Char Bar

Char Bar is where it’s at. The food is absolutely solid every time. Very spacious, great for drinking with a group, games outside, bar outside, fire pit. The staff is always great. You really can’t beat it whether you’re coming for brunch, dinner, or drinks. A beautiful, well thought out set up.

Food was amazing, I ordered the burnt heaven sandwhich and some fried pickles as an appetizer. Sunday chicken plate was massive, but does include some dark meat pieces. At least 5 of the drinks our group requested were unavailable and the service could have been better. Overall still impressed
EDIT 2÷21÷2016
They are still out of the sassafras rootbeer. Maybe you could take it off your menu to avoid further disappointment.

Very tasty. The burnt heaven is an amazing sandwich. The service is a little hit and miss, that is why they didn’t get 5 stars.

Delectable BBQ to fortify the mind, body, and soul. The food was delicious to say the least. I had the burnt heaven and it was great meal. The service was good and there was no wait on my visit. I’d definitely go back. The brunch looks like something I’d enjoy as well and the menu seemed pretty great in general. A few more solid visits would earn a 5 star review from me.

Fantastic atmosphere! The place is decorated nicely & the food was DELICIOUS! I got the Burnt Heaven & it was soooo good, best burnt ends I’ve had in KC by far. I would definitely go back & I’m excited to try something else off the menu :)

And now, a haiku:
Eat all the fried things
in the hours of four to six;
don’t miss hushpuppies!

First time in Kansas City. All I knew was that they were known for their BBQ. Char Bar was located several blocks from my hotel. Arrived and asked for recommendations. Was told that Kansas City was known for burnt ends. Decided to try it. Got the burnt ends with a side of corn succotash as well as a glass of mint sweet tea. Burnt ends were really good. Meat separated so easily-​super tender. Corn succotash was a good complement. Mint sweet tea wasn’t my thing; a bit too sweet for me. Was overall impressed though. I wish I could have stayed longer to try other stuff.

Great place to go eat bbq and hangout with friends. They have a full bar plus an outdoor setting to play games. For appetizer, we had the pork skins. They came out warm and crunchy. Very good. Burnt Ends meal and sandwich was very good as well. If you’re an whiskey fan, must try their Smoking Gun

I think the concept is wonderful to start off with. I love the décor, fire pit, bar area, and ping pong room! I was really disappointed when we went here for Restaurant Week this year. I was really excited and had heard good things, but my expectations were a bit high. Mind you, this is coming from a girl who is religious about KC BBQ. I think in a few years it may be great …
That being said, we walked in at 6:30 on a Friday night. Being that I have worked in the restaurant industry for many many years in my adult life, I am well aware you usually have a good wait during this season and on the weekend. The hostess said around 15 – 20 minutes. We decided not to go to the bar, since people were being sat pretty quickly. Around 30 minutes goes by and were still noticing people getting tables and in and out, the turn around was quick. We are pretty patient people, so we didn’t want to bother the hostess because we kept getting texts every 10 min or so saying «you table will be ready in a couple minutes»… Well, 45 minutes goes by and we decided to ask considering people we had walked in with were done eating at this point (we weren’t staring at people either — you can see everyone’s table below you eating btw :)) Turns out the hostess had lost our name and said she wasn’t sure what happened, but it would be a few more minutes. We were dedicated to trying this BBQ at this point so we waited. An hour and 10 minutes later with no apology or acknowledgment I might add, we got a table!
The server came over quickly and was nice. She was super busy so I appreciated it for sure. We got the sweet-​potato fries, The Holy-​Trinity platter with beans and slaw, and salad. The trinity is three rib bones, black angus brisket, burnt ends. The ribs — done PERFECTLY! Id eat those any day. I did appreciate the thickness of the brisket — but it was dry and over done, but then not because the fatty tissue wasn’t melted away… the burn ends were… eh. Beans were ok kind of bland and the coleslaw was mediocre also.
I will go back for sure — never for restaurant week and Ill sit at the bar to avoid losing a table. Eager to try again and hang out there in the summer on the patio. Im sure Ill update the review, but for now — sad face for Char bar.

I’m going to preface this Unilocal review by saying I’m a Carolina girl. I love sweet tea, biscuits and I prefer my BBQ with a vinegar based sauce. I recently moved to Kansas City where things, especially BBQ, are different.
I’m on a mission to try every BBQ restaurant area. This was my first stop. At first glance, the menu reminded me of home: cornbread muffins, fried green tomatoes, and deviled eggs.
I ordered BURNT HEAVEN: smoked burnt ends, smoked sausage, fried jalapeños, chipotle BBQ mayo and slaw on an egg bun. Full disclosure here: I ordered the sandwich because the slaw was placed ON the sandwich (the Carolina way) not as a side. I was sold!
I got the best of both world. Kansas City style burnt ends with a southern flare of coleslaw. This sandwich was EVERYTHING! The burnt ends were full of flavor and the smoked sausage was delicious! I would recommend it!

