KC barbecue restaurant with roots going back 87 years will close at end of May
That doesn't necessarily mean the Big D — a brisket sandwich on rye bread, topped with Swiss cheese and onion rings — and other popular items at the Kansas City barbecue joint are totally going away, though.
'We're going to cook from home for a while, and maybe sell out of a food truck,' said Joel Bremer, who runs the restaurant with his wife, Susan. 'And we might look into another brick-and-mortar. But we have to be out of here by the end of the month.'
Though Bremer owns the business — he bought it from original owner Danny Edwards in 2018, about four years before Edwards died — the building is owned by Edwards' widow, Priscilla. Bremer said it's his understanding that she intends to sell the building to From the Earth, the marijuana dispensary that operates next door.
Reached by phone, Priscilla Edwards declined to comment. From the Earth did not respond to a request for comment.
The restaurant's history stretches back to 1938, when Jake 'Big Jake' Edwards opened the Old Southern Pit downtown near 10th Street and Baltimore Avenue. He grew it to five locations by 1960. Danny, his son, took over the original restaurant in 1980 and renamed it Lil' Jake's.
In 1984, Danny moved his barbecue joint to 12th and Grand because the city wanted to build a parking garage on his spot. The new location — called Lil' Jake's Eat It An' Beat It, a reference to the fact that its modest size offered seating for just 18 customers — grew into a local institution. It was a favorite among downtown bankers, lawyers and city workers looking for an authentic Kansas City-style barbecue lunch within walking distance of their offices.
That location also happened to be one block north of where the T-Mobile Center currently sits. In the early 2000s, the developers behind what is now the Power and Light District came knocking. They wanted Edwards' property for a parking lot. He and other small business owners in the area fought the city for a while, but eventually gave in.
Edwards negotiated a deal that allowed him to relocate his restaurant to a 70-seat space at 2900 Southwest Blvd. Renamed Danny Edwards Blvd BBQ, it opened in 2007.
Bremer said Edwards sold him the business six years ago because he'd been there for so long.
'I'd worked here 15 years before I bought the place,' Bremer said. 'Danny knew I'd keep doing things the way he taught me to do it.'
He said he wasn't sure if From the Earth wanted to expand or just raze the building to add parking.
'It would be ironic if they wanted to bulldoze this place for a parking lot, given our history,' Bremer said. 'If that happened, I'm not sure I'd want to risk opening another place. Somebody'd eventually just come along and tear it down.'
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