Kaiser's In Midtown Closing Shop Next Week

Kaiser’s Grateful Bean Café, a Midtown staple for a quarter century, says it’s closing its doors January 21st.

General Manager Jack Pearson says construction of the $131 million MAPS 3 Streetcar Project through Midtown has choked off 80 percent of his business. He hopes he can re-open Kaiser’s in a few months, after Midtown construction is completed.

“It comes down to this” Pearson said. "We have to survive until they at least get this part of it done and we haven’t been able to survive. It’s a sad commentary."

MAPS 3 Transit subcommittee member Jeff Bezdek says the city told him Wednesday the first phase of the streetcar project around Bricktown will be operational by this spring. Midtown will be finished this summer.

“Restaurants are especially going to benefit from people having access to it who aren’t going to have a car or will have difficulty parking downtown," Bezdek said. "It will forever change how our city operates. It will forever change how people access businesses and employment throughout this area.”