I have returned for my second try at take out and I have to say amazing!!! The food was just flat out unique and delicious! Those jumbo chicken wings were literally the best chicken wings that I have ever eaten and I have had quite a few variations in my lifetime. They managed to get a perfect smokiness and a nice crisp skin without drying out the meat. The flavor blew my mind. These are a must try!!!
I also ordered the fried pickles. I was disappointed to get the take out serving stuffed in a brown paper bag which allowed them to get squished together, half of them losing their breading, and a whole lot of grease that dropped through that bag and was working its way out the big bag carrying all of my food. Presentation aside, they were delicious! I won’t order them again as a carry out item but I can imagine how awesome they would be fresh, hot and crispy on the table. The buttermilk sauce was perfectly matched and the coating was not salty at all. This is something many restaurant have tried with fried pickles and gotten wrong. The batter is salty with a super salty pickle and the end result is a high blood pressure. The Char Bar perfected the breading so that all the saltiness is derived from the pickle itself and the tasty beer batter just carries the flavor home, which is a very happy place.
My lunch was not complete without trying their pig tail Mac and cheese with burnt ends. The burnt ends were perfectly charred and crispy. They lived up to their moniker and delivered a blackened, moist and tender serving of meat that was nothing short of beautiful. (Give me a sec, I’m still in the after glow.) The Mac and cheese is something that quite a few restaurants just get wrong. It’s either too runny with a pseudo cheese sauce, the macaroni is over cooked, or the cheese hardens too quickly because they didn’t get the right blend. The Char Bar does NOT have this problem. Their pig tails were perfectly au dente and the cheese was a little thick and saucy yet a little stringy to make a cheese lover like me quiver with excitement. It was spot on and executed perfectly. My overall critique as I compare the food I had today and the day before is that it is not over seasoned and the flavor profile is directing your taste buds, not an over load of sodium. My next journey here will be to dive into their ribs and I can’t wait.
P. S. The service and management are exceptional and I have enjoyed that part of my experience as well. So far, this is the best Restaurant I have tried that caters to my carnivore desires. I recommend it to everyone!

So in the spot that used to belong to The Beaumont Club AKA the Sesame Street bar (Sesame Street because I went in once and it was «One of these things is not like the other…»), there is now a shining temple to meat appropriately named Char Bar. Now that I have been a few times, I think I can give them a review worthy of their establishment.
One of the biggest things I hate in the world of new restaurants is «here is this obnoxious big ass disk and it will vibrate and flash when your table is ready» crap. They have introduced a system that will text me and politely say, «Your table is almost ready. Please come to the reception podium, please.» LOVE THIS!
Another great feature of Char Bar is their patio. In nice weather it features Bocci and Croquet. Year round it features a fire pit. My only complaint about the place is it is a tad loud and can be difficult to carry on a conversation. I chalk this up to the concrete in the space. Now onto the real reason you are still reading this, the food.
First thing, thank you for the warnings with the red skull and cross bones (that means it doesn’t contain meat if it has one).
Appetizers — We have had the Smoked Chicken Mac Nuggets, the Jumbo Chicken Wings, Lobster Deviled Eggs. All were great, but the Jumbo Chicken Wings are my favorite. They are large, smoky, and pretty juicy. Second come the Mac Nuggets served with several awesome dipping sauces.
Entrees — I have had their trays and everything was good. Ribs, beef, pulled pork and especially their hand cranked sausage which is amazing. Their sides are all really good. Personal faves are the Kale Pecorino slaw and the Corn Succotash.
I genuinely cannot find anything on this menu I do not like and that is truly rare.
The staff are super nice and very accomododating. I can’t sing enough praises. The only reason I can’t give them a 5 star is the noisiness of the venue. Other than that, this is a great destination in Westport for food, drinks and socializing (out on the patio of course).

This place is underrated. We had the hush puppies, wings, Holy Trinity plate (ribs, burnt ends, brisket) with BBQ beans and potato salad. Everything was scrumptious. Service was helpful and perfect. Great music and décor. Check out the photos I took of the meal! If I had to pick a highlight… The hush puppies. Fo realsies.
Updated: we went again for brunch– got the hush puppies again (yum) — also got the lobster deviled eggs (blander than expected) and smoked chicken hash

Excellent food and great atmosphere. They accommodated our large party and our waitress was fantastic! I highly recommend everyone try this joint.

