KC barbecue restaurant with roots going back 87 years will close at end of May

Danny Edwards Blvd BBQ is closing astatine 2900 Southwest Blvd. astatine the extremity of May, its owners told The Star connected Wednesday.

That doesn’t needfully mean the Big D — a brisket sandwich connected rye bread, topped with Swiss food and bulb rings — and different fashionable items astatine the Kansas City barbecue associated are wholly going away, though.

“We’re going to navigator from location for a while, and possibly merchantability retired of a nutrient truck,” said Joel Bremer, who runs the edifice with his wife, Susan. “And we mightiness look into different brick-and-mortar. But we person to beryllium retired of present by the extremity of the month.”

Though Bremer owns the concern — helium bought it from archetypal proprietor Danny Edwards successful 2018, astir 4 years earlier Edwards died — the gathering is owned by Edwards’ widow, Priscilla. Bremer said it’s his knowing that she intends to merchantability the gathering to From the Earth, the marijuana dispensary that operates adjacent door.

Reached by phone, Priscilla Edwards declined to comment. From the Earth did not respond to a petition for comment.

The restaurant’s past stretches backmost to 1938, erstwhile Jake “Big Jake” Edwards opened the Old Southern Pit downtown adjacent 10th Street and Baltimore Avenue. He grew it to 5 locations by 1960. Danny, his son, took implicit the archetypal edifice successful 1980 and renamed it Lil’ Jake’s.

In 1984, Danny moved his barbecue associated to 12th and Grand due to the fact that the metropolis wanted to physique a parking store connected his spot. The caller determination — called Lil’ Jake’s Eat It An’ Beat It, a notation to the information that its humble size offered seating for conscionable 18 customers — grew into a section institution. It was a favourite among downtown bankers, lawyers and metropolis workers looking for an authentic Kansas City-style barbecue luncheon wrong walking region of their offices.

That determination besides happened to beryllium 1 artifact northbound of wherever the T-Mobile Center presently sits. In the aboriginal 2000s, the developers down what is present the Power and Light District came knocking. They wanted Edwards’ spot for a parking lot. He and different tiny concern owners successful the country fought the metropolis for a while, but yet gave in.

Edwards negotiated a woody that allowed him to relocate his edifice to a 70-seat abstraction astatine 2900 Southwest Blvd. Renamed Danny Edwards Blvd BBQ, it opened successful 2007.

Bremer said Edwards sold him the concern six years agone due to the fact that he’d been determination for truthful long.

“I’d worked present 15 years earlier I bought the place,” Bremer said. “Danny knew I’d support doing things the mode helium taught maine to bash it.”

He said helium wasn’t definite if From the Earth wanted to grow oregon conscionable raze the gathering to adhd parking.

“It would beryllium ironic if they wanted to bulldoze this spot for a parking lot, fixed our history,” Bremer said. “If that happened, I’m not definite I’d privation to hazard opening different place. Somebody’d yet conscionable travel on and teardrop it down.”