Tower Tavern

Tower Tavern is a neighborhood sports bar in the Martini Corner (Tower East) district of Midtown Kansas City, Missouri, open since 2007 at the base of the red radio tower at 31st and Oak. Founded by veteran KC bartenders Damian King and Grant Naugle, it trades in casual bar food with an Italian lean, a deep beer selection, a covered patio, and 20-plus TVs.¹²³

Description

Tower Tavern is a sports bar at the western corner of a brick building at 31st and Oak in Midtown KCMO, sitting at the foot of a large red radio tower that gives the bar and its surrounding district their name.²³ The bar markets itself on “the BEST bar food, a massive beer selection, over 20 TV’s, a covered patio, [and] convenient parking.”¹ The menu leans Italian-casual at its core — pizza, stromboli, and sandwiches — alongside sports-bar staples such as charred buffalo wings, bacon-wrapped shrimp, sliders, and spinach dip.⁴ The room features exposed brick and a custom steel-and-glass bar.⁵ It is consistently cited as one of Kansas City’s best places to watch the Chiefs and other major sporting events.¹⁴

Ownership and history

Tower Tavern opened in early 2007, created by two veteran Kansas City bartenders, Damian King and Grant Naugle, who were both 34 at the time.⁵ The space had a string of prior tenants: a drugstore and chocolate factory in earlier decades, then R.T.’s Deli, then Café Trocadero (a hip bistro opened in 2003 by nightclub owners Chris Seferyn and Vince Rook), then the short-lived Dragonfly Grill.⁵ King noted those concepts were “too upscale for 31st and Oak,” prompting the partners to replace Trocadero’s blond-wood bar with a steel-and-glass build by designer Aaron Ray and reposition the space as an unpretentious neighborhood tavern.⁵ In 2019 the operation expanded into the adjacent former Drop space, adding a private party room with its own bar (later branded “Little T”).³⁶ Current copyright on the official site is held by “Tierney Concepts.”¹ confirmation of present-day ownership and any change from the founding King/Naugle partnership.

Links

• Official site: https://towertavernkc.com/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tower-tavern-kansas-city
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/towertavernkc/

Sources

Disputes

None recorded.

Footnotes

1. Tower Tavern official website. https://towertavernkc.com/ — asserts: address 401 E 31st St, Kansas City, MO 64108; established 2007; concept (best bar food, massive beer selection, 20+ TVs, covered patio, convenient parking); current hours; “Tierney Concepts” copyright; Little T private event space. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Yelp — Tower Tavern (Updated May 2026, 120 reviews). https://www.yelp.com/biz/tower-tavern-kansas-city — asserts: address; sports-bar category; currently operating as of May 2026 update; hours and phone. ↩ ↩²

3. Visit KC — Your Guide to Exploring Tower East (Martini Corner). https://www.visitkc.com/articles/your-guide-to-tower-east/ — asserts: Tower Tavern’s location in the Martini Corner / Tower East district at the base of the red radio tower; one of the district’s anchor bars. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Restaurant Guru — Tower Tavern, Kansas City. https://restaurantguru.com/Tower-Tavern-Kansas-City-Missouri — asserts: 2026 reviews; 4.2 rating across ~1,653 reviews; menu highlights (buffalo wings, bacon-wrapped shrimp, sliders, spinach dip); best place to watch the Chiefs. ↩ ↩²

5. The Pitch — “Family Guys” (April 2007). https://www.thepitchkc.com/family-guys/ — asserts: founders Damian King and Grant Naugle (both 34, veteran bartenders); opened ~January 2007; prior tenants (drugstore, chocolate factory, R.T.’s Deli, Café Trocadero, Dragonfly Grill); steel-and-glass bar by Aaron Ray; located at 401 E 31st / 31st and Oak. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Feast Magazine — “Tower Tavern to Take Over The Drop Space, Adding a Private Party Room With Bar” (2019). https://www.feastmagazine.com/travel/kansas-city/tower-tavern-to-take-over-the-drop-space-adding-a-private-party-room-with-bar/article_d1733aa2-acb9-11e9-babd-2f9341e868a2.html — asserts: 2019 expansion into the adjacent Drop space, adding a private party room with bar. ↩