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

Harry’s Country Club is a bar and restaurant in Kansas City’s River Market at 112 E Missouri Ave, open since 2003. Founded and owned by Harry Murphy, it is a hip-but-reverent homage to a 1940s honky-tonk roadhouse — a long mahogany bar, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard on a Pitch-award-winning jukebox, a skyline-view patio with live music, and a comfort-food menu that runs through Southern and New Orleans–leaning plates. The Kansas City Star dubbed it “the Crown Jewel of the River Market.” It is independently and locally owned, with no corporate parent.1234

Description

Harry’s Country Club sits in the southeast corner of Kansas City’s River Market at 112 E Missouri Ave, where it has operated as a bar and restaurant since 2003.21 The concept is, in the words of contemporaneous reviews, “a hip but reverent take on a 1940s honky-tonk roadhouse” — an homage that adores rather than mocks the past, anchored by a long mahogany bar and a jukebox stocked with Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard.2 That jukebox earned the bar a Best Jukebox nod in The Pitch’s Best of Kansas City 2016 awards.2

The kitchen serves American comfort and roadhouse fare with a Southern and New Orleans lean — menu staples have included items such as a catfish po’boy — alongside a full bar, cocktails, beer, and a weekend brunch service.25 An adjacent patio offers live music and a view of the downtown skyline, and the venue is noted as pet-friendly on its patio.23 The Kansas City Star has called Harry’s “the Crown Jewel of the River Market,” and the spot has drawn a steady business-lunch and dinner-regular crowd over its two-decade run.13

Ownership and history

Harry’s Country Club was opened by Harry Murphy in 2003, debuting to a packed house on October 25, 2003, in a River Market space that had previously housed Big Daddy’s.23 Murphy is consistently identified across local sources as the founder and owner, and the business is described as a locally owned, independent staple of the River Market — not part of a chain or corporate group.13

Despite the seed note suggesting a possible tie to the same group as Voltaire or other River Market operators, no source reviewed connects Harry’s Country Club to a multi-venue restaurant group or to River Market developer Bill Nigro; available reporting attributes ownership solely to Harry Murphy. The seed’s founding year of 2011 is incorrect; the business has operated since 2003.

No reporting of an ownership transfer or sale was found; Murphy appears to remain the owner as of 2026.

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Kansas City River Market district directory — “Harry’s Country Club”; listed under Bar and Restaurant; address and phone; “Great food, drinks and live entertainment”; Best Jukebox, The Pitch Best of KC 2016. https://kcrivermarket.com/member/harrys-country-club/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Pat Murfey’s Off The Beaten Path Restaurant Review, “Harry’s Country Club,” July 4, 2011 — owner Harry Murphy; opened to a packed house Oct. 25, 2003; “hip but reverent take on a 1940s honky-tonk roadhouse”; long mahogany bar; Johnny Cash / Merle Haggard jukebox; skyline-view patio with live music; catfish po’boy; “Crown Jewel of the River Market” (KC Star). https://patsoffthebeatenpath.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/harrys-country-club/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  3. KSHB 41 Kansas City, “Taste and See KC: Harry’s Country Club” — River Market staple; owner Harry Murphy; opened in River Market in late 2003 after Big Daddy’s; concept and menu. https://www.kshb.com/entertainment/kcl/taste-and-see-kc-harrys-country-club ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  4. Yelp — “Harry’s Country Club,” 112 E Missouri Ave, Kansas City, MO; American / restaurant; active listing (updated May 2026). https://www.yelp.com/biz/harrys-country-club-kansas-city ↩

  5. Harry’s Country Club official website — address 112 East Missouri Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64106; phone (816) 421-3505; hours, weekend brunch, full bar; “The Crown Jewel of the River Market.” https://www.harryscountryclub.com/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

See also

Categories
  • Locally owned
  • River Market