Hi-Dive Lounge

Hi-Dive Lounge is an independent, locally owned neighborhood bar at 1411 W 39th St in Kansas City’s 39th Street West district (Midtown). Opened in late February 2013 by Grant Naugle and Bill Howgill in the former Minsky’s Pizza space, it pairs a deliberate dive-bar aesthetic with stiff drinks, scratch comfort food, and a quirky “mystery” can-beer machine — a “high-class bar that felt a little like a dive,” in Naugle’s framing. It has anchored 39th Street West’s late-night scene for more than a decade.

Description

Hi-Dive Lounge is a neighborhood bar on the 39th Street West restaurant row in Kansas City’s Midtown, a few blocks east of the KU Medical Center campus. The bar leans into a deliberate dive aesthetic — co-owner Grant Naugle described the goal as “a high-class bar that felt a little like a dive”¹ — while serving stiff cocktails, a broad beer selection, and in-house comfort food rather than the gloss of an upscale lounge.²¹

The bar is best known locally for its can-beer vending machine, which the venue bills as “the only can beer machine in town” and dispenses a mix of cheap “yard” beers and higher-end brews, sometimes as a mystery pour.² The kitchen at launch was run by Tim Daggit (formerly sous chef at Tannin and menu designer at Tower Tavern), turning out scratch comfort food alongside items such as short-rib tacos.¹ Hi-Dive operates seven days a week with late-night hours.²³

Ownership and history

Hi-Dive Lounge is independently and locally owned by Grant Naugle and Bill Howgill, who opened it in late February 2013.¹ Naugle was already an established Kansas City bar operator: he had co-opened Tower Tavern on Martini Corner with partner Damian King, and Tower Tavern had become a success on that stretch.¹⁴ On the official Hi-Dive staff page Howgill (“Billy”) is listed tongue-in-cheek as “Commander in Chief,” with Naugle (“Grant”) as “Beer Drinker.”⁵

Naugle scouted spaces in Waldo and Brookside before learning that the Minsky’s Pizza at 1411 West 39th Street — a longtime franchise location — was closing. He liked the location and felt the partners could “do what they wanted there,” and he and Howgill closed the deal.¹ At the time of opening, 39th Street West had established daytime/dinner anchors (Jazz, Room 39, d’Bronx) but lacked a late-night option, and commercial activity around the KU Medical Center was spurring new development on the strip — context the bar was positioned to fill.¹

The bar has operated continuously at 1411 W 39th St for more than a decade and remains active and locally owned.³²

Links

• Website: https://hidivelounge.com/ [Corrected — seed listed hidivekc.com, which does not resolve (connection refused); the live official domain is hidivelounge.com.]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hidivelounge/
• Phone: (816) 756-3483

See also

• Registry

Sources

Footnotes

1. The Pitch — “Streetside: Hi-Dive makes a well-timed splash in 39th Street West” (May 2, 2013) — https://www.thepitchkc.com/streetside-hidive-makes-a-welltimed-splash-in-39th-street-west/ — accessed 2026-05-31. (Opened late February 2013; owners Grant Naugle & Bill Howgill; Naugle’s Tower Tavern background with Damian King; “high-class bar that felt a little like a dive”; former Minsky’s Pizza space at 1411 W 39th; Waldo/Brookside scouting; 39th St West late-night gap and KU Med context; chef Tim Daggit; short-rib tacos.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Hi-Dive Lounge — official site — https://hidivelounge.com/ — accessed 2026-05-31. (“Laid back neighborhood place on 39th St”; beer selection and food; “the only can beer machine in town”; seven-days-a-week hours.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Yelp — Hi-Dive Lounge, 1411 W 39th St, Kansas City — https://www.yelp.com/biz/hi-dive-lounge-kansas-city-2 — accessed 2026-05-31 (“Updated May 2026”; address 1411 W 39th St; active; dive-bar category). ↩ ↩²

4. Feast Magazine — “Tower Tavern to Take Over The Drop Space, Adding a Private Party Room With Bar” (2019) — https://www.feastmagazine.com/the-feed/kansas_city_news/article_d1733aa2-acb9-11e9-babd-2f9341e868a2.html — accessed 2026-05-31. (Tower Tavern as Naugle’s established Martini Corner venue.) ↩

5. Hi-Dive Lounge — “About” page — https://hidivelounge.com/about — accessed 2026-05-31. (Staff listing: Billy as “Commander in Chief,” Grant as “Beer Drinker.”) ↩