A RESTAURANT REINCARNATED Beloved Kirkwood eatery Green Parrot Inn now has new life as single-family home

by Melissa Wilkinson

Famous for its fried chicken and namesake bird, The Green Parrot Inn has spent its most recent years as a singlefamily home. It was the home’s unique history that attracted new owners John and Sara Chung to purchase it earlier this year.

Before it became a local legend, the 106-year-old building at 12120 Old Big Bend Road was originally a home built by William Bopp and wife Cora in 1914. In 1922, they sold the home to Louis and Martha Newbarth, who turned it into The Big Bend Inn and, allegedly, operated it as a speakeasy until 1933.

In 1938, the property was purchased by James Toothman and wife Mary, who renamed it The Green Parrot Inn after his sister Tena May Dowd’s Kansas City eatery of the same name.

In addition to fried chicken, the restaurant was well known for its side dishes of Spanish rice and Parker House rolls with honey butter. In its heyday, the dining room saw hundreds — and sometimes thousands — of guests per day.

Eventually edged out by competing restaurants, The Green Parrot Inn continued serving until 1983, after which it lived briefly as a banquet hall before its reincarnation as a two-story, 5,000-square-foot single-family home.

Former owners Zack and Erica Vance purchased the home in 2017, unaware of the building’s history. They soon learned of it’s importance to the Kirkwood community.

“I had a plumber come in not long after we moved in and he said, ‘Is this The Green Parrot? I’ve been looking for this place for years,’” said Zack Vance, originally from North Carolina. “I don’t know why, but I was kind of hooked at that point. It was really exciting to see someone’s face light up when they saw it.”

Zack Vance threw himself into studying the site’s history, checking out every document at the Kirkwood Historical Society to learn more about his new home. After deciding to move, the Vances hoped to pass 12120 Big Bend to someone who could appreciate its history as much as they have.

They found such buyers in John and Sara Chung. The couple were searching for a home for John Chung’s parents, who were preparing a move to St. Louis.

“My dad came across this house on Zillow and he immediately texted me and said, ‘You need to go look at this house,’”