As you may remember, 3 weekends ago B and I did a nice round of
KCK barhopping. We had concentrated mainly on the outer areas of town and decided to save the inner area for a later visit. Well, this past weekend B's brother D was in town for his annual birthday visit an B suggested that the three of us go out on Saturday to tackle the next section of KCK.
Now,
two weekends ago another fella (who I'll call FB) and I went out for some on-foot downtown KCMO barhopping. We were joined by B for about half of it and I even got in 4 new bars that day (Cafe Al Dente, Los Tules, Padddy O'Quigley's, and Madrigal). But somewhere along the way shots started coming into play and after only 16 bars I was trashed and spent most of the following day miserable. So I was a little hesitant at first, but I was anxious to meet B's brother. Plus, B and I both paid the price for those shots and learned our lesson, so I knew none would come into play (at least not for me).
We discovered on our last KCK barhopping trip that many of KCK's bars are registered as private clubs, a concept that seems to be unique to this portion of the metro area. In the outlying areas they all served us, but as we got closer to the core of KCK we found more and more places that would buzz us in but then refuse us service. Eventually our success rate dwindled to about 50-50. Only one place would even
tell us how to become a member. "It's my first day, the owner hasn't told me how that works yet" was a common mantra recited by various bartenders at these places. Some of the friendlier bartenders at places that
did serve us tried to explain to us the differences in regulations surrounding private clubs but everyone seemed to have a different theory.
So barhopping in KCK is both an adventure and an aggravation because it's a crapshoot and there's really no way of telling until after you have been buzzed in and pull up a stool if they're going to be willing to serve you or not. With the exception of one anecdote, the following is the tale of the places that
did serve us this past Saturday.
Our day began shortly after 10:00 in the morning...
#1: Dad's Hole In The Wall State Ave, Kansas City, KS [
map]
This was a nice, tiny little spot. Bar seating for 9, with a total capacity of 32. Almost completely invisible from the main road, you have to be looking for it to find it.
We needed to kill some time before more bars would open so stopped by a McDonald's for breakfast. We then headed on down to Argentine to resume our journey.
#2: Reich's Club Argentine, Kansas City, KS [
map]
Despite the name this place had little to do with WW2 Germany. However it
was a little bunker-like. After entering the front door you proceed down a long central corridor to another door towards the back where you are then buzzed in.
#3: Country Cabaret (CC Club) Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [
map]
This was like being in an entirely different world. The ultimate Mexican country-western bar experience. The bartender passing out free homemade tamales as the sounds of donkeys braying punctuate the music. The men's room was unusual too, facing the bar with only a partial saloon door offering any semblance of privacy.
Inside the men's room we noticed that evidently condom peddlers are patriotic and support right-wing conservative issues:
#4: Casino Bar Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [
map]
With an interior finish of the finest particle board, this place looked like it had the potential to get pretty rough. There were several interesting characters about, but most of the people were pretty pleasant. The bartender was particularly helpful as he tried to explain the concept of KCK's private clubs and why some serve us and others don't.
In an eerie moment, B brought up General Custer as a metaphor while I was driving around looking for a place to park near our next stop. I then rounded the corner and found that the next street was Custer Lane. Creepy.
#5: Alibi's Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [
map]
This almost went on the list of places that refused to serve us, but a customer "remembered" B and vouched for us to get us in. We of course reciprocated with a beer. And, B and D
had actually been here before and never had a problem until now.
#6: Oasis: The Club Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [
map]
This was another rough looking place but we were comfortable enough to sit and play several rounds at the trivia box. The restroom however was one of the nastiest I've seen. The sink was grimey enough that B wouldn't use it, figuring it would make his hands dirtier. The toilet was clogged with cigarette butts, and the trash can had been put to use as a toilet. Naturally, i took a picture.
#7: Club Sparks Armourdale, Kansas City, KS [
map]
This was a bonus bar, we were actually heading next door to a place called Carol's Place that for whatever reason was not open.
This place, open for only a few months now, was really nice and looking to be proving quite popular. It was very clean with a great smell (how often can you say that about a bar?) and they were serving up the Saturday taco special. Our bartender was the owner and was terrific. This may have been the most expensive bar of the day, as well as in this area, but it looks like it's going to do very well.
#8: Pam's Pizza & Pub Park Drive, Kansas City, KS [
map]
We were hoping this would be more pub than pizza place, and we were in luck. :) The bartender gave D a birthday shot.
#9: Gossip Inn Park Drive, Kansas City, KS [
map]
Had we realized how close this was to Pam's, we could have gotten here faster by walking. :) The pool table was free of charge today (quarters provided at the bar) so we played a couple of games.
#10: Dotlander's Central, Kansas City, KS [
map]
The bar was full so we had to sit at a nearby table.
A few barhopping trips I coined what I refer to as
The K Axiom, which states that when B and I are out for drinks the topic of conversation will turn to a discussion of our mutual friend K after about 10 bars. So, to test the axiom, I had gone out of my way not to mention K at all today. But, like clockwork, D suddenly asked over our 10th beer, "By the way, what's K up to?" It still holds true! :)
As we left, we noticed my lousy parking job...
#11: Hideout Club Central, Kansas City, KS [
map]
I believe this was the bar where "The Perfect Storm" was playing on TV, and we discussed the futility of watching a 2-hour drama that's based on a true story where everyone dies at the end anyway.
Now our next stop, Dixie's Club, we had been warned probably wouldn't let us in. We decided to give it a try anyway. While circling around the block to park I was nearly clipped by a speeding car that passed me on a one-lane road. It happened in front of this house:
We entered Dixie's and immediately faced a grilling not only from the bartender but also from a customer at the end of the bar. "Check their membership cards! They don't belong here! Throw them out!" he kept shouting as the bartender nagged a Mexican family who also were not members. This wasn't necessary at all, we had respected the rules everywhere we have been, but this customer was being way too much of an asshole about it. So, noticing that he was reading the new Harry Potter book, B leaned in and told him how it ended as we were heading towards the door.
We stepped outside into the blistering heat and saw The Blue Rose across the street. D and I were tired of being tossed out of places (Dixie's had made about 5 today) so B went to go check it out. After a few minutes of standing in the heat without a peep from B, we decided to go see what was happening only to find B sitting comfortably in the A/C halfway through his frosty cold beer.
#12: Blue Rose Central, Kansas City, KS [
map]
The bartender gave us membership applications, the only private club we found that actually offered a way to become a member, and poured our beers.
#13: Johnnie's Sports Bar Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [
map]
We'd tried to come here 3 weekends ago but that was on a Sunday and they were closed. Behind the bar sits a really cool little brick street neighborhood.
#14: Chicago's Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [
map]
Another busy place, the 3 of us crowded around the far end of the bar. Chicago's is the buildding down on the corner, I forgot to get a picture until we were about to leave so had a lousy vantage point.
#15: Sammy's Tavern Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [
map]
Once we arrived, B and D realized that they had actually been here before.
#16: Six-Ten Club Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [
map]
B & D thought they had been here before as well.
#17: The View Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS [
map]
I forgot to take a picture of this place, located about halfway up the bluff. We played several rounds of trivia here. This may have been a gay-friendly bar based upon the rainbow-colored Bud Light clock and the colorful beer tap.
We came back to downtown KCMO and made three more stops, none of which were new for me but all of which were new for D (and one new for B).
#18: Zoo Bar We arrived just after closing but they were nice enough to let us come in anyway. (Another reason why this is one of my favorite bars!)
#19: Red Front Several more rounds of trivia were played here. As we left, D noticed another of my infamous lousy parking jobs:
#20: Comedy City Cari served us up the final beers of the night while an alchohol-induced funk settled over us.
Our final tally came to 20 beers over an 11 hour period. Not too bad. I fell asleep quickly on getting home and awoke the next day feeling great. Much better than two weekends ago! Beer good... shots bad!
