Where's The Party in 2011? Kelly's!

It's 11:00 PM Saturday night. Irish Fest has swung closed the big green gates for the night. But you're still all full of jigs and whimsy and blarney and beer and Jameson and funnel cakes and God knows what and you are ready to go for at least a couple hours more.

This year we're changing directions, literally. This year catch the free shuttle and head south, to Kansas City's oldest and most legendary Irish Pub, Kelly's Westport Inn, the new after-hours home to Irish Fest and our new, one-and-only official bar.

If you live in Kansas City, I don't need to tell you about Kelly's. I know you went there about 4 minutes after you turned 21. The first step through those hallowed corner doors is a Cowtown rite of passage. But if you're headed here from elsewhere, let me introduce you.

"In February 1947, Randal Kelly, a native of County Clare, Ireland, was hired as a bartender at 500 Westport Road, an establishment then called Westport Inn and owned by three retired Kansas City, Missouri police captains, Brock, Ghent and Zahner. Randal's witty sense of humor, unpretentious attitude and giving hand won him great popularity and it wasn't long before people were calling the place Kelly's. Randal was partners with Art Brock until Art died in 1977. In June of that year, the bar was officially named Kelly's Westport Inn. Randal passed away in 1988 and his two sons, Kyle and Pat, now run the joint.


The building that Kelly’s occupies is said to be the oldest in Kansas City. Built in 1850, it has housed a wide range of businesses ,most notably in the 19th century, the building was a provisioning and outfitting operation of Albert Boone, a grandson of Daniel Boone. There, covered wagons stopped to stock up before the long trek out West along the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails. In honor of its rich and colorful past, the building was designated a national historic landmark in 1959.


Today, family-owned and operated, Kelly's Westport Inn is a must see in Kansas City. With a diverse crowd, live music, a colorful history, weekday specials and always someone with a good story, Kelly's is an Irish pub like no other!"

What that offical bio doesn't tell you is that Kelly's is also home to the friendliest staff in town, and that co-owner Kyle Kelly is a co-founder of the Kansas City Irish Fest. The fest was actually born right in Kyle's kitchen. It's a pub like no other and more than one visiting friend from Ireland has told me that it feels more like a pub at home than any other Kansas City establishment.

So now you're set. Saturday and Sunday nights after Irish Fest it's Kelly's, at the corner of Westport Road and Pennsylvania in my home district of Westport. Catch the shuttle in the usual spot outside the Westin. Or hop in a cab for a very short ride up the hill. I guarantee you won't have to give the driver the address.