Beer Kitchen

Beer Kitchen is a Westport gastropub billed as “Kansas City’s original gastropub,” pairing a deep craft-beer list with made-from-scratch food and one of midtown’s most popular weekend brunches. Opened in 2010 by Mark Kelpe and James Westphal, it anchors the Culinary Virtue restaurant collective.

Description

Beer Kitchen positions itself as “Kansas City’s first true gastropub,” built around a carefully curated, rotating craft-beer program paired with award-winning, made-from-scratch food.¹ It opened in 2010 with eight taps and more than 40 bottles, a serious craft selection for the Westport market at the time, and has since expanded its draft program.²³ The kitchen is known for a Kansas City-style burnt-ends burger and a heavily-attended weekend brunch featuring its “Drunken Doughnuts” and dishes like the cornflake-crusted chicken & waffle.¹⁴ The house tagline is “Honest Food. Damn Good Beer.”¹

Ownership and history

Beer Kitchen was founded in 2010 by co-owners Mark Kelpe and James Westphal, who set out to bring a serious craft-beer-driven gastropub to historic Westport.²⁵ The same ownership group operates as the Culinary Virtue restaurant collective, a Kansas City-metro group whose concepts include Beer Kitchen, Char Bar (Westport and Parkville), Meat Mitch Barbecue (Leawood), and Strang Hall (Overland Park).⁵⁶ Beer Kitchen is presented as the collective’s flagship gastropub and “Kansas City’s original gastropub.”¹⁵

Links

• Official site: https://beerkitchenkc.com/
• Culinary Virtue (parent collective): https://culinaryvirtue.com/restaurants/

Sources

Disputes

None recorded.

Footnotes

1. Beer Kitchen — official site. https://beerkitchenkc.com/ — asserts: “Kansas City’s original gastropub,” address 435 Westport Road KCMO 64111, current 2026 hours, brunch, tagline “Honest Food. Damn Good Beer,” signature items. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Feast Magazine, “Beer Kitchen Doubles Its Taps, Expanding Selection.” https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/article_b989c7da-bc45-11e4-8057-0350055f4c48.html — asserts: Beer Kitchen opened 2010 with eight beers on tap and 40+ bottles; co-owners Mark Kelpe and James Westphal; tap expansion. ↩ ↩²

3. The Pitch, “After a 180, a prime Westport spot becomes Beer Kitchen No. 1.” https://www.thepitchkc.com/after-a-180-a-prime-westport-spot-becomes-beer-kitchen-no-1/ — asserts: Beer Kitchen’s Westport origin and history. ↩

4. Yelp — Beer Kitchen, 435 Westport Rd. https://www.yelp.com/biz/beer-kitchen-kansas-city — asserts: listing updated May 2026, 1,300+ reviews, gastropub category, address, active operation; recent brunch reviews. ↩

5. Culinary Virtue — Restaurants. https://culinaryvirtue.com/restaurants/ — asserts: Beer Kitchen is part of the Culinary Virtue collective; described as “Kansas City’s first true gastropub”; located in historic Westport. ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. Culinary Virtue — collective overview. https://culinaryvirtue.com/ — asserts: group operates multiple KC-metro concepts including Beer Kitchen, Char Bar, Meat Mitch Barbecue, Strang Hall. ↩