The building in which Sammy’s sits is owned by Joni Bocelewatz, who also owns Fat Matt’s Vortex ( 411 N. Most of the judges, politicians and other local muckety-mucks who participated are long dead, but Sammy’s pays tribute to the legacy with a couple of poker paintings and a hard-to-miss “We don’t want nobody nobody sent” attitude toward interlopers.
Sixth St.), a low-ceilinged Strawberry Hill corner bar. Years ago, a guy by the name of Foots used to run illegal card games out of the back room at Sammy’s Tavern ( 222 N. Drink an Irish whiskey or two at the bar, or shoot a game of pool in the side room and it’ll come to you: All those men on the ceiling are named John. Look down and you’re standing atop old black-and-white checkerboard tile look up and the ceiling’s all black-and-white framed photos of famous men. Since 2010, it’s been run by an extremely tall, extremely gregarious gentleman named Chris O’Connor who, as the brother of a woman who married the grandson of Johnnie Baska, has a reasonable claim of legitimacy on the place. The bar is named after Johnnie Baska, who founded it in 1934. Seventh St.), though it’s pretty darn close. It’s cash-only, and bring a little extra: The Damrons’ daughter raises chickens, and if you stop by on the right day, you might be able to leave with some farm-fresh eggs.Īlso not technically in Strawberry Hill is Johnnie’s on Seventh ( 55 S.
Coach Lite (incredibly, it does not, and never has, shared any affiliation with Coach Club, located just a few miles away in Armourdale) has a horseshoe bar, a shuffleboard table and a little nook in back where you can make some money playing the machines. It’s a former Sinclair gas station that was converted into a bar sometime in the 1960s-or so Mike Damron, who owns the place with his wife, Stacy, told me. I don’t mind sharing a few pointers, though.Īs I say, the best bars are found in Strawberry Hill, but wander up into the hills south of the Kansas River into a neighborhood called Argentine and you’ll find a friendly little joint called the Coach Lite Club ( 2103 S. That sacred knowledge must be earned, round by round. If you think I’m about to divulge all the tavern secrets I’ve stockpiled in my many years of knocking around Wyandotte County, you’re crazy. They are more like neighborhood museums that happen to serve Fireball shots. In fact, to call them dives is not quite right. They are the best not because of their convivial atmosphere, or their thoughtful selection of beers and spirits, or their charming regulars, or some other measure of what one might think of as a “good time.” They are the best because they are portals to an era that no longer exists in American society.
The best dive bars in Kansas City-really, the best dive bars in the lower Midwest, and maybe the country-are quietly clustered in a historically Croatian enclave of Kansas City, Kansas, called Strawberry Hill.