Ted's Taproom

Ted’s Taproom is a cocktail-forward jazz room at 1829 McGee St. in the East Crossroads, in the former KC Wineworks space. Developer Jon Copaken (Copaken Brooks) opened it in May 2026 as a memorial to his friend Ted Burns, with Gerald Dunn of the American Jazz Museum booking the room and Whitney VinZant (W. VinZant Restaurants, including Gram & Dun) operating it. Live jazz most nights; Sundays are vinyl on The Star’s account.

Description

Copaken told The Star Kansas City does not have enough “real, authentic jazz places that musicians wanna come to.” The room is a tribute in the name and, in his phrasing, “a place for the jazz community.”¹ The official About page is more personal: Burns as sportsman, intellect, “interrogator,” the friend who hung out at Milton’s, drove musicians to gigs, and walked 18th & Vine. “This place is dedicated to Ted.”²

It is not a full restaurant. An October 2025 announcement quoted Copaken saying the focus would be drinks and music; by opening, The Star found scratch-made food anyway — pesto chicken, buffalo chicken, “The Meats” and margherita flatbreads, plus bruschetta boards, buffalo chicken dip, whipped ricotta and deviled eggs.¹³ Chef Thomas Pelkey (Gram & Dun) built the cocktail list. Named drinks, prices as of the 7 May 2026 visit: Ted’s Peel #5 (Russell’s Reserve six-year rye, Averna Amara, banana-coffee syrup, smoked) $16; The Perfectionist (amara cherry-infused Old Forester rye, Cocchi di Torino, Dolin Blanc) $16; Goldegroni (Tom’s Town barreled gin, Suze, Dolin Blanc) $15.¹ Those are press-captured first-party prices from opening week, not aggregator menus.

A second memorial hangs in the room: a golden tuba and a “House of Wentz” sign for David Wentz, a Copaken friend and investor who had died weeks earlier.¹

Programming conflict, printed not merged:

• Star body: live music Tuesday through Saturday, Sundays vinyl.¹
• Star photo captions in the same piece: live music Tuesday through Sunday.¹
• Official About: live music Tuesday through Sunday nights.²

Ownership and history

Jon Copaken is the founder. The Star identifies him as a major area developer with Copaken Brooks, and as a board member of the American Jazz Museum.¹ The October 2025 announcement placed the club in the closed KC Wineworks space at 1829 McGee, hoped-for February 2026, later opening in May.³

Whitney VinZant “is operating the space” — The Star’s verb — a change for an owner used to buying restaurants. The piece names Gram & Dun, Cafe Trio, Taco Republic and Louie’s Wine Dive in his portfolio.¹ That is an operating agreement, not a documented sale of the concept to VinZant. Legal title vs. operating agreement was not in any source this pass. ****

Gerald Dunn books the room.¹

Ted Burns’s death date is not on the About page. The October 2025 Star said he had died “three years ago”; the May 2026 piece says “a few years ago.” Neither is a date. ****

Links

• Official site: https://tedstaproom.com/
• About: https://tedstaproom.com/about/
• cafe-333 — Crossroads sober jazz room, opened the same spring
• the-bad-cat-jazz-bar — south KC jazz bar announced later in 2026 (deliberate forward link; page drafted the same cycle)

Sources

Footnotes

1. Jenna Thompson, “New jazz bar opens in Kansas City, serving flatbreads and cocktails,” The Kansas City Star, 7 May 2026, 11:49 AM. URL (Asserts: Jon Copaken / Copaken Brooks; college-era 18th & Vine nights with Ted Burns, including giving musicians rides; Burns died “a few years ago”; 1829 McGee St.; packed opening night described as Friday; Gerald Dunn booking, Copaken on AJM board; Tue–Sat live / Sun vinyl in the body, Tue–Sun live in captions; Whitney VinZant operating, with Gram & Dun / Cafe Trio / Taco Republic / Louie’s in the portfolio; Thomas Pelkey cocktails and the three priced drinks; flatbreads and small plates; House of Wentz tuba for David Wentz; hours as infobox; closed Mondays; “This is a place to last a long time.”) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. “About,” Ted’s Taproom, accessed 2026-09-18. URL (Asserts: dedication to Ted Burns; Burns as jazz lover, sportsman, intellect, interrogator; Milton’s; driving musicians; 18th and Vine; vision of an intimate “Kansas City style” jazz club, elegant yet approachable; live music planned Tuesday through Sunday nights.) ↩ ↩²

3. Jenna Thompson, “A new Kansas City jazz club is on its way, replacing Crossroads wine bar,” The Kansas City Star, updated 8 October 2025, 1:54 PM. URL (Asserts: KC Wineworks closed earlier in 2025 after almost a decade; Ted’s Taproom to take 1829 McGee, hoped February; Burns died “three years ago”; Copaken: not a restaurant, focus drinks and music, not stuffy.) ↩ ↩²