LaPez Mod Mex: JoCo's New Upscale Mexican Restaurant - Full Tour & Menu Review (2025)

The old Session Taco space in Leawood’s Park Place shopping center has been dark for the past several months.

But as of Wednesday, the lights are on and kitchen equipment is humming again, though tacos are only a small part of the new menu.

The restaurant at 11563 Ash St. has been transformed into LaPez Mod Mex, a new restaurant that serves modern, coastal Mexican flavors. Though it’s run by the same team, owners Adam and Jason Tilford didn’t want to recreate the same fast-casual vibe as Session.

Instead, LaPez offers full sit-down service. Candles are lit on each table, and waiters offer appetizers, main courses and dessert.

Previously, Adam told The Star that the previous concept — though it’s found success in the Crossroads — didn’t quite match the vibe of Park Place.

Neighboring concepts Bamboo Penny’s, Aqua Penny’s and Aixois are all sit-down establishments.

“(Session Taco) doesn’t play as well there. Hindsight is 20/20,” Adam said. “Looking back at the other restaurants there that are successful, they’re more destination locations.”

LaPez isn’t a Spanish word, the Tilfords said, but after Session was the subject of a trademark lawsuit last year, that’s intentional.

Some options on the recreated menu: duck sopes (mashed red beans, tamarind ancho sauce, cotija cheese, duck carnitas, hibiscus pickled onion, micro cilantro and blue corn masa cake for $17), chicken enchiladas (roasted chicken, chihuahua cheese, charred tomato sauce and crema for $18), and shrimp and grits (Argentine red shrimp, achiote mezcal butter, roasted corn, chorizo, green chile grits, smoked pineapple pico and micro cilantro for $27).

Jason Tilford told The Star Wednesday that the goal isn’t to be the typical Kansas City area Mexican restaurant — he’s bringing in Mexican dishes he grew up enjoying in California. Some of the cuisine has a Spanish influence, with a lean toward seafood.

“There’s a lot of places that just throw the ‘modern’ word around, and it doesn’t really equate to the food,” he said. “So we’re actually trying to — we got the short ribs, we got salmon, we got filet mignon, we got duck — so we’re trying to get a lot of ingredients you don’t normally see in a Mexican restaurant.”

A full selection of cocktails will also be served, thanks to director of operations Josh Laney. His drinks echo the tropical feel seen throughout the restaurant’s space and menu.

A mezcal sour with charred pineapple, a reimagined Last Word cocktail with sotol and Mayan, honey-based liqueur, and a classic margarita are a few drinks on the menu. Each cocktail is $15.

Bar seating is also available.

For now, the restaurant will be open from 4 p.m. to 9-ish or 10-ish p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, Jason said.

“But if there are people in here, we’re not gonna tell them to get out,” he added.

In two weeks or so, the restaurant will begin serving lunch.

On Wednesday, before the doors opened to the public, Jason said he was feeling optimistic. Customers had been giving him positive feedback at pre-opening events, especially those who live in the neighborhood apartments.

“We’re kind of trying to be part of the community and part of the neighborhood,” he said. “We’re going to be like a little neighborhood Mexican restaurant.”