Uncle Jim's Pool Hall

Uncle Jim’s Pool Hall is an upscale pool hall and cocktail lounge at 4127 Mill Street in southwest Westport, part of the “Horseshoe” district run by Allred Management — the local hospitality group behind the Westport Bars portfolio. Named for owner Brett Allred’s Ozark-born uncle Jim, it offers eight pool tables and eight dartboards with free play.

Description

Uncle Jim’s Pool Hall is an upscale pool hall and cocktail lounge at 4127 Mill Street in the southwest corner of the Westport neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.¹² The venue holds eight pool tables and eight steel-tip dartboards alongside dozens of TVs, with a stated capacity of 573 guests; pool and darts are offered free of charge (at least initially).² The design is themed around antique brass lighting, leather accents, deep red and purple tones, and nautical touches such as dock-rope-covered columns and ship light fixtures.²

The bar is named after Brett Allred’s uncle Jim, an Ozark native and avid pool player; Allred has said the design was “inspired by my Uncle Jim’s Ozark roots and my memories of visiting pool halls with him as a kid.”² The space occupies the basement level of the former Californos restaurant, which closed in 2019 after 31 years.³

Uncle Jim’s is one node in an interconnected cluster of adjacent Allred venues marketed collectively as the “Horseshoe” district; patrons can move between Uncle Jim’s, Bar & Rec, Westport Landing, Jungalow, and The Patio carrying a drink and without re-checking ID.¹⁴ Opening was publicly promoted for July 10, with drinks starting around $5 and a full-service food program planned to follow.²

Ownership and history

Uncle Jim’s is operated by Allred Management, a Midwest hospitality, construction, and real estate company whose owner is Brett Allred.²⁵ Allred Management runs the Westport Bars portfolio, a collection of roughly 15 clustered Westport (and additional Kansas City–area) venues including Westport Landing, The Patio, Bar & Rec, Jungalow, Q Kansas City, Lotus, and The Horseshoe.⁴⁵

The pool hall is a new-build concept within Allred’s southwest-Westport development. Early coverage described the idea as adapting the model of the ping-pong bar chain Spin “to a pool hall,” sited in the basement of the former Californos restaurant.³ The venue’s name and Ozark theming are personal to the owner, honoring his uncle Jim.²

Links

• Official (Westport Bars): https://westportbars.com/unclejims
• Operator: https://allredmgt.com/home
• Westport Bars portfolio: https://westportbars.com/

Sources

Disputes

None recorded.

See also

• jungalow

Footnotes

1. Westport Bars — “Uncle Jim’s Pool Hall” — https://westportbars.com/unclejims — accessed 2026-06-06. asserts: address 4127 Mill St; 8 pool tables, 8 dartboards, 573 capacity; Horseshoe district membership; named for “Uncle Jim”; cross-venue policy. ↩ ↩²

2. AOL / Kansas City Star — “An upscale pool hall with free tables is coming to Kansas City’s Westport” — https://www.aol.com/news/upscale-pool-hall-free-tables-210930345.html — accessed 2026-06-06. asserts: July 10 opening; Allred Management / Brett Allred; design theme; capacity 573; free pool/darts; $5 drinks; food program to follow; naming origin quote. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. AOL / Kansas City Star — “Big changes coming to Kansas City nightlife. Here’s what’s soon to arrive in Westport” — https://www.aol.com/big-changes-coming-kansas-city-224545296.html — accessed 2026-06-06. asserts: basement of former Californos (closed 2019 after 31 years); “Spin concept to a pool hall”; Brett Allred development. ↩ ↩²

4. Westport Bars — portfolio / Horseshoe district — https://westportbars.com/ — accessed 2026-06-06. asserts: Uncle Jim’s as a clustered Horseshoe venue; sibling venues; cross-venue ID/drink policy. ↩ ↩²

5. Allred Management — official site — https://allredmgt.com/home — accessed 2026-06-06. asserts: Allred Management operates Uncle Jim’s and ~15 venues; hospitality/construction/real-estate company. ↩ ↩²