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

District Pour House + Kitchen is a modern American gastropub that made an unusual cross-state-line move in 2023 — shutting its beloved decade-old Waldo location and reopening in the restored historic Shawnee State Bank building on Johnson Drive, bringing craft cocktails, comfort food, and a decade of neighborhood-bar credibility with it.1

Description

District Pour House + Kitchen opened its Shawnee location over Memorial Day weekend 2023 inside the restored historic Shawnee State Bank building at 11101 Johnson Dr — a landmark address that matches the restaurant’s preference for buildings with character.12 The room seats roughly 100. Weekend brunch runs Saturday and Sunday; the full kitchen operates weekdays as well.2

The menu centers on modern American comfort food with a craft bar program that sets it apart from standard neighborhood fare. Signature items include fried risotto balls with roasted red pepper sauce, gumbo, fried chicken sandwich, and a cocktail menu built around house-infused liquors — strawberry rhubarb vodka, pickle vodka, brown sugar bourbon — alongside the well-known bourbon slushes.2 The bar program reflects McCall’s conviction that a gastropub should be a genuine destination for drinks, not an afterthought.

Interior design at the Shawnee location was handled by co-owner Dan McCall’s wife, Jenny Meyer-McCall, a Shawnee-area artist whose aesthetic threads through the room.3

Ownership and history

Dan McCall opened the original District Pour House + Kitchen in 2013 with co-founder Jason Rourke in the old Romanelli’s shopping center at 7122 Wornall Rd in Kansas City’s Historic Waldo neighborhood — a space with more than 80 years of restaurant history.4 McCall came to the project with hands-on KC hospitality experience, having served as general manager at Classic Cup Cafe on the Country Club Plaza (which he subsequently purchased) and at Coach’s Bar & Grill in Kansas City.4

The Waldo location operated for a decade, earning consistent neighborhood loyalty. When McCall closed Waldo in 2023 and relocated to Shawnee, it was a deliberate bet on Old Shawnee’s revitalization rather than an escape — he and his family live in the Shawnee Mission school district, and the small-town feel of the Johnson Drive corridor appealed to him after years in the denser Waldo and Plaza scenes.3

The Shawnee State Bank building brought a fitting new home: historic fabric, central location, and a neighborhood context analogous to what District had built in Waldo over ten years.

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

  1. https://johnsoncountypost.com/2023/06/12/district-downtown-shawnee-203989/ — Johnson County Post. Asserts: full name “District Pour House + Kitchen”; opened Memorial Day weekend 2023; 11101 Johnson Dr; historic Shawnee State Bank building; seats ~100; founded 2013 in Waldo; closed Waldo earlier in 2023. ↩ ↩2

  2. https://districtks.com/ — District Pour House + Kitchen official website. Asserts: gastropub concept; craft cocktails; bourbon slushes; modern American menu; weekend brunch. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. https://issuu.com/sunflower_publishing/docs/sm24fawi_pages/s/57955280 — Shawnee Magazine, Fall 2024. Asserts: Dan McCall from small town in western Kansas; family lives in Shawnee Mission school district; loves small-town feel; wife Jenny Meyer-McCall designed interior. ↩ ↩2

  4. https://www.thepitchkc.com/district-pour-house-kitchen-is-ready-for-some-regulars/ — The Pitch KC. Asserts: co-founders Dan McCall and Jason Rourke; founded 2013; Waldo location 7122 Wornall; 80+ yr restaurant history building; McCall previously GM at Classic Cup and Coach’s Bar & Grill. ↩ ↩2

See also

  • Registry
  • Owner-And-History-Research-Toolchain
Categories
  • Kansas City–owned
  • Shawnee Ks