After more than 40 years, Kansas City area restaurant has closed, headed for auction
Oden’s, a Belton staple since 1982, closed permanently Sunday.
Owners Jim and Karen Oden said in a note posted to Facebook on Wednesday that the restaurant, at 1302 N. Scott St., would be put up for auction in the next month.
“Due to challenging times, we are no longer able to keep our doors open,” they wrote. “We want to express our deepest gratitude to the community for your unwavering support throughout the decades.”
They added, “We remain hopeful that a new chapter awaits. Our greatest wish is that the space will continue to be a place where people gather to create new memories, just as it has been for so long.”
A family-owned restaurant, Oden’s was long known as a barbecue joint. It also served daily specials like prime rib and fried chicken livers, plus home-cooked pies, cobblers and bread pudding. In recent years, the menu shifted more toward items like burgers, pork tenderloins and chicken-fried steak.
The Star was unable to reach the Odens, but they told Fox 4 News on Thursday that operating a barbecue pit indoors had become “too complicated and expensive.” They also said they planned to sell to a new owner, but the deal fell through last week.
