A little over 4 years ago when I started Road Tips, I was still trying to find my direction and voice as to what I was trying to accomplish with this blog. One of the very first entries I had was on Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Bars and the ones that I'd visited out of that list. (You can read that entry here.) One place that I'd been into a number of years ago, but hadn't visited for a long time was Chappel's Sports Bar in North Kansas City (see map). I was in the area not long ago and decided to go have lunch there.
Jim Chappell (right) settled in North Kansas City, MO in the early 70's and ran an insurance agency while dabbling in politics. Chappell was a budding collector of sports memorabilia during that time and he entertained thoughts of opening a restaurant/bar that would house some of his collection, plus be a neighborhood gathering place to discuss local, state and national politics. In the mid-80's, a building directly across the street from Chappell's insurance agency became available. In 1986, Chappell opened his sports bar, hoping to run it on a part-time basis. However, it soon became a full-time job for Chappell, who subsequently sold his insurance agency.
Chappell has entertained sports figures, politicians and common people at his restaurant which he has literally turned into a sports museum that happens to serve food and drink. The amount of memorabilia that he has in the place is staggering. They have over 1000 football helmets from college and professional teams, including some vintage helmets from the 50's and 60's. He has a large collection of historical Kansas City professional team memorabilia, including old Kansas City Monarchs jerseys and pictures, old Kansas City Athletics memorabilia and a few things from the old Kansas City Kings professional basketball team. Of course, he has a a ton of items featuring the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs.
The bar features a number of jersey's from professional and collegiate football, basketball and baseball teams. Chappel has signed baseballs from Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean and Ty Cobb. He has the 1974 World Series trophy that was won by the Oakland A's. It turns out that former A's owner Charlie Finley and Chappell were good friends. There are tons of old sports trophies, sports pennants, newspaper clippings, and autographed pictures. Here are the jerseys from two of my all-time favorite baseball players - Stan Musial and Warren Spahn. It had been over 15 years since I was last in Chappell's and the amount of memorabilia that he has picked up since has grown exponentially.
In addition to a lot of Kansas University, Kansas State University and University of Missouri sports items on display, I was surprised by the amount of Iowa Hawkeye memorabilia in the place. I certainly didn't remember seeing much Hawkeye stuff in there before, or I possibly didn't notice. I didn't know until I did some research on Chappell's that he grew up in Keokuk, IA before heading off to Drury College (now Drury University) in Springfield, MO in the mid-60's. Turns out that Chappell was a huge Hawkeye fan growing up and still is to this day.
It was just after 1 p.m. when I took a seat at the bar at Chappell's. There was just one seat open as I walked in. But it was obvious that it was occupied by someone as there was a half-filled glass of pop and some paperwork. However, an older gentleman next to the empty seat said, "You need a seat? I'm getting ready to leave." I took his seat and ordered up a beer and a menu. I was looking through the menu and the guy occupying the seat next to me came back to sit down. Turned out it was Jim Chappell himself. He was holding court at the corner of the bar talking with a couple older guys in having coffee or early afternoon drinks. A guy and his teen-aged son came up to Chappell before they left and the guy introduced himself and his son to Jim. Jim said, "Is this your first trip to our place? Well, c'mon, let me show you around." And just like that he was up and shepherding them around the place. I would have liked to have a guided tour, as well, but I certainly didn't have the time.
Chappell's menu is long and diverse. Of course, they have the usual sports bar fare of appetizers, burgers and sandwiches. But they also feature steaks, a large amount of salads and some low carb items, as well. I was torn between the reuben, which was one of Chappell's featured sandwiches, the blackened chicken sandwich, or the mushroom/provelone cheeseburger. I decided to go with the cheeseburger and I got a side of cole slaw to go along with it.
Jim Chappell came back to his seat after showing the father and son around for about five minutes, finished his pop and said to his friends, "Well, I'm going to work out, fellas