Here’s how a rebooted Westport favorite plans to earn its ‘Best Burger in KC’ banner

Fans of Westport’s longtime Green Room Burgers & Beer and Westport Coffeehouse Theater feared new owners would “corporatize it,” subdivide the space, or even tear down the well-positioned corner for condos at the edge for the entertainment district.

But after Matt and Tessa Ortiz experienced the scene as customers, they only wanted the neighborhood mainstay to continue — while making it their own.

The couple ended up purchasing the 7,000-square-foot complex at 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. for an undisclosed price in late April.

“We were just going to lease it, but it was a huge opportunity,” Tessa said. “A lot of people were looking at the space. We liked what they had here — a chill, easy menu, not too complicated. Improv.”

They opened The GreenHorn Bar & Grill on the lower level Aug. 21 as a bar, restaurant and live entertainment venue.

The Ortizes are keeping the former Green Room’s “Best Burger in KC” sign, but they want to be known for their GreenHorn Burger (an 8-ounce beef patty, Tillamook cheddar, shredded iceberg lettuce, pickles, and secret sauce on a Farm to Market Bread Co. salt and pepper bun).

“Portions are huge. They are supposed to be sharable and if you have fries in there, oh boy,” Matt said. “So you get a burger and a couple of sides and share.”

Server Brianna McElroy with the GreenHorn Burger at The GreenHorn Bar & Grill; photo by Joyce Smith

Bar-goers take in a night of music at GreenHorn Bar & Grill; photo by Joyce Smith

They plan to soon offer a weekend brunch with Tessa’s childhood favorite — pozole, a traditional Mexican soup made with hominy and meat — along with chicken and waffles, breakfast tacos, and American-style breakfast items.

“I’m a simple guy, I like burgers and beers and watching sports, and Tessa likes cocktails and foods that remind her of her childhood,” he said, noting she grew up on the city’s Westside and nearby in Kansas City, Kansas.

“When you walk in here, this is an extension of our home,” Tessa added. “We are going to serve you like you are at our house.”

Chambre Coffee, which operates on the upper Pennsylvania Street level of the complex — replacing the longtime Westport Coffeehouse in 2025 — will continue in its space as a tenant of the couple.

Matt and Tessa Ortiz, GreenHorn Bar & Grill; photo by Joyce Smith

‘I would still be doing a 9-to-5’

Matt helped open a bar in Austin, Texas, just two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic began shutting down the world — starting with the city’s famed South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in March 2020. With the shut down afoot, he took time to finally visit his sister in Kansas City.

While there, Matt logged into a dating app and met Tessa.

After a week, he took off again — but just for a short cross country trip with a friend, later flying back to Kansas City from Seattle. He never left. The two were married in 2025.

“The world was falling apart and I found my world,” Matt said.

Tessa worked in banking for seven years before earning a master’s in urban planning at the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 2022. She has since worked in the non-profit space and for the City of Kansas City, Missouri.

Matt said Tessa had an entrepreneurial spirit and was pursuing several ideas; Tessa said Matt has always wanted to open a bar, so she wanted to support his dream.

“I would still be doing a 9-to-5 if it wasn’t for him. But we are both very ambitious people,” she said. “He is teaching me a lot about the food service industry. It is a huge learning curve but it is nice to be my own boss. And anything I do I just try to know all aspects of it and try to do my best.”

From the outside looking in, the restaurant business is “all sunshine and rainbows,” Matt said.

But a week before GreenHorn’s opening, its walk-in cooler broke down. Then, as they tested out the new menu, the grease trap busted open. The fryer broke.

“That’s just part of your journey,” Matt said. “It seemed like for every three steps forward, we took seven back. My dad is mopping up the grease. I’m in my jeans trying to figure out what’s wrong. It’s all hands on deck.”

He tells employees there are going to be hiccups but just: smile, trust your teammates and be nice to people.

“That’s all you have to do,” Matt said. “So much can be cured from saying ‘This too shall pass.’”

A 100-year story of change

Far from tearing down the corner complex at 4010 Penn, the Orvitzes were thrilled to repurpose a building with so much Westport history, they said.

A 1950 fire insurance map showing the Westport area; image courtesy of Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Kansas City Public Library

Historic Kansas City said Thomas Goforth, the first mayor of Westport, had a house on the site around 1850, where he practiced law and held court.

The Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Kansas City Public Library has a 1923 building permit for a small building on the site and permits for several additions over the years.

A 1943 story in the Kansas City Star said a new manufacturing company at the address planned to roll out a refrigerator/ice box every five minutes on average — authorized by the War Production board — and mostly made of wood.

At one time, it even housed the horse-drawn carriages that roamed the Country Club Plaza.

Tom and Pam Ptacek bought the building, at the North entrance into the entertainment district, in the mid-1980s, operating a jukebox and arcade company in the space.

They opened Westport Coffeehouse on the upper level in 1996. A few months later, they debuted Westport Coffeehouse Theater on the lower level. Their son, Michael, founded the Green Room Burgers & Beer in the bar and lounge in 2012.

The Ptaceks put the building up for sale a few years ago with plans to retire.

Paola Campos opened Chambre Coffee in May 2025, taking the spot long held by Michael Ptacek’s coffee shop. Its continued operation at 4010 Penn offers continuity amid the transition to GreenHorn Bar & Grill.

GreenHorn Bar & Grill at 4010 Pennsylvania Ave.; photo by Joyce Smith

Off stage, on the menu

Customers enter the new space through the bar on the west side, Suite D, right by the parking lot. The bar also has a small lounge. Up the hallway, they’ll find a room with the stage and main dining area seating 98.

New murals adorn the space, inside and out, along with new tabletop designs by local artists.

The Ortizes are offering live music, comedy and improv, and more on the stage.

“If you are here, you are always entertained. It’s our job,” Matt said.

Along with the GreenHorn Burger, the Ortizes’ menu includes wings with a choice of GreenHorn’s Crazy Sauce or house ranch (already a fan favorite); breaded chicken sandwiches; Italian sausage sandwich (on a salt-and-pepper hoagie roll with beer mustard); and an entree salad.

Signature cocktails include The Divine Feminine (with gin, elderflower, fresh lemon, raspberry and honey), and Curtain Call (a Fernet-forward twist on a Manhattan using J.Rieger & Co. whiskey). The bar also offers draft beer, bottled and canned beer, including seasonal options.

Matt’s GreenHorn insider tip is this order for two: a chicken sandwich and a burger, fries or street corn, and jalapeno poppers (GreenHorn takes fresh jalapenos, wraps them in bacon, stuffs them with cream cheese and seasoning, and cooks them to “crispy perfection,” he said, “not breaded.”) Then put the jalapeno poppers on the chicken sandwich and burger.

Hours are currently 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.