Shooting death of beloved KC chef ‘hit hard’ for friends, local restaurant community

A single rose lay outside Brookside Irish restaurant Brady and Fox Restaurant and Lounge on Thursday afternoon; a sunflower rested against the front door.

The blooms are a small memorial to Shaun Brady, an Irish immigrant and the owner of the Kansas City restaurant at 751 E. 61st St.

Brady was shot and killed Wednesday around 5:15 p.m., after encountering multiple individuals surrounding a parked car while he was taking out the trash. Kansas City police arrested two teens shortly after .

On Thursday, “temporarily closed” signs hung in the restaurant’s windows. A small group remained inside the restaurant Thursday but did not want to comment. They told The Star they were unsure when it could reopen.

Jasper Mirabile, owner of Jasper’s Italian Restaurant at 1201 W. 103rd St., said his friends in the restaurant community are grieving deeply.

Mirabile admitted he himself has a hard time finding the words to describe the loss. He had been friends with Brady for several years.

“He would give anything to anyone who came in the restaurant,” he said. “You never heard one bad thing about Shaun. Not once.”

Brady invited Mirabile’s family to his restaurant many times, and the two swapped stories about the industry and shared advice.

Brady’s wife, Kate, and two young children were his entire life, Mirabile said. He worked long, hard weeks to provide for them.

“When I heard the news … I was lost,” Mirabile said. “This one hit hard.”

John McClain, owner of Browne’s Irish Marketplace, similarly described Brady as a hard worker and a family man.

“He was a very giving person, and we’re just saddened by it,” McClain said.

Separately, both Mirabile and McClain told The Star they were concerned for their own safety, as well as their staff’s, especially considering Brady was killed doing something employees do every day, multiple times a day.

Mirabile held a meeting with his staff Thursday to update them on security protocol. He’s looking into ways to make sure his employees stay safe in the parking lot, especially at night.

“There needs to be something done in Kansas City, and there needs to be a change,” Mirabile said.

McClain said it “could have been any one of us.”

“I’m sorry it was him,” he added.

Brady grew up in County Tipperary, Ireland, and was considered to be a pillar in the local Irish community. He met his wife while she was traveling in Ireland.

Kate and Shaun Brady moved to Chicago before relocating to Kansas City in 2013. His first restaurant, Brady’s Public House, at 5424 Troost Ave., closed during the pandemic.

He opened Brady and Fox with his partner, Graham Farris, in 2022. The restaurant is known for its traditional Irish dishes like fish and chips, bangers and mash, and shepherd’s pie.

“The restaurant community in Kansas City, our hearts go out to his family,” Mirabile said. “The impact that he had on our lives … it will never fade.”