An upscale pool hall with free tables is coming to Kansas City’s Westport

It’s first come, first served — and free — to play a round of pool at one upscale pool hall coming to Westport this summer.

Uncle Jim’s Pool Hall, located at 4127 Mill St., announced on Instagram that it would open July 10, moving into a district of bars known as the Horseshoe, owned by Allred Management. The collective of bars sits between Mill Street and Pennsylvania Avenue at Archibald Avenue.

The space will be huge, fitting eight pool tables, eight steel tip dartboards and 573 guests. And at least for now, Allred Management owner Brett Allred said both pool and darts will be free and available as they’re open, though the bar may consider some kind of reservation system for games in the future.

The bar is named after a man from the Ozarks who loved to play pool: Allred’s uncle Jim.

“The design was inspired by my Uncle Jim’s Ozark roots and my memories of visiting pool halls with him as a kid,” Allred said. “This project is really a tribute to him, and I think he would have loved it.”

Allred described the space as more elevated than a typical dive bar pool hall, decorated with antique brass lighting, leather accents, and deep tones of red and purple. The dark-colored floors and seating, as well as the low lighting, make Uncle Jim’s a moody space, but there are touches of a nautical aesthetic in the dock rope that covers columns and ship light fixtures.

Its bar menu will also take notes from and play with the tastes of Allred’s uncle Jim, who preferred his whiskey to be Jim Beam and a beer from Busch Light. Allred said the team is still working on a drink menu, but it will include cocktails and beer that start at $5.

Food won’t be available at Uncle Jim’s for now. But come spring, Allred said they hope to launch a food program that will serve Uncle Jim’s customers and guests at other Horseshoe district venues.

When guests visit Uncle Jim’s, they can hop to other Horseshoe district bars with a drink in hand and without showing their ID again, Allred said. Those other venues include Bar & Rec, Westport Landing, Jungalow and The Patio.

The Horseshoe, a three-story country bar, is also opening this summer inside the district, and Allred said a food concept of some kind — either a restaurant or food trucks — is in the works.

Other Allred Management concepts are also in Westport and include the Lotus and Q Kansas City nightclubs.