This is a pretty great place. A great option if you’re in the mood for BBQ or just looking to get some drinks and hang for a bit.
Located in the space that the now defunct Beaumont Club used to occupy Char Bar has a large space to play with, and it makes great use of the space, without getting crowded. The location has four areas: 1. dining room, 2. bar, 3. lounge, and 4. patio. It has a casual, rustic-​modern atmosphere with a lot of wood paneling. During our visit we sat in the lounge which has a scattered fire-​like light bulbs in the ceiling, a few high tables and several regular table, t.v.s are also place throughout the lounge and bar, but they are not meant to be the focal point.
The patio has several picnic tables, a large firepit — great for sitting around and enjoying a drink — which attracts the smokers, this can be a big downside for some. In addition, the patio has several outdoor games like corn hole and bocce ball, and features a bar as well.
The food was equally impressive. I tried the CBGB burger which was phenomenal, and the cheesy corn, which was good. They also have a broad selection of cocktails and beers.
Char Bar seems to be well rounded in terms of location, service, and quality, with the added perk of a large patio area that gives you something else to do.

Char Bar should be more like a 3.5, man but I’ll round them up because their service is pretty good. The food is decent. Like other posters have mentioned, the meat is a bit drier than I would like but it does have a nice smoke flavor to it.
I’m a fan of the home style fries. I don’t know. Something about them makes me happy. The mac & cheese, not as much. Mine wasn’t very cheesy. Maybe I got a off portion. Maybe my love of cheese has me delusional. IDK but I wasn’t a fan.
Other than that, it’s a pretty good experience.

DH and I came in for a quick happy hour bite and drink — there was no one there and it was awesome. First, you walk in to the smell of delicious smoke and meat. Their happy hour menu offers a little bit of everything. Try the hushpuppies — so creamy and paired well with a little jalapeño relish.
I also got the peach cobbler — I couldn’t resist! It came with a scoop of ice cream in a little iron skillet and was so yummy. The crumble was mixed with a few almonds and really hit the spot.
The service was efficient and friendly.
The weather was yucky, so we missed getting to play outside, but we’ll be back!

I’ve been wanting to try Char Bar for sometime now and, today was the day! :)
We visited during the week shortly before happy hour ended. The HH menu seems limited but, we grabbed a few drinks and tried the lobster devil eggs… which were good but, nothing to write home about. My husband tried the whole pig tray. I kept it simple with a two meat tray. I really wanted to try one of the sandwiches but, the way my macros were set up, I didn’t have enough calories to splurge lol. Both dishes exceeded our expectations. The ribs and sausage were amazing. Pulled pork was a bit dry as well as, the smokey turkey. I would have preferred my chicken and turkey to be a little more fresh temperature wise but, the smokey corn succotash was delicious and, the mini portions are a generous serving. My husband enjoyed his beans for the most part but, nothing spectacular there. I think their pickles are made from scratch? I’m not sure but, they weren’t too bad.
Service was top notch. John was amazing and did a great job answering our questions about the menu since we were first timers.

Char Bar has quickly become one of my favorite barbeque joints in all of KC, which says a lot considering how many great places there are to choose from. So why should the BBQ aficianado (or just the average joe wanting some quality smoked meat) choose Char Bar over the rest? Well let me tell you…
1. One of the things that Kansas City BBQ is known for is its burnt ends, and Char Bar’s Naked Burnt Ends are hands-​down the best burnt ends in town!
2. Char Bar has one of the best outdoor patios in the entire city (certainly the best among the BBQ restaurants I’ve been to). It offers plenty of tables for dining, a huge outdoor bar area, a fire pit, swings, table tennis, corn hole, croquet, a bocce pit, and plenty of other activities for people of all ages to enjoy on a beautiful day.
3. Unlike many other BBQ restaurants, Char Bar offers a large selection of craft beer, whiskey, and cocktails to enjoy alongside their delicious food.
4. Char Bar’s Westport location makes it a convenient stop for a day/​evening out on the town.
If you’re looking for a BBQ place with amazing food and a fun atmosphere, especially on a nice day, I can’t think of a better restaurant than Char Bar.

Dangerously good fried pickles, cheesy corn bake, and BBQ sauce options. Burnt ends, brisket and smoked chicken are good and in any other city would be the best. All meat tends to run little on the dry side but the flavor is there. Kansas City is saturated with amazing BBQ and what I have found is that all set themselves apart in certain areas. Char Bar has an awesome outdoor patio complete with a fire pit, tailgating like games and string lights stretching over it all. You could make a whole afternoon or evening of hanging out here. I absolutely vouch for them as an awesome fun date option IF! reservations are made. Not a first unless a noise buffer is needed because it is LOUD.
Great addition to Westport, the whole area is hippster trendy and the plaid wearing staff at char bar gorgeously fit in. Killer drinks, dinner and dancing and in that order. First two can be found at Char Bar. BBQ for brunch yes they did and impressive vegetarian BBQ to include the whole clan.
The popularity of Westport constantly puts parking in contention in the where should we park discussion. Sometimes ya luck out and find one quickly but usually a search will ensue.