Tom's Town Distilling Co.

Tom’s Town Distilling Co. is a locally owned craft distillery, cocktail lounge, and tasting room in the Crossroads Arts District, founded by Kansas City natives Steve Revaré and David Epstein. Billed as downtown Kansas City’s first legal distillery since Prohibition, its art-deco brand draws on the Prohibition-era reign of political boss Tom Pendergast — the namesake “Tom” of “Tom’s Town.”

Description

Tom’s Town Distilling Co. is a craft distillery, cocktail lounge, and tasting room in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District at 1701 Main Street. The business produces premium craft spirits on-site and operates a restaurant and tasting room described as an art-deco lounge, offering distillery tours, craft cocktails, and small plates. Its current spirits portfolio carries Tom’s Town-branded names (Double Grain Vodka, Botanical Gin, Pendergast’s Royal Gold Bourbon, and a range of other whiskeys and canned cocktails); the earlier Prohibition-figure product names — Eli’s StrongArm Vodka, McElroy’s Corruption Gin — were retired in a quiet rebrand observed July 2026.¹²³

The brand is built around Kansas City’s Prohibition era, when the city — under the political machine of boss Tom Pendergast — largely ignored federal Prohibition and became known as the “Paris of the Plains,” with money, jazz, and liquor flowing in the open. The distillery is named for Pendergast (the “Tom” of “Tom’s Town”), and individual product names reference period figures of the era.¹⁴

Tom’s Town is described in its own materials and in local coverage as downtown Kansas City’s first legal distillery since Prohibition.²⁴

Ownership and history

Tom’s Town Distilling Co. was founded by Steve Revaré and David Epstein, longtime friends and Kansas City natives who have known each other since kindergarten.⁴ The two have personal family connections to the city’s Prohibition-era history that helped inspire the concept: by their account, Revaré’s great-uncle was Maurice Milligan, the federal prosecutor whose case sent Tom Pendergast to prison, while Epstein’s grandfather, Herman Epstein, was a rival “rabbit” bootlegger to the Pendergast organization.⁴ Feeling that Kansas City’s rich Prohibition history was under-told, the founders set out to tell that story through liquor.⁴

The distillery was established in 2015 and opened its Crossroads tasting room around the end of 2015 into 2016, becoming downtown Kansas City’s first legal distillery since Prohibition.²⁴⁵ Distribution began in Missouri and Kansas and has since expanded to additional states.²⁶ The business remains an independent, locally owned operation with no corporate parent.¹⁴

Menu

Last verified: 2026-07-24 · Source: official site (Restaurant & Tasting Room menu page; spirits lineup from official homepage) · URL(s): https://www.toms-town.com/restaurant-tasting-room · https://www.toms-town.com/ · Confidence: High

Craft distillery + restaurant + cocktail lounge/tasting room. Crossroads, 1701 Main St. Hours: Mon–Thu 4–10 pm · Fri 4 pm–12 am · Sat 12 pm–12 am · Sun closed. Mad Hatter Martini Club menu served Thu–Sat, 4 pm to close.⁷

Signature cocktails

• Drowned Rabbit — vodka, mint, lime, simple syrup — $13⁷
• The Bootleg Botanist — vodka, citrus, bergamot, cucumber — $14⁷
• Shoot the Messenger — vodka, cold brew, stout syrup — $13⁷
• Hibiscus Hustle — vodka, rum, hibiscus, peach — $13⁷
• The Alibi — botanical gin, vermouth, lime, pineapple — $15⁷
• Gatsby’s Getaway — botanical gin, aquavit, aloe, snap pea — $15⁷
• Pretty Boy Floyd — barrel gin, berry syrups, citrus — $14⁷
• Mango Magnate — garden party gin, mango, turmeric — $14⁷
• Billy Club Sour — bourbon, applejack, maraschino, orange — $15⁷
• Old Fashioned — bourbon, demerara, bitters — $15⁷
• Angry Goat — bourbon, Lillet Blanc, strawberry habanero — $15⁷
• Boss’s Reserve — bourbon, amaro, pineapple, bitters — $15⁷
• Distiller’s Flight — three spirits, half-ounce pours — $11⁷
• Happy-hour cocktails run $10–12 (reduced pricing).⁷

Mad Hatter Martini Club (Thu–Sat)

• Off With Their Vines — vodka, tomato brine, basil, mozzarella — $13⁷
• A Very Berry Unbirthday — vodka, blueberry, vanilla, lemon — $12⁷
• Black Rabbit — tequila, vodka, cinnamon, cold brew — $13⁷
• Painted Garden — garden gin, Suze, apricot, rosemary — $14⁷
• Queen of Hearts — botanical gin, strawberry, Lillet Rosé — $14⁷
• Golden Hare — bourbon, pineapple rum, carrot juice — $15⁷
• The Red King — spiced bourbon, tequila, ginger, chili — $14⁷
• Bandersnatch Bramble — bourbon, orange liqueur, blackberry — $15⁷

Beer + wine

• Cerveza Royal (Stockyards Brewing) — $5⁷
• Block IPA (Cinder Block Brewing) — $6⁷
• Pinot Noir (Sean Minor) — $12⁷
• Prosecco (Ca’ Furlan) — $12⁷
• Sauvignon Blanc (Atlantique) — $12⁷

Non-alcoholic

• Spritz — cucumber, bergamot, soda — $10⁷
• Sour — passionfruit, coconut water — $10⁷
• Drenny Pop / botanical soda — $6⁷
• N/A beer — $7⁷
• Messenger Coffee — $8⁷

