This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Charlie D’s Seafood and Chicken on East 99th Street is the flagship of Gary Hill’s Kansas City fish-and-chicken family — the store the company itself calls “our original neighborhood spot,” a stand-alone building just north of Gomer’s Square at 99th & Holmes in south Kansas City. Opened about 2015 as Hill’s second location, it outgrew and outlived the c. 2009 Swope Parkway original and set the template the other units follow: catfish, basa and shrimp breaded to order in four styles, fried chicken, po’ boys, gumbo and jambalaya, fifteen Southern sides, and a Sunday soul-food brunch buffet with hot fish carried to the table and a DJ. The company now runs three stores, with a fourth announced for downtown for the 2026 World Cup.

Description

The store sits on the north side of East 99th Street just east of Holmes Road, north of the Gomer’s Square strip, in the pocket of south Kansas City the company’s own page files under “Willow Creek.”12 It keeps a dining room — the location page offers “dine in or carry out” — and, like the East store, a Sunday brunch service that reviewers at this address describe as a buffet.34 Ordering runs through the company site and a first-party Menufy page for this store; the older charliedskc.com landing page, which still shows the 99th Street address with the Ararat store’s phone number and “not accepting online orders,” is a stale artifact.56

The menu is company-wide and was set here. Fish is the point: channel catfish (fillet or whole), basa, cod, tilapia, whiting and orange roughy, breaded to order in the four styles Hill described in 2018 — hot and spicy, regular, no salt, light salt — plus butterfly or “homestyle” shrimp, with basa and catfish the perennial best sellers.72 Around it: chicken tenders, mixed and dark-meat boxes and a chicken-fried chicken; catfish and shrimp po’ boys, three Phillys and a Charlie D Burger; a Louisiana strand of gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and a shrimp boil; and $3 sides from a list of fifteen — collard greens, mac ‘n cheese, hush puppies, fried okra, battered mushrooms, spaghetti with meat sauce.7 The company’s pitch is that fish “comes in daily,” fries are hand-cut from whole potatoes, and nothing waits under a lamp.89

Sundays, 11 to 4, the company runs a “Sunday Soul Food Brunch” — hush puppies, collard greens, baked beans, fried okra and mac and cheese on a buffet, fried chicken, eggs, waffles and brisket, fresh fish brought hot to the table, “the DJ keeps it going all afternoon.”108 The brunch page does not say which stores host it; an August 2026 Yahoo Local reviewer of the 99th Street address reports attending “the Sunday brunch buffet” here for a second time, and the East store’s reviewers describe the same service.104 Ratings are middling — 3.0 on Yahoo Local (90 reviews), 3.2 on Apple’s Yelp feed — with praise for the basa and the breading and complaints about consistency.411

Ownership and history

Gary Hill is “born and raised in Kansas City” and, by his own account to KSHB in June 2026, a kid teachers had written off; he now mentors young people through the Boys & Girls Club, Kansas City Public Schools and the East 23rd PAC neighborhood group.12 He opened the first Charlie D’s around 2009 at 3123 Swope Parkway with a longtime school friend, naming it for the friend’s father, Charlie D, who “worked in the kitchen all his life” but was never a businessman; the Swope Parkway store was slow financially at first, the partner departed, and Hill bought him out. The company is now Charlie and Son LLC.2129

The 99th Street store opened about 2015 as the second location. Hill told the Martin City Telegraph in March 2018 that it “took off like a rocket”; the paper found him running two stores, planning a third in Independence, and aiming eventually at five. Hours then were Mon–Thu 11–8, Fri–Sat 11–10, Sun 12–8, and online ordering ran through a since-retired domain.2 The Independence store — now styled “Charlie D’s Express,” “fast, fresh, and drive-thru ready” — followed at 12323 E US 40, and the Ararat Drive store on the east side, charlie-ds-east, was operating by 2022.39 In June 2026 Hill told KSHB he would open a fourth store at 1124 Oak Street, across from City Hall, on July 1 to catch the World Cup crowd: “I know the great people of Europe love fish and beer so I want to provide that.”12 As of this writing the company site, its sitemap and its Instagram accounts still list three stores and no downtown address, so the opening is unconfirmed.91314

