The Bichelmeyer Family

The Bichelmeyer family has practiced the butcher’s trade in Kansas City, Kansas across five generations — a German line stretching back to the 1880s. Their shop, Bichelmeyer Meats, founded in 1946 and still family-run, is a beloved KCK institution famous in recent years for its weekend taqueria.

Biography

The family’s craft dates to Mathias Bichelmeyer, a professional butcher who came to Kansas City, Kansas from Füssen, Germany in 1880 and worked for Swift and Company; his son George Bichelmeyer opened his first meat market in 1906 (it closed after the 1908 flood).¹ The current business was founded when John F. Bichelmeyer established Bichelmeyer Meats in 1946.¹

The business has survived repeated disaster: the Great Flood of July 13, 1951 destroyed the market, and a fire on April 5, 1995 consumed it after roof repairs.¹ John’s sons Jim and Joe Bichelmeyer joined and purchased the business in 1976, rebuilt after the fire, and reopened in January 1996.¹ The shop, at 704 Cheyenne Avenue in KCK, became known well beyond its neighborhood — including for a Saturday taqueria run out of the butcher counter, serving tacos, tamales, and quesadillas.² A fifth generation, grandson Matt Bichelmeyer, is now involved in the business.²

Legacy

Across five generations of butchers — Mathias to George to John to Jim and Joe to Matt — the Bichelmeyers have embodied the meatpacking heritage of “Cowtown” Kansas City, Kansas, turning an Old World trade into a lasting local institution and, more recently, a cross-cultural KCK food destination.³

See also

• bichelmeyer-meats

Sources

Footnotes

1. “History,” Bichelmeyer Meats official site — Mathias Bichelmeyer, a professional butcher, came to Kansas City, Kansas in 1880 from Fussen, Germany and worked for Swift and Company; son George Bichelmeyer opened his first meat market in 1906 at Pyle Street and Miami Avenue, closed after the 1908 flood; George then farmed and butchered near Eudora, Kansas; his son John F. Bichelmeyer moved to KCK in 1930 at fourteen, worked for Mathes Meat Company, Ragan’s Market and Swift & Co., and founded Bichelmeyer Meats in 1946; the Great Flood of July 13, 1951 destroyed the market and John rebuilt; sons Jim and Joe joined and purchased the business in 1976; a fire on April 5, 1995, after roof repairs, consumed the market; Jim and Joe reopened in January 1996. ⚠ The domain bichelmeyermeatskc.com no longer resolves (DNS SERVFAIL, checked 2026-09-08), so this is cited to the Internet Archive capture of 2026-07-08. (Note: “five generations” is a family/trade lineage — Mathias to George to John to Jim/Joe to Matt — not five generations of one continuous business; Bichelmeyer Meats itself dates to 1946. The official history says the family has supplied meat “since the 1890s”; Mathias’s own arrival was 1880.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Jenny Vergara, “In Kansas City, Kansas, Bichelmeyer Meats Offers Housemade Chorizo, Polish Sausages, Street Tacos and More,” Feast Magazine, February 23, 2018 — Saturday Mexican street tacos sold at the butcher counter (fillings including smoked pork and beef tongue), plus quesadillas, chicharron and tamales on Saturdays until sold out, at 704 Cheyenne Ave.; Joe Bichelmeyer, quoted: “Today, it’s owned and operated by me and my brother, Jim, and [my son], Matt Bichelmeyer.” The live URL returns HTTP 429 (Lee Enterprises rate-limiting, checked 2026-09-08), so it is cited to the Internet Archive capture of 2024-08-29 ↩ ↩²

3. “Kansas City’s Cowtown legacy lives on in these great butcher shops and meat markets,” KCUR, September 16, 2023 — “Bichelmeyer family members began in the meat business in the 1890s, and opened their storefront in 1946”; rebuilt after the 1951 flood and the 1995 fire and still family-operated; supplies many of the American Royal barbecue competitors. ↩