What Happened to Poco's on the Boulevard? (Kansas City, MO)
Current status
As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026.
Last verified
What the source shows: A Yelp listing for Poco's Mexican Cuisine at 240 E Linwood Blvd shows a permanently-closed status as of an April 2026 update. The Pitch (Kansas City) reported in 2015 that the original Southwest Boulevard location had closed and the business, under the same operator, relocated to the smaller Linwood address.
- Season / episode Season 5, Episode 1
- Original air date
- Address 240 E Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111
- Current name Poco's Mexican Cuisine
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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?
Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Poco's on the Boulevard, a Mexican restaurant at 3063 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, for an episode that aired November 21, 2012. The restaurant had been founded by Lorenza "Poco" Gutierrez, and by the time of filming her family had taken over day-to-day operations following her death. As is standard for the series, Robert Irvine and his crew spent about 48 hours and roughly $10,000 renovating the restaurant's kitchen, dining room, and menu before a relaunch dinner for the owners and the surrounding Southwest Boulevard neighborhood.
Coverage from the Kansas City alternative newsweekly The Pitch shows the restaurant continued operating on Southwest Boulevard for more than two years after the show aired. In 2015, The Pitch reported that the Southwest Boulevard building had been sold and the new landlord wanted to raise the rent, prompting longtime operator Claudia Endicott -- who had run the restaurant since Gutierrez's death -- to close that location and move a scaled-down version of the business, serving breakfast and lunch only, to a smaller storefront at 240 East Linwood Boulevard, near a Kansas City Costco. The former Southwest Boulevard space was later taken over by a pizza chain, Minsky's, according to Feast Magazine's coverage of the changeover.
The relocated restaurant operated under the name Poco's Mexican Cuisine at the Linwood Boulevard address. A Yelp business listing for that address currently shows a permanently-closed status, last updated in April 2026, indicating the business is no longer operating there either. No further reporting on an exact closure date for the Linwood Boulevard location was found during this research, and no successor business at that address was identified. Because the same owner both renamed and relocated the business before its eventual closure, this record treats the outcome simply as closed rather than as a rename or new-ownership case.
Featured on Restaurant: Impossible
- Original air date
- Episode title
- Poco's on the Boulevard
- What was featured
- full menu and dining-room renovation of a family-run Mexican restaurant
- Role
- Featured restaurant
- Name on the broadcast
- Poco's on the Boulevard
Frequently asked questions
Is Poco's on the Boulevard still open in 2026?
As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026.
What happened to Poco's on the Boulevard after Restaurant: Impossible?
Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Poco's on the Boulevard, a Mexican restaurant at 3063 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, for an episode that aired November 21, 2012. As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026.
Is Poco's on the Boulevard permanently closed?
As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.
What is Poco's on the Boulevard called now?
Now: Poco's Mexican Cuisine (formerly Poco's on the Boulevard). As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026.
Where is Poco's on the Boulevard located?
240 E Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.
What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Poco's on the Boulevard?
Season 5, Episode 1 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired November 21, 2012. The episode is titled “Poco's on the Boulevard”.
Did the makeover last at Poco's on the Boulevard?
The episode first aired November 21, 2012. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 14 years later —: As of September 2026, Poco's on the Boulevard has closed — confirmed via Yelp, April 2026.
Is Poco's on the Boulevard still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?
As is standard for the series, Robert Irvine and his crew spent about 48 hours and roughly $10,000 renovating the restaurant's kitchen, dining room, and menu before a relaunch dinner for the owners and the surrounding Southwest Boulevard neighborhood. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.
Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.
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Visit info
- Address
- 240 E Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111
- Venue type
- restaurant
- Official website
- None found
- State hub
- TV restaurants in Missouri
Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources
- thepitchkc.com — https://www.thepitchkc.com/pocos-closed-on-southwest-boulevard-moving-to-much-smaller-location/
- Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/pocos-mexican-cuisine-kansas-city
- feastmagazine.com — https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/minsky-s-pizza-to-open-in-former-poco-s-restaurant-on-southwest-boulevard/article_4bab6ca4-8987-11e5-b71c-eb5a200d39f2.html
- thepitchkc.com — https://www.thepitchkc.com/restaurant-impossible-is-remaking-pocos-on-the-boulevard-right-now/
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Record ri-052 · last verified .