Starters

• Loaded Fries — cheese, bacon, sour cream — $16 (vegetarian $12)⁷
• Pimento Cheese Dip — cheddar, pimentos, pepper jelly — $12⁷
• Sweet Tea Brined Wings — fried, Cholula sauce — $16⁷
• Herbed Parmesan Fries — $10⁷
• Bang Bang Shrimp — panko-breaded, fried — $17⁷
• Deviled Eggs — $8⁷
• House Salad — greens, vegetables, choice of dressing — $8⁷

Entrées

• Pub Style Burger — 6-oz patty, cheese, fries — $16⁷
• Buffalo Chicken Sandwich — fried, Cholula, fries — $16⁷
• Chicken Paillard — pan-seared, lemon butter, salad — $25⁷
• Steak Sandwich — marinated skirt steak, chimichurri, ciabatta — $28⁷
• Cold Thai Peanut Noodles — sesame peanut sauce — $18⁷
• Chili Crisp Honey Glazed Salmon — yellow rice, cucumber — $25⁷

Desserts

• Dubai Chocolate Torte — fudge, pistachio, kataifi — $14⁷
• Star Crunch — rice crispy, espresso chocolate, caramel — $10⁷
• Oatmeal Cream Pie — $8⁷

Spirits lineup (made on-site — current official portfolio)

• Tom’s Town Double Grain Vodka⁸
• Pendergast’s Royal Gold Bourbon⁸
• Tom’s Town Double Oaked Bourbon⁸
• Tom’s Town Straight Rye Whiskey⁸
• Tom’s Town Barreled Gin⁸
• Tom’s Town Botanical Gin⁸
• Tom’s Town Garden Party Gin⁸
• Canned cocktails — Elderflower Lime Gin, Grapefruit Clove Gin, Lemon Gin Collins, Strawberry Mint Vodka⁸
• The Limited Reserve Program + The Pendergast Machine Series — limited releases⁸
• Note: the earlier product names “Eli’s StrongArm Vodka” and “McElroy’s Corruption Gin” (cited in older coverage and above) no longer appear on the current official lineup — the portfolio now carries Tom’s Town-branded names. Bottle prices not published on the menu page; retail via mercantile.toms-town.com.

Experiences

• Distillery tours (bookable) · art-deco tasting room · GRL Dinner (Mondays) — three-course meal + martini — $25⁷

Menus: toms-town.com/restaurant-tasting-room

---

Links

• Website: https://www.toms-town.com (official) — note: the previously listed tomstownkc.com no longer resolves (connection refused on this pass); do not link it. domain issue — tomstownkc.com appears lapsed/dead; the official live domain is toms-town.com (1701 Main St / “Prohibition-era Kansas City distillery” confirmed on-site). No casino/gambling content observed on the dead domain, but it should be treated as lapsed and not relinked.
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomstownkc/
• Phone: (816) 541-2400

See also

• bo-nelson — co-founder (Tom’s Town Distilling; Thou Mayest)
• crossroads-arts-district
• pendergast-era
• Registry

Sources

Footnotes

1. Tom’s Town Distilling Co. — official site, “Our Story” — https://www.toms-town.com/our-story — accessed 2026-05-31. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. PR Newswire — “Tom’s Town Distilling Co. Now Distributing in Missouri and Kansas” — https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toms-town-distilling-co-now-distributing-in-missouri-and-kansas-300297830.html — accessed 2026-05-31. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Visit KC — “Tom’s Town Distilling Company” business listing (1701 Main St) — https://www.visitkc.com/business-detail/toms-town-distilling-company — accessed 2026-05-31. ↩

4. KCtoday — “Q+A with Steve Revare, co-founder of Tom’s Town Distilling Co.” — https://kctoday.6amcity.com/steve-revare-co-founder-of-toms-town — accessed 2026-05-31 (founders, kindergarten friends, KC natives, Milligan/Epstein family ties, Pendergast theme). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

5. Crossroads Community Association — “Tom’s Town Distilling Co.” — https://kccrossroads.org/explore-the-crossroads/toms-town-distilling-co-2/ — accessed 2026-05-31. ↩

6. Feast Magazine — “Tom’s Town Distilling Co. Expands Nationally, Adding 10 New States to Distribution Territory” — https://www.feastmagazine.com/tom-s-town-distilling-co-expands-nationally-adding-10-new-states-to-distribution-territory/article_c687ac6a-e9b2-11e8-a568-734ef4c25b73.html — accessed 2026-05-31. ↩

7. Tom’s Town Distilling Co. — official site, Restaurant & Tasting Room (full cocktail, martini club, beer/wine, N/A, food, and dessert menus with prices; hours; Mad Hatter Martini Club Thu–Sat) — https://www.toms-town.com/restaurant-tasting-room — accessed 2026-07-24. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰ ↩⁴¹ ↩⁴² ↩⁴³ ↩⁴⁴ ↩⁴⁵ ↩⁴⁶ ↩⁴⁷ ↩⁴⁸ ↩⁴⁹ ↩⁵⁰

8. Tom’s Town Distilling Co. — official site homepage, spirits lineup (Double Grain Vodka, Royal Gold Bourbon, Double Oaked Bourbon, Straight Rye, Barreled/Botanical/Garden Party Gins, canned cocktails, Limited Reserve Program, Pendergast Machine Series) — https://www.toms-town.com/ — accessed 2026-07-24. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