After just over a year, Kansas City area bar will say goodbye this weekend
After just over a year in business, The Davenport — the airy, TV-lined corner bar in KCK’s Strawberry Hill neighborhood — will serve its last drinks this Sunday.
“You’re invited to swing by for one last drink (or two) and a couple of laughs,” the bar announced on Facebook on Tuesday. “Help us empty these kegs, bottles and cooler. Strawberry Hill is a special place and we enjoyed being a part of it.”
Co-owners Justin Appleberry and Mike Howard opened The Davenport in April 2024 at 401 N. Sixth St. Unlike many other dive bars in that area, it leaned brighter and cleaner, with higher price points and a sportsy vibe that suggested happy hour more than last call.
“It’s a neighborhood spot where you can come chill out, feel safe and comfortable, and then get on home to your family — or to another bar,” Howard said at the time.
Its name was a nod to the lead character in the Prey detective novels by John Sandford, of which Appleberry is a devoted reader.
The location has had a handful of identities in recent years. Before The Davenport, it was Over Under, a short-lived sports betting lounge. Prior to that, it housed Manor Records, a record shop and music venue.
In an email, Appleberry said The Davenport’s closing isn’t the end of the space’s life as a drinking establishment.
“The spot will be closed for a month or two for some remodeling then reopen with a new name,” he said. “I don’t know the details, but it’ll be a bar.”
Also on the move is Jimmy B’s Pizza and Wings, which operated out of The Davenport’s back room until early June. The pizza outfit — owned by James Beard, who left a telecommunications job in March to pursue the business full-time — will reopen next month inside River Bluff Brewing at 201 Main St. in the River Market.
