4 minute read
Watering Whole
Watering Whole
JOHNNY’S TAVERN’S EXTENDED FAMILY LOOKS BACK ON THE FIRST 70 YEARS
By Emma Hilboldt
Since its opening in 1953, Johnny’s Tavern has been the go-to spot in Kansas City. Whether you’re looking to watch a basketball game, grab a beer, or catch up with friends, Johnny’s is the first on the list for a lot of locals.
This year, they’re celebrating their 70th anniversary at their original location in North Lawrence.
Rick Renfro now owns multiple Johnny’s Taverns since he first purchased the flagship back in 1978 when he was 21 years old. He has seen the restaurant grow and adapt, buying into multiple Taverns as they’ve opened across Kansas and Missouri. What started as a sports bar that served cheap beer, beef jerky, pickled eggs, and pigs feet has evolved into a place with 63 menu items and an casual atmosphere that keeps customers coming back for more.
“If John Wilson, the original owner, heard that we were serving salads and letting kids in here, he’d roll over in his grave,” Renfro says.
Renfro acquired Johnny’s after the incessant nagging from Wilson to buy the bar from him. At the time, Renfro was working at another Lawrence bar, The Eagles Club, as a bartender.
“He kept bugging me to buy it,” says Renfro. “Finally, I said, ‘I don’t know what hell else I’m gonna do, but I’ll do that until I figure it out.’ So I bought it. I can’t believe they even sold me a liquor license.”
Renfro remembers the early days of running Johnny’s Tavern with his partners Doug Hassock and Louie Riederer. They had the downstairs bar that was 18 and over open from 7 a.m. until midnight when they legally had to close. Then there was the private club upstairs that was open from 4 p.m. until 3 a.m. that you had to be a member of to be invited. Things have definitely changed regarding how they run the place, but Johnny’s Tavern has only been growing from that point onward, with 13 venues now open in the area.
Riederer, Renfro’s college roommate and partner in Johnny’s Tavern, saw the value in the restaurant. He took it into his hands when he moved to Kansas City to open up the second Johnny’s at 119th and Metcalf in Overland Park.
“We had the college student crowd, the biker crowd, the North Lawrence Hippie crowd, and we even got a crowd from City Hall, so we had really great business throughout the ‘80s and into the early ‘90s,” says Riederer. “One of our biggest problems was overcrowding on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, which is why we decided it was time to open another spot.”
For Riederer, the gem of Johnny’s is in the people they employ and allowing them to have a stake in how the place is run.
“Every single one of our managing partners started out as a waitress, hostess, cook, or bartender,” says Riederer. “They’re like our partners. They’re with us. They know the ins and outs of the industry.”
Johnny’s Tavern has been able to adapt throughout all the years they’ve been open, and a big part of that is the employees who have joined along the way. Riederer appreciates that they are younger than those who have pioneered the business.
“We have managers who are younger and more equipped to make decisions and deal with the industry than me and some of the older managers. We recognize that they’re able to handle it, and we support them,” says Riederer.
In the years to come, Riederer hopes that Johnny’s is able to expand more and at a quicker rate than they’re used to. Currently, they’re remodeling the Prairie Village restaurant to make it bigger and better, with hopes of reopening in August.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve added six or seven locations and every time we open a new one, it helps our brand,” says Riederer. “We hope to be able to grow even outside of the Kansas City metropolitan area.”
With 70 years under their belt, Renfro hopes that Johnny’s Tavern remains a constant in the community and continues to be somewhere people will want to make memories. The anniversary celebration will be held at the original Johnny’s in North Lawrence on Saturday, September 16. On the street outside of the restaurant, there will be bands, food trucks, and a beverage tent with Johnny’s very own Blue Collar Lager brewed by Free State Brewery and a large projector screen for football games scheduled that day.
What started as a couple of college friends running a bar in Lawrence has grown into one of Kansas City’s most prized possessions that locals can always trust. Here’s to many more years and many more locations where folks can continue to enjoy their favorite neighborhood watering hole.
