A few months ago, just before the COVID-19 shutdown, an Italian-American couple opened Viona’s Italian Bistro in downtown Overland Park. The restaurant, which serves Italian dishes from old family recipes, replaces Ambrosia Cafe at 7933 Marty St. Ambrosia Cafe closed last fall. Since opening the restaurant in February, Benny and Kika Morina have managed to grow their customer base, even with only deliveries and takeout orders.

“We got lucky, and I guess we have to thank the community because there’s a lot of folks during that lockdown who supported us even more,” said Benny Morina. “We had people ordering pretty much every other day because they wanted to make sure we stay here and don’t go anywhere.