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

Courthouse Exchange is a below-street-level burger-and-beer tavern at 113 W Lexington Ave on the Independence Square, open since 1899 and billed as the only Missouri restaurant serving burgers and beer continuously since that year — making it one of the oldest operating eateries in the metro and an anchor of the McClain family’s Square revival.12

Description

Courthouse Exchange is a casual American restaurant and bar set in the rock-walled basement of a historic building on the north side of the Independence Square, directly across from the historic Jackson County Courthouse where Harry Truman served as presiding judge.2 The room sits below street level amid carved-rock surroundings, with a wooden bar and an extensive seasonal patio.1 The kitchen leans on tavern comfort food — its signature is a hand-breaded pork tenderloin (often served smothered in country gravy) alongside burgers, sandwiches, and beer.13 The business markets itself as “the only restaurant in Missouri serving burgers and beer since 1899.”1 An on-site live-music space, Between the Bricks, operates at the same location.4

Current hours are Mon–Thu 11am–9pm, Fri–Sat 11am–10pm, Sun 11am–8pm.1

Ownership and history

The restaurant traces its founding to 1899, a date asserted by the business itself and repeated by local press, which places it among the oldest continuously operating restaurants/taverns in the Kansas City area.12 The original founder’s name in 1899 is **** — primary records (early Independence directories or Jackson County archives) would be needed to confirm the first proprietor and the unbroken chain of operation. The business’s own language (“though the ownership has changed, the goodwill lives on”) indicates the establishment has passed through multiple owners across its 125-plus-year run rather than staying within one family the entire time.2

Today Courthouse Exchange is owned and operated by Ken and Cindy McClain, the husband-and-wife team behind the modern revival of the Independence Square.45 The McClains bought their first boarded-up building on the Square in 1998 and have since assembled a portfolio of roughly 15–18 Square businesses — including Ophelia’s Restaurant & Inn, Clinton’s Soda Fountain, Café Verona, Square Pizza, Main Street Coffee House, and others — under their privately held McClain Enterprises / McClain Restaurant Group.45 Courthouse Exchange is among the dining concepts they operate on the Square.45 Ken McClain is a longtime Independence attorney and entrepreneur; Cindy McClain holds a graphic-arts background and has been described as the driving force behind day-to-day operations of the Square businesses.4 The couple chose Independence in part because both of their grandparents had lived in the area.4

The exact year the McClains took over Courthouse Exchange is ****; available sources place it within their post-1998 Square-revitalization era but do not pin the specific acquisition date.

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Courthouse Exchange — official website (About / home), accessed May 2026. “The only restaurant in Missouri serving burgers and beer since 1899”; hours; underground rock-walled room. https://www.courthouseexchange.com/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. The Pitch — “Independence, MO’s charming, old-school eateries (plus a brewery!): a guide,” 2019. Founding 1899; across from the Truman courthouse; “ownership has changed, the goodwill lives on”; signature large pork tenderloin. https://www.thepitchkc.com/independence-mo-places-to-eat-2019/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Courthouse Exchange online menu via Toast — hand-breaded pork tenderloin and tavern items. https://www.toasttab.com/local/order/courthouse-exchange-restaurant-113-w-lexington/r-f728f485-2f0e-4546-bfbe-8a54ec768890 ↩

  4. The Independent (kcindependent.com) — “Palatable Pursuits: Trailblazer Cindy McClain.” McClain Square business portfolio (incl. Court House Exchange and Between the Bricks); Cindy’s Boulder/Michigan background; grandparents in Independence; first Square building 1998. https://kcindependent.com/palatable-pursuits-trailblazer-cindy-mcclain/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. Feast Magazine — “Ken and Cindy McClain Begin Bottling Polly’s Soda Pop in Independence,” 2016. Ken & Cindy McClain ownership of Square businesses and revitalization since 1998. https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/ken-and-cindy-mcclain-begin-bottling-polly-s-soda-pop-in-independence/article_024eb8de-6872-11e6-af4d-53819d9f1157.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3

See also

Categories
  • Locally owned
  • American
  • Independence