Coming to Westport: 3-level country bar with dance floor, pizza & mechanical bull

Brett Allred’s four Westport venues — bars and restaurants and an event space — are currently closed because of the pandemic.

But he’s so sold on the area and its post-pandemic possibilities, he’s taken over the 12,000-square-foot former Californos space for a new country bar.

Johnny Kaw’s Outback will be spread out over three levels at 4124 Pennsylvania Ave. and hold up to 1,500 people inside, 500 on the patio. It will have about 80 employees for a scheduled summer opening.

Allred thinks the venue will bring new customers to Westport.

Californos opened in the horseshoe-shaped shopping center in 1988. The restaurant and wedding and private party venue closed in mid-2019.

Allred took over in October and has since gutted the space.

▪ The top level, on Pennsylvania, will have a bar serving pizza.

▪ The middle level will have the main stage with DJ, dance floor and mechanical bull dubbed Bull Snyder. It will have some live music.

▪ The lower level will have pool tables, darts and seating areas where customers can hang out.

▪ The patio also will have a DJ and yard games. It will connect to Allred’s Johnny Kaw’s Yard Bar, a sports bar he opened in August 2018.

He also has Bridger’s Westport, Shot Stop Bar & Grill and Lotus nightclub. He temporarily shut them down in November as COVID-19 restrictions tightened, but he hopes to reopen them in the spring.

He also has Johnny’s Kaw’s Bar & Grill, which is open in Waldo, and operations in Manhattan, Kansas, that are popular with Kansas State University students.

This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.