Harpo's Bar & Grill

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

Harpo’s Bar & Grill is a Westport sports bar and burger spot, open in Kansas City since 1991 as an offshoot of the original Harpo’s founded in Columbia, Missouri, in 1971.

Description

Harpo’s Bar & Grill is a sports bar and grill in the Westport entertainment district of Kansas City, Missouri, at 4109 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Westport location has operated since 1991 and markets itself on “the coldest beer in Kansas City,” daily specials, and burgers. It is a fixture of the Westport bar scene and a gathering point for sports crowds — football Saturdays, and University of Missouri (Mizzou) games in particular, are a long-standing tradition given the brand’s Columbia origins.

The Harpo’s name and concept originated in Columbia, Missouri, where the original Harpo’s opened in 1971 near the University of Missouri campus. The Westport venue is a Kansas City extension of that lineage, opening two decades later in 1991.

The base data’s note that Harpo’s was “the original Westport sports bar, est. ~1980” could not be confirmed; documented sources place the Westport opening in 1991 and the brand’s true 1971 founding in Columbia. The “~1980” and “original Westport sports bar” claims are flagged.

Ownership and history

The Harpo’s brand was founded in 1971 in Columbia, Missouri, by Dennis Harper, who positioned the bar as an ideal student workplace built around social skills as much as academics. The concept became a defining Mizzou sports-bar institution. The Westport, Kansas City location opened in 1991.

Ownership of the Harpo’s brand changed in 2010: MU alumni Kevin Fitzpatrick and Chuck Naylor (with, per one account, Kevin Duffy) purchased Harpo’s from Dennis Harper on March 2, 2010. A separate database listing names “James Ol” as owner of Harpo, but that source is low-confidence and unverified. Because current ownership of the Westport location could not be firmly established, the Ownership infobox field is marked provisional.

Tier classification

Tier 2. Harpo’s Westport is locally operated and a genuine 30+ year Kansas City Westport fixture, which argues toward strong local standing. However, it is a Kansas City extension of a brand founded and rooted in Columbia, Missouri — not a born-in-KC concept — and current Westport-specific ownership could not be verified as a deeply local owner-operator. The Columbia-origin brand and unverified KC ownership keep it at Tier 2 pending confirmation; if a born-and-raised KC-metro owner-operator of the Westport location is confirmed, this could merit reconsideration toward Tier 1.

Last verified: 2026-07-24 · Source: harposkc.com official Food Menu, Drink Menu, and Specials pages (src 7) · URL(s): https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-food-menu · https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-drink-menu · https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-happy-hours-specials · Confidence: High for food (full official capture); the official Drink Menu page currently reads only “We are updating our menu — please stay tuned,” so the drink program is captured via specials pricing only — hence partial

Sports bar and grill. Westport, 4109 Pennsylvania Ave. Online ordering via Toast (order.toasttab.com, linked from harposkc.com) (src 7).

Starters

Tiger Bites — crispy boneless chicken in choice of sauce: Buffalo, BBQ, Tiger Sauce, Garlic Parmesan, or Korean BBQ — $10.95[src 7]
Chicken Quesadilla — grilled flour tortilla, seasoned chicken, house quesadilla mix, sour cream, salsa — $10.95[src 7]
Toasted Ravs — golden breaded meat ravioli with marinara — $10.95[src 7]
Mozzarella Sticks — battered, deep-fried, with marinara — $10.95[src 7]
Chips & Queso — $10.95 (+$1 add beef)[src 7]
Chicken Wings — deep fried and grilled, tossed in choice of sauce — $13.95[src 7]

Gourmet Burgers (served with fries, chips, or tots)

Classic Cheeseburger — 1/2-lb burger, choice of cheese — $12.95 (+$1 bacon)[src 7]
Blue Moon Burger — blue cheese crumbles and bacon — $13.49[src 7]
Firehouse Burger — pepper jack, jalapeños, sriracha — $13.49[src 7]
Veg Out Burger — 100% plant-protein patty, choice of cheese — $14.95[src 7]

Sandwiches & Stuff (served with fries, chips, tots, or side salad)

Chicken Tenders — with choice of dipping sauce — $12.95[src 7]
Talkin’ Turkey Sandwich — sliced turkey, cheddar, bacon, BBQ sauce — $12.95[src 7]
Westport Chicken Sandwich — seasoned chicken breast, ham, bacon, jack cheese, honey mustard — $12.95[src 7]
St. Joe Pork Tenderloin Sandwich — deep-fried tenderloin, lettuce, tomato, onion — $12.95[src 7]
BLT — $11.95 (+$1 fried egg)[src 7]
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich — breaded chicken in Buffalo sauce, pepper jack, ranch — $12.95[src 7]
Tavern Fish & Chips — beer-battered cod, tartar sauce — $12.95[src 7]
Harpo’s Club Sandwich — turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato — $12.95[src 7]

Salads & Chili

Penn Street Salad — grilled or fried chicken, mixed greens, vegetables, shredded cheese, croutons — $12.95[src 7]
Harpo’s Chef Salad — turkey, ham, vegetables, shredded cheese, croutons — $12.95[src 7]
Oregon Trail Chili — $5.95 cup / $7.95 bowl[src 7]

Sides

Fries, tots, potato chips, or side salad — $5.95 each · extra dressing $1.00[src 7]

Drinks & weekly specials

Official Drink Menu page is a placeholder as of 2026-07-24: “We are updating our menu — please stay tuned.”[src 7]
Happy hour (Tue–Fri 4–7pm, dine-in): $9.95 appetizers; $4 domestic bottles and drafts; $5 import/craft bottles and drafts; $6 double wells; $5 house wine[src 7]
Rotating daily specials, e.g.: Fri $9.95 fish & chips all day; Sat $5 seltzers, $5 mimosas/Bloody Marys 11am–5pm; Sun $9.95 burger + fries, $4 domestic bottles; Tue $2 “Cold Snacks” (Montucky, PBR, Outlaw, Garage Beer) 9pm–close; Wed Burger Madness $9.95; Thu $9.95 Buffalo chicken sandwich[src 7]
“Coldest beer in Kansas City” positioning; Mizzou football Saturdays and KC sports watching[src 5]

Full menu + ordering: harposkc.com

Sources

Westport KCMO business directory — Harpo’s — https://westportkcmo.com/business/harpos-2/ — accessed 2026-05-30
~~Harpo’s Westport (Squarespace) — https://harpos-westport.squarespace.com/~~ — DEAD LINK (HTTP 404 as of 2026-06-23); superseded by the official site at harposkc.com (src 5).
Columbia Missourian — “Owner of Harpo’s downtown bar sells after 39 years” — https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/owner-of-harpo-s-downtown-bar-sells-after-years/article_348393c4-879e-5715-bb01-46a333eb40c1.html — accessed 2026-05-30
Yelp — Harpo’s, 4109 Pennsylvania Ave (listed open; updated June 2026; no “permanently closed” flag) — https://www.yelp.com/biz/harpos-kansas-city — accessed 2026-06-23
Harpo’s Westport official site (live; address, hours, online ordering, “since 1991”) — https://harposkc.com/ — accessed 2026-06-23
Instagram — @harposkc (active primary account, 4109 Pennsylvania address) — https://www.instagram.com/harposkc/ — accessed 2026-06-23
Harpo’s official menu pages (accessed 2026-07-24) — Food Menu https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-food-menu (full menu with prices); Drink Menu https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-drink-menu (placeholder: “We are updating our menu”); Specials https://harposkc.com/kansas-city-westport-harpo-s-happy-hours-specials (week of Jul 24–30, 2026: happy-hour pricing, daily specials, and Monday listed as “We will open for Chiefs and Mizzou games, as well as other specified sporting events/holidays” — vs. the site hours block still showing Mon 5pm–3am); Toast online ordering https://order.toasttab.com/online/harpo-s-westport-4109-pennsylvania-ave; contact email bob@harposkc.com per site footer.

Verification

Drafted 2026-05-30 from web research; 4 sources.

PASS-4 status re-verification 2026-06-23 (Compiler): Confirmed OPEN / active. Official site harposkc.com live with current hours and address [src 5]; Yelp listed open, updated June 2026, no closure flag [src 4]; Instagram @harposkc active [src 6]. registry_status held at active; added status_last_verified: 2026-06-23. Source-link remediation: old Squarespace site (src 2) is now a dead 404 — struck through and flagged, official site (src 5) added as replacement. Active Instagram handle clarified (@harposkc primary vs. low-activity @harposkc_). Columbia-vs-KC ownership question unchanged and still open. Westport founding confirmed as 1991 (base data’s “~1980 / original Westport sports bar” not supported). Brand origin confirmed as Columbia, MO 1971 (founder Dennis Harper). Current Westport-location ownership unverified — 2010 Fitzpatrick/Naylor purchase is documented for the Columbia operation, not clearly the KC location; “James Ol” listing is low-confidence. Facebook page not confirmed.