Bottom Line: It didn't take long after the "810 Zone" opened a new restaurant on the Country Club Plaza before one named after Hall of Famer George Brett bites the dust.  01-25-2008 
George Brett�s restaurant to become 210, with more music and no sports memorabilia.
By JOYCE SMITH, KC STAR
   George Brett�s name is still on the building, but probably not for long.
   The Country Club Plaza restaurant named for the Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer is changing name and concept and is just waiting for a new sign to make it official, said manager Jeremy Hoyt.
    Haddad Restaurant Group opened George Brett�s four years ago at 210 W. 47th St. The former Fedora Cafe and Bar was converted into an upscale sports bar with Brett�s personal sports memorabilia in stainless steel and glass displays with fiber optic lighting.
    The concept dubbed 210 will focus on �food, rhythm and brews,� as in more music and a more upscale menu � such as crab ravioli and a $27.99, 8-ounce filet mignon. But no sports memorabilia, Hoyt said.
    Officials with Haddad did not return phone calls. Brett could not be reached for comment.

Feedback (1/25): It looks like the Star was scooped by nearly full month!!
Bye Bye, Brett

The slugger�s restaurant considers a name change that recalls better eats.

By Charles Ferruzza, The Pitch
Published: November 29, 2007  

   A friend and I recently wandered into George Brett�s (210 West 47th Street) for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and the four-year-old sports-themed restaurant was nearly empty.
   I hadn't been in the joint since I first reviewed it in 2004 ("Home Plates," January 22, 2004), and the interior didn't quite look the same. The d�cor was still stylishly sleek, but I remembered more photos of George Brett in the dining area when this place first opened.     
   And now there was a stage in a back corner. "We have bands now," our server explained during one of the few moments we actually saw him anywhere near our table; attentive, he wasn't. "The restaurant is going to undergo a transformation."
   "Is it still going to be called George Brett's?" my friend Bob asked. The waiter looked off into space and said, "It might be called something else. I've heard it might be changed to 210 Fedora."
   That would be a tribute, if you can call it that, to the two former restaurants that once occupied this space: the fancy Putsch's 210 and Fedora Caf� & Bar.
   Both of those restaurants were created by legendary Kansas City restaurateurs Jud Putsch, Joe Gilbert and Paul Robinson. Jud Putsch is now nearly forgotten. But in his heyday, he was the proprietor of the first-class Putsch's 210 � a real glamour joint from World War II that closed in 1973. Putsch also had his namesake cafeterias.
   I probably would have starved my first few years in Kansas City if it hadn't been for the modestly priced meals served at the Plaza location of his cafeteria. Several years after Putsch's 210 closed, restaurateurs Joe Gilbert and Paul Robinson opened a Parisian-inspired bistro in the location, complete with tile floors, Art Nouveau-style booths and the most popular bar in town. Even in its waning days, Fedora still did a thriving lunch business.   
    And then came George Brett's, which hasn't exactly pulled in the sports-loving crowds. A few groups of women came in for lunch while I was there that day; meanwhile, the 810 Zone sports bar, just around the corner, was packed.  I know because I peeked in after my third-rate lunch at Brett's, and you could barely move inside the 810 Zone's massive main room.
   It's going to take more than a name change to score points at 210 West 47th Street.

Brett has no regrets about restaurant
By JEFFREY FLANAGAN
The Kansas City Star
    When George Brett got into the restaurant business four years ago, he envisioned his place to be the Kansas City version of �Cheers.�
    But it never quite worked out that way, and now �George Brett�s� at 210 W. 47th St. on the Plaza is giving way to a new restaurant called �210.� And the new place will go on with the original investors, except for Brett, who is pulling out.
    �I don�t have any regrets,� Brett said. �I�ve essentially lived in Kansas City since 1974 and never really invested in anything here except houses. I wanted to try investing in something like a restaurant, a place I could hang out at, too.
   �But I never really felt comfortable doing that. I�d go there for lunch all the time, but I think you can count on the number of two hands how many times I went there for dinner and had a few beers.�
    Brett said his lifestyle changes were the main reason he didn�t show up more at his restaurant at night.
    �To be honest, with a wife and three kids,� he said, �I had much more fun spending nights at home having a cookout with them rather than going out to a restaurant, any restaurant.
    �Plus, it just never felt relaxing when I was at the restaurant. You feel like you constantly have to be �on,� especially when it�s your name out front. It�s not like when you go out to other places and you can just relax and be yourself.�
    �George Brett�s� was billed as an upscale sports bar but wound up in competition with �The 810 Zone,� which opened less than a year ago on the Plaza.
    �I have nothing against the guys at WHB or that place,� Brett said. �I congratulate them on a good concept.