Shop comes to Kansas City with barbecue, bar and hundreds of craft beers and sauces
When St. Louis-based BeerSauce Shop was looking to expand, Kansas City seemed the logical next step.
The business — a combination craft beer and artisan sauce retailer, barbecue restaurant and bar — was well-versed in Missouri liquor laws. And “Kansas City is a huge beer and barbecue town,” said Rick Duree, co-founder with Andrew Tessmer.
“Kansas City has hundreds of barbecue spots. I think we’re going to hold our own,” he said.
Their Kansas City shop softly opened Thursday in the Watts Mill Shopping Center, 1219 W. 103rd St., near Jasper’s, and plans a grand opening on May 28.
It serves a dozen barbecue items to eat at the bar and high top tables, or for carryout. The menu includes burnt ends with bourbon-infused barbecue sauce, brisket Reubens, Cubans, bourbon brisket French dip, and Tennessee barbecue nachos (topped with smoked hand-pulled pork or chicken, chili, queso, sweet slaw, sweet heat jalapenos and diced onion).
Duree collaborates with different championship teams for his barbecue, which is delivered weekly, then he “brings it to temp” per order with one of the shop’s sauces.
“We don’t want to have 100% McDonald’s consistency,” said Duree. “We are a flavor place. We want our customers to have a different experience every time.”
Along the west side of the store are more than 200 bottles of sauces (hot, medium, mild and sweet, along with different styles), rubs, ranch dipping sauce, habanero mustard, spicy pickles and more.
Duree said he used to buy sauces because he liked the label. But then he would have a dozen or more, since many weren’t that good. So at BeerSauce Shop customers can take a squeeze bottle filled with one of the sauces and try them on a tortilla chip or in a cup before buying. Most are $8.95; buy three and get the fourth one free.
It also has barbecue supplies including wood chips, a craft whiskey section and coolers for cold beer.
The east side features its “Wall of Beer” with about 420 craft beers in cans. They stock beers from small independent brewers and will restock with new beers often.
It has 22 rotating beers on draft at its “Beer Bar,” along with two craft sodas.
BeerSauce Shop will have “tap takeovers” twice a month featuring a particular craft beer; free tastings on Saturdays; and “school” nights on Wednesdays where customers can learn more about a particular beer, brewery, barbecue sauce or rub.
The shop plays professional barbecue and craft beer shows on two TVs, and 1950s rock ’n’ roll and blues tunes overhead.
BeerSauce Shop was founded in 2017. Duree is known as “The Sauce Guy,” while Tessmer is “The Beer Guy.” They plan a fourth St. Louis location by the end of the year.
Duree and Tessmer have investors in the new Kansas City store. They may open another area shop in 2022, perhaps in Lee’s Summit or north Johnson County, and are looking for franchisees for future expansion.