosted the long-running radio show Live From Jasper’s Kitchen for nearly two decades.

Biography

Jasper’s opened on April 1, 1954, founded by Leonardo Mirabile — an Italian immigrant born in Sicily in 1900, who had run the Lucky Tavern from about 1944 — and his son Jasper Mirabile Sr., at 405 West 75th Street in Waldo.¹² It began as a bar with twelve tables; Josephine Mirabile added the Italian dishes that made its name with regulars.¹ The restaurant expanded around 1960, was fully remodeled in 1962, and the family had bought the building and surrounding property by 1966 — the year it became the upscale white-tablecloth room with tableside service and tuxedoed waiters that it remained until 1997.¹²

Jasper Jr. joined the restaurant full-time in 1984 and became its public face, authoring cookbooks and teaching cooking classes.¹ The family sold the 75th Street property to Walgreens and moved the restaurant to the Watts Mill Shopping Center at 103rd and State Line, its present home at 1201 West 103rd Street; Jasper Sr. died before the new room opened.¹² The restaurant marked its 70th anniversary on April 1, 2024.³

Beyond the kitchen, Mirabile hosts “Live From Jasper’s Kitchen” on KCMO Talk Radio, Saturdays from 11 a.m. to noon.⁴⁵ He is chairman of Slow Food Kansas City, Vice President (Midwest) of Gruppo Ristoratori, and a board member of the American Institute of Wine and Food’s Kansas City chapter, and is closely associated with KC Italian traditions such as his tableside mozzarella.⁴

Legacy

Mirabile is a steward and ambassador of Kansas City’s Italian-American food culture — carrying a family restaurant into its third generation, one the family still staffs itself⁶ while championing the city’s broader culinary scene on the air and in the community.

See also

• jaspers-italian-restaurant

Sources

Citation replaced 2026-09-08. This page previously rested three claims on “Q&A With Jasper Mirabile Jr. of Jasper’s Restaurant,” Curd is the Word, and on VoyageKC, neither cited with a URL. No resolvable version of either was located, so the claims they carried — the James Beard House firsts, the Slow Food KC founding, and the tableside-mozzarella association — are either re-sourced to the KCMO Talk Radio biography or flagged in the body. The Pitch and Martin City Telegraph replace them as the page’s spine.

Footnotes

1. “Jasper’s: The history and legacy of the Mirabile family,” Martin City Telegraph — Leonardo Mirabile, born in Sicily in 1900, operated the Lucky Tavern from about 1944 and opened Jasper’s with his son Jasper on April 1, 1954 at 405 W. 75th St. in Waldo; originally a bar with twelve tables, with Josephine Mirabile adding the Italian dishes; expansion around 1960 and a full remodel in 1962; the family owned the building and surrounding Wornall Road property by 1966; Marco Polo’s Groceria and Deli as a separate venture; the sale of the 75th Street site to Walgreens and the move to Watts Mill at 103rd and State Line, opening in 1998; J.J. (Jasper Jr.) joining full-time in 1984 and becoming the restaurant’s public face; Jasper Sr.’s death before the new location opened. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. “Jasper’s Restaurant: After 60 Years, Mother Knows Best,” The Pitch — Jasper Mirabile Sr. “opened in 1954 at 405 West 75th Street”; the upscale room with tableside service and waiters in tuxedos “from 1966 to 1997”; “the current more casual trattoria at 1201 West 103rd Street.” ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. “‘We are so fortunate’: Jasper’s Restaurant celebrates 70 years of business in Kansas City,” KSHB 41 — the 70th anniversary marked Monday, April 1, 2024, at 103rd and State Line, with a menu bringing back retired favorites. ↩

4. “Live From Jasper’s Kitchen,” KCMO Talk Radio 95.7 FM / 710 AM — “Every Saturday from 11am to Noon… the wildly popular Kansas City cooking show, ‘LIVE From Jasper’s Kitchen’ hosted by Jasper Mirabile, Jr.”; “Since 1984, Mirabile has become a naturally acclaimed chef in his own rite. Jasper is chairman of Slow Food Kansas City, Vice President (Midwest) of Gruppo Ristoratori, and board member of The American Institute of Wine and Food Kansas City.” ↩ ↩²

5. “KC Food Personality Jasper Mirabile dishes on his live cooking show,” Kansas City Magazine ↩

6. “About,” Jasper’s Italian Restaurant — “For over 71 years, our family has shared a passion for fine Italian cuisine and heartfelt hospitality. From our grandparents who helped launch Jasper’s in 1954, to the present day, you’ll still find family members welcoming guests, cooking in the kitchen…” ↩