The Swope Parkway original appears to be gone. It is absent from the company’s locations page; the company’s own “Swope Parkway–Elmwood” service-area page points that neighborhood to the Ararat, 99th Street and Independence stores; the store’s former Menufy ordering subdomain now redirects to the Ararat Drive store; and the surviving directory listings for 3123 Swope Pkwy carry the Ararat store’s phone number.151617 When it closed is not documented. Two other “Catfish Cabin” listings under the name — 5311 Prospect Ave and 6633 Raytown Rd (now Southern Catfish Cabin) — are discussed on the charlie-ds-east page; neither is a company location.18

Last verified: 2026-08-29 · Source: the company’s own online menu at charliedsonline.com/menu (company-wide; the page does not specify a store) · Confidence: High for items, moderate for this store’s exact prices. Full transcription on the charlie-ds-east page; summary here.7

  • Sandwiches & burgers ($11 unless noted): Philly Cheesesteak · Chicken Philly · Catfish Po’ Boy · Shrimp Po’ Boy $13 · Charlie’s Chicken Sandwich · Charlie’s Fish Sandwich · Charlie D Burger
  • Chicken: Tenders from $8 · Mixed Chicken from $12 · Dark Meat from $16 · Chicken Fried Chicken $12
  • Seafood: Channel Catfish from $12 · Whole Catfish $12 · Basa, Cod, Tilapia or Whiting from $9 · Orange Roughy $12 · Butterfly Shrimp $12 · Homestyle Shrimp $14
  • Dinners ($15 unless noted): Charlie’s Fish Dinner · Whole Catfish · Butterflied Shrimp · Fish & Chicken Combo · Chop Chop · Fish Tacos $12 · Shrimp Tacos $13 · Kickin Chicken Wing Meal · Charlie’s Gumbo $16 · Jambalaya $16 · Red Beans & Rice $14 · Shrimp Boil from $14
  • Family meals ($44): Family Fish (basa) · Family Chicken Wing Meal
  • Sides ($3): sweet corn, green beans, coleslaw, potato salad, seasoned vegetables, fries, collard greens, steamed broccoli, mac ‘n cheese, mashed potatoes, hush puppies, fried okra, battered mushrooms, spaghetti with meat sauce, gourmet onion rings
  • Desserts: NY Cheesecake $5.50 · Strawberry Cheesecake $5.50 · Sweet Potato Maple Cheesecake $6.50 · Peach Cobbler $5 · Cake $5 · Lunch (Mon–Fri 11–2): pork chop or basa special $9

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Charlie D’s — official website, 99th Street location page (“Best Seafood in Willow Creek, Kansas City, MO”). Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: the “Willow Creek” neighborhood label; address and phone; online ordering; “straight from our kitchen to your plate”; Sunday brunch 11–4 with tableside fish and DJ. ↩

  2. Brad Lucht, “Charlie D’s Serves Fish Homestyle,” Martin City Telegraph, 2018-03-01 — Confirms: 600 E 99th St open about three years (c. 2015), north of Gomer’s Square off 99th & Holmes; “took off like a rocket”; 2018 hours and phone; first store at 3123 Swope Pkwy c. 2009, slow at first, partner departed; name from the partner’s father; two stores in 2018, third planned for Independence, goal of five; four breading styles; basa and catfish most popular. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Charlie D’s — official website, “Our Locations.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: 600 E 99th St described as “Our original neighborhood spot — dine in or carry out”; Ararat Dr “serving the east side”; “Charlie D’s Express — Independence … drive-thru ready”; no downtown location. ↩ ↩2

  4. Yahoo Local — “Charlie D’s Seafood and Chicken in Kansas City, MO – Reviews, Hours, and Contact Details.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: address; phone; hours matching the site; 3.0 stars / 90 reviews; reviews dated 03/13/26 (basa “10/10”), 05/14/26, 08/23/26 (“Sunday brunch buffet for the second time”). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Charlie D’s Seafood & Chicken — first-party Menufy ordering page for the 99th Street store. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: “Kansas City, MO 64131”; live ordering with Google Pay and Venmo. Menu did not render without scripts. ↩

  6. charliedskc.com — root landing page. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: a stale listing showing 600 E 99th St with the Ararat phone (816) 924-3474 and “this store is not accepting online orders at this time”; contradicted by the live store subdomain. ↩

  7. Charlie D’s — official website, online menu. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: every item and price in the Menu section (transcribed in full on the East page). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. Charlie D’s — official website, “Our Story.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: Hill “didn’t set out to build a restaurant empire”; three locations with a fourth planned downtown; daily basa, channel catfish and cod; hand-cut fries; brunch contents and DJ. ↩ ↩2

  9. Charlie D’s Seafood and Chicken — official website, home page. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: three listed stores with addresses, phones and hours (99th St: Sun 11–8, Mon–Thu 11–9, Fri–Sat 11–10; (816) 942-3000); founder Gary Hill; “feed people the way you’d feed your own family”; daily fish, hand-cut fries; email; Instagram @charliedsseafood; © 2026 “charlie and son llc”; no downtown store listed. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. Charlie D’s — official website, “Soul Food Brunch.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: “Every Sunday, 11am to 4pm”; buffet of hush puppies, collard greens, baked beans, fried okra, mac and cheese; fresh fish served tableside; “The DJ keeps it going all afternoon”; no store specified, no price. ↩ ↩2

  11. Apple Maps — “Charlie D’s Seafood & Chicken, 600 E 99th St, Kansas City, MO 64131.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: address; phone; hours matching the site; 3.2-star Yelp feed (90 reviews); takeout, delivery, dine-in. ↩

  12. Rae Daniel, “Kansas City restaurant owner opens new location during World Cup, invests in local youth,” KSHB 41, June 2026 — Confirms: Gary Hill “born and raised in Kansas City”; 15 years owning Charlie D’s; the school friend whose father was Charlie D and the buyout; a fourth location at 1124 Oak Street across from City Hall planned to open July 1; mentoring partnerships; the “fish and beer” quote. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. Charlie D’s — official website sitemap. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: location pages exist only for Ararat Drive, 99th Street and Independence; no downtown, Oak or Swope page. ↩

  14. Charlie Ds (@charliedskansascity), Instagram. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: bio “Gary Hill, Chef and Restaurant owner, 3 locations” listing 5111 Ararat Dr, 600 East 99th and 12323 East Hwy 40; no downtown address; posts visible through February 2025. ↩

  15. Charlie D’s — official website, service-area page “Best Seafood around Swope Parkway-Elmwood.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: the Swope Parkway–Elmwood area is served by the Ararat, 99th Street and Independence stores; no store at 3123 Swope Pkwy listed. ↩

  16. swopepkwy.charliedskc.com — former Menufy subdomain for the Swope Parkway store. Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: HTTP 301 redirect to araratdrive.charliedskc.com (the Ararat Drive store). ↩

  17. EatOkra — “Charlie D’s & Son Catfish — 3213 [sic] Swope Pkwy, Kansas City, MO 64130.” Retrieved 2026-08-29 — Confirms: a legacy listing for the Swope Parkway store carrying phone (816) 924-3474 (the Ararat number) and website swopepkwy.charliedskc.com; “not enough reviews.” ↩

  18. Yelp — “Charlie D’s and Son Catfish Cabin — Updated May 2026 — 5311 Prospect Ave, Kansas City, Missouri.” — Confirms: a listing under the ”& Son Catfish Cabin” name at an address not on the company’s locations page. ↩

More from the Registry

In South KC See all →

See also

Categories

On the record — ks.city/registry/charlie-ds · record updated 2026-08-29