Johnnie's on Seventh (Johnnie's Sports Bar, KCK)

Johnnie’s on Seventh — also traded as Johnnie’s Sports Bar and historically Johnnie’s Club — is a 1934-founded dive and sports bar at 55 S 7th St in Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, Kansas. Named for founder Johnnie Baska; run since 2010 by Chris O’Connor, whose sister married Baska’s grandson. A standalone red-brick two-room shotgun room with black-and-white checkerboard tile, permanent stools, and a ceiling of framed photographs of famous men named John. A soccer and NFL viewing bar. Tier 1 — 90+ years in one Wyandotte County neighborhood, family-line ownership. This is not johnnies-jazz-bar, the separate B&B Theatres jazz venue in Missouri.¹²³

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Description

Johnnie’s on Seventh is a two-room shotgun dive in a freestanding red-brick building on the south side of Strawberry Hill. Scoundrel’s Field Guide describes black-and-white checkerboard tile, permanent bar stools that may be 1934 originals, taxidermy in the second room, vintage photographs of the bar’s own history, and a ceiling hung with framed portraits of famous men named John — the house joke made architectural. Multicolored lights go up at the holidays.²

Functionally it is a sports bar as much as a dive: Kansas City Magazine files it among the Kansas City, Kansas dive bars, Visit Kansas City, KS describes it as a neighborhood gathering spot for watching sports, and listings emphasize soccer alongside American leagues.¹⁴ Scooter’s Bar Journal, revisiting in November 2016, recorded the room’s shift from private club to public bar, the arrival of craft beer, and free fried catfish.³

Disambiguation. This page documents the Kansas City, Kansas bar at 55 S 7th St. It is a wholly separate business from Johnnie’s Jazz Bar & Grille (the B&B Theatres–affiliated jazz venue at 1400 Main St in the Power & Light District, with a sibling in Liberty, Missouri). The shared first name is coincidence; the two have no established ownership relationship.²

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Ownership and history

The bar opened in 1934 and takes its name from founder Johnnie Baska.²¹ It ran for much of its life as a private club, appearing under the names Johnnie’s Club and Johnnie’s Sports Bar; Scooter’s Bar Journal’s 2007 visit found it still private, and a November 2016 revisit found it converted to a public bar.³

Since 2010 it has been run by Chris O’Connor, described by Kansas City Magazine as the brother of a woman who married Johnnie Baska’s grandson — a family-adjacent succession rather than a sale outside the line.¹²

Year	Event
1934	Johnnie Baska opens the bar; fixtures and stools may date to this year2
through 2000s	Operates as a private club under the Johnnie’s Club / Johnnie’s Sports Bar names3
2010	Chris O’Connor takes over1
by Nov 2016	Converted from private club to public bar; craft beer added3
2021	Featured in Kansas City Magazine’s KCK dive-bar survey1
Jul 2025	Listed by Visit Kansas City, KS among Strawberry Hill’s dive bars4

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Menu

menu_status: unverified. Johnnie’s publishes no menu — there is no website and no first-party food or drink list. The only sourced food reference is Scooter’s Bar Journal’s 2016 note of free fried catfish and an expanded craft-beer selection; neither is a current menu.³ No prices are recorded here; aggregator menu pages for this bar are not a usable source.

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Links

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Johnnies-on-Seventh-100039083187227/

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Sources

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Footnotes

1. “Strawberry Hill might just have the best collection of dive bars in America,” Kansas City Magazine, June 28, 2021 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: Johnnie’s on Seventh at 55 S. Seventh St., established 1934, run since 2010 by Chris O’Connor, the brother of a woman who married the grandson of Johnnie Baska; standalone red brick building; filed among Kansas City, Kansas dive bars. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. “Johnnie’s on Seventh Review,” Scoundrel’s Field Guide (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: 55 S 7th St, Kansas City, KS 66101; phone (913) 371-0300; founded 1934 by Johnnie Baska; sold in 2010 to someone connected to the original owner; Strawberry Hill; two-room shotgun dive with black-and-white checkerboard tile; standalone red brick two-story building with pitched interior roof; permanent stools possibly 1934 originals; vintage photographs; rotating large photos of famous men named John; taxidermy in the second room; multicolored holiday lights. [Enthusiast field guide — not a newsroom; corroborated on founding year and ownership by Kansas City Magazine.] ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. “Johnnie’s On Seventh,” Scooter’s Bar Journal, August 2007, revisited November 5, 2016 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: 55 S 7th St, Kansas City, KS 66101; Strawberry Hill; dive/sports bar; formerly operated as a private club under the names “Johnnie’s Club” and “Johnnie’s Sports Bar”; by the 2016 revisit it had gone from private to public; craft beer added; free fried catfish served. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. “Strawberry Hill Might Just Own the Dive Bar Crown in KC — and It Keeps Getting Better,” Visit Kansas City, KS, July 7, 2025 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: Johnnie’s on Seventh is a currently operating Strawberry Hill bar, described as a neighborhood gathering spot for watching sports, as of July 2025. ↩ ↩²