Historic Kansas City BBQ restaurant sustains ‘extensive’ damage. What we know
A sign on the door of a famed Kansas City barbecue restaurant reads, “Arthur Bryant’s will be closed temporarily for the next few days.”
A Tuesday report from the Kansas City Health Department says the 1911 structure received “extensive” damage from flooding.
For more than 115 years, Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque has dished out smoked meat and tangy sauce for presidents and passersby. Now the storied business faces another challenge.
On a recent visit to the eatery at 1727 Brooklyn in the 18th and Vine District, a reporter noted that the restaurant’s adjoining dining rooms had been thoroughly emptied. Floor tiles had become unglued in spots. The water-damaged ceiling revealed the joists above.
The restaurant’s wood tables were stacked outside in the south parking lot. A restaurant employee said that electricians and plumbers had already been called. He said the restaurant hoped to reopen indoors within two weeks, depending on the timing of city inspections.
The restaurant’s owner wrote in a text, “We’re going as fast as we can.”
What happened?
Records from the City’s neighborhoods department offer a closer look of how the Arthur Bryant’s building was damaged.
A report shows that a dangerous buildings inspector was dispatched to the property this week for an initial inspection due to a broken water sprinkler that left “major water damage and deterioration” to the property. Inspection photos show the ceiling collapsed and exposed.
According to a sign posted at the restaurant, a water line was unintentionally struck during renovation work, causing a flooding incident.
The city can declare a building dangerous and order an owner to either demolish or repair the building within 30 days. That can happen when a structure has faced severe deterioration or damage that presents a safety risk.
But in this case, the file was closed because the property is still structurally sound, and the owner was advised to follow up with the fire department, the health department and the planning department to resolve certain issues, according to the inspection report.
As of Tuesday, the Kansas City Health Department suspended Arthur Bryant’s operating permit, according to spokesperson Dan Hoyt. In an email, he said the agency, which conducts restaurant inspections, did this because of “extensive structural and water damage inside the facility.”
Hoyt said that Evergy disconnected power to the building. City records show a permit was issued Wednesday related to an inspection for reconnecting the electrical. A permit related to demolishing the upstairs and dining room ceilings is pending as of Thursday afternoon.
Repair work in progress
Andy Miller — owner of Arthur Bryant’s, Guy’s Snacks, Guy’s Deli and other local brands — told The Star via text Thursday morning that he’s hoping to get the restaurant open as soon as possible.
“We’re expecting the work to be done yet today and then we need the city to inspect so I don’t have a definite date,” he wrote.
The incident occurred during planned renovation work on the building’s second floor, according to a statement posted online by Arthur Bryant’s.
Miller said pipes broke on the second floor after business hours. As a result, water came flooding through the dining room ceiling.
“All damage is water-related,” Miller said. “We are replacing the ceiling and replacing the lighting and such and anything that got wet.”
If it doesn’t reopen soon, Miller said his team would serve customers outside the restaurant — an old-fashioned “neighborhood-style” barbecue.
Miller purchased Arthur Bryant’s in 2022, along with his business partner, Chris Stuewe. Miller previously approached Jerry Rauschelbaugh, former president of Arthur Bryant’s, about expanding Arthur Bryant’s sauce line.
He eventually convinced Rauschelbaugh and his family to sell.
“It’s a brand my grandfather used to eat, a historic Kansas City brand, an iconic Kansas City brand. To be a steward of a brand like this is surreal,” Miller said in an interview with The Star shortly after the purchase.
The Rauschelbaugh family had owned the restaurant since 1982.
History of the Arthur Bryant’s building
Arthur Bryant’s has been serving ribs and burnt ends from the 18th and Brooklyn building since 1958. The restaurant itself traces its roots back to self-proclaimed “Barbecue King” Henry Perry. In about 1907, the Black entrepreneur started a barbecue stand in the Quality Hill district, before setting up his tent and smoke pit in the 18th and Vine neighborhood.
Perry’s protegee, Charlie Bryant, opened a restaurant at 18th and Euclid, which his younger brother, Arthur Bryant, took over in 1946 and renamed after himself. The “grease house,” as Bryant called it, moved east to Brooklyn Avenue a decade later. The building at 1727 Brooklyn was previously used as a mattress store, apartments and a bakery.
Former presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, and Harry Truman have eaten at Arthur Bryant’s. U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan visited the business while she was in town just last week.
While the building has an iconic past and present, it is not listed on either the local or national historic registers.
