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

The 403 Club is a neighborhood pinball bar at 614 Reynolds Ave in Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, Kansas. It opened in 2011 at 403 N 5th St — the address it is named for — won The Pitch’s Best New Bar award that year, and moved to Reynolds Avenue in February 2014. Artie Scholes is the named owner. The bar keeps 11 pinball machines and 12 rotating draft beers, and runs IFPA-sanctioned weekly leagues and a monthly tournament. Tier 1 — owner-operated, single-location, wholly Wyandotte County. Confirmed operating: own site copyrighted 2026 listing Stern machines released in 2026; first-party Instagram post 8 August 2026.1234

Description

The 403 Club is the pinball anchor of the Strawberry Hill bar corridor. Its own site positions it as “a neighborhood bar in historic Strawberry Hill,” and devotes as much of its front page to the neighborhood’s Croatian, Slovenian, Russian and Polish-American families and their annual festivals and benefit pub crawls as it does to the bar itself.1

The room holds 11 pinball machines, six HD televisions, an electronic dartboard, an internet jukebox, an all-season covered patio, free parking and snacks, with no cover charge.1 The machine lineup rotates and is kept current: titles listed first-party at retrieval include Stern’s Pokémon (2026), King Kong (2025) and Star Wars: Fall of the Empire (2025).1

Competitive pinball is a scheduled programme, not an amenity. The bar runs an IFPA-sanctioned monthly tournament on the first Saturday of each month at 5pm (double elimination, $5 entry plus coin drop) and two IFPA-sanctioned weekly leagues — an Open League on Mondays at 7pm and a Women’s League on Thursdays at 7pm — both with cash and trophy prizes.1

Kansas City Magazine’s Kansas City, Kansas dive-bar survey summarises the bar in one line: owner Artie Scholes maintains “a smart selection of craft beer and pinball machines.”3 Visit Kansas City, KS calls it a “no-frills watering hole” with pinball machines and pinball tournaments, and in 2025 notes budget-friendly drinks and a range of non-alcoholic choices — the latter corroborated first-party.561

Ownership and history

Artie Scholes is named as the 403 Club’s owner by The Pitch in 2014 and again by Kansas City Magazine in 2021.23 The bar’s own website does not name an owner.

The bar opened in 2011 at 403 N 5th Street in Strawberry Hill — the origin of the name — offering pinball and craft beer, and won The Pitch’s Best New Bar award that year.1 The Pitch reported in January 2014 that Scholes was moving the bar to 614 Reynolds Ave, a block and a half west of Seventh on Reynolds, into the former 610 Club space; the old location stayed open through the IFPA Kansas State Pinball Championship on February 8, with a soft opening on February 12 or 13 and a grand opening on Valentine’s Day.2 Scholes told the paper that “craft beers and regionally distilled spirits will remain largely the same,” that he planned to add machines, and that the new site’s covered patio and large parking lot were the move’s chief advantage.2

Address note: Visit Kansas City, KS’s 2023 roundup lists the 403 Club at 640 Reynolds Avenue and Breit’s Stein and Deli at 614 Reynolds Avenue. Both appear to be errors in that article — the 403 Club’s own site gives 614 Reynolds Ave, and Breit’s own site gives 412 N 5th Street.175 The first-party addresses are used here.

YearEvent
2011The 403 Club opens at 403 N 5th St; wins The Pitch Best New Bar1
Feb 2014Moves to 614 Reynolds Ave, the former 610 Club space; grand opening Valentine’s Day2
2021Kansas City Magazine names Artie Scholes as owner; craft beer and pinball3
2023, 2025Listed by Visit Kansas City, KS among Strawberry Hill’s best dive bars56
2025–2026Adds Stern’s King Kong (2025), Star Wars: Fall of the Empire (2025) and Pokémon (2026) to the lineup1
2026Operating; own site ©2026; first-party Instagram post 8 August14

menu_status: partial. The 403 Club publishes drink categories and pricing terms first-party but no itemized price list. Verified first-party: 12 rotating draft beers, cans and bottles, non-alcoholic options, snacks, and a daily 4–7pm happy hour with PBR draft and well-drink specials.1 Pinball pricing is published only for tournaments — $5 entry plus coin drop for the monthly IFPA event.1 Individual drink prices are not published; Visit Kansas City, KS characterises them as budget-friendly, which is consistent but not a price.6

Sources

Footnotes

  1. The 403 Club — official website, home and About pages and 403club.com (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: “A neighborhood bar in historic Strawberry Hill. Est. 2011”; opened 2011 at 403 N. Fifth St., won the Pitch award for Best New Bar in 2011, and moved to 614 Reynolds by 2014; 614 Reynolds Ave, Kansas City, KS 66101; phone 913-499-8392; hours Mon–Fri 4PM–2AM, weekends noon–2AM; daily happy hour 4PM–7PM with PBR draft and well-drink specials; 12 draft beers, 11 pinball machines, 6 HD TVs, internet jukebox, electronic dartboard, all-season covered patio, ample free parking, snacks, no cover; monthly IFPA-sanctioned double-elimination tournament first Saturday at 5PM, $5 entry plus coin drop; IFPA-sanctioned Open League Mondays 7PM and Women’s League Thursdays 7PM with cash and trophy prizes; machine list including Pokémon (Stern 2026), King Kong (Stern 2025) and Star Wars: Fall of the Empire (Stern 2025); Royals watch parties; passage on the Croatian, Slovenian, Russian and Polish-American families of Strawberry Hill and the neighborhood’s annual festivals and benefit pub crawls; footer ”© 2026 The 403 Club.” This is a primary operating-status verification for this page. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. Berry Anderson, “The 403 Club is moving,” The Pitch, January 17, 2014 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: owner Artie Scholes; move from 403 North Fifth Street, Strawberry Hill, to 614 Reynolds, a block and a half west of Seventh Street on Reynolds, in the former 610 Club location; original location open through the IFPA Kansas State Pinball Championship on February 8, soft opening February 12 or 13, grand opening February 14; “craft beers and regionally distilled spirits will remain largely the same”; more pinball machines planned; the new site has a covered patio and a large parking lot; the bar originally opened in May 2011. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. “Strawberry Hill might just have the best collection of dive bars in America,” Kansas City Magazine, June 28, 2021 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: the 403 Club at 614 Reynolds Ave.; owner Artie Scholes maintains “a smart selection of craft beer and pinball machines.” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. The 403 Club — Instagram, @403club (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: bio “403 Club” linking to 403club.com; approximately 2,654 followers; most recent post August 8, 2026; prior 2026 posts August 5 (free-play pinball, craft beers, patio), June 18, June 6, May 6 and April 17. This is the second operating-status verification for this page. ↩ ↩2

  5. “Strawberry Hill May Have The Best Dive Bars In KC,” Visit Kansas City, KS, May 9, 2023 (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: The 403 Club is a “no-frills watering hole” that “features pinballs machines and pinball tournaments.” Gives the address as 640 Reynolds Avenue — contradicted by the bar’s own site (614 Reynolds Ave) and by Kansas City Magazine; treated as an error in this article. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. “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: The 403 Club is a currently operating “pinball bar, enjoy budget-friendly drinks and a range of non-alcoholic choices,” as of July 2025. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Breit’s Stein & Deli — official website (accessed 2026-08-13). Asserts: address 412 N 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Cited here only to resolve the Reynolds Avenue address conflict in the 2023 Visit Kansas City, KS article. ↩

See also

Categories

On the record — ks.city/registry/the-403-club · record updated 2026-08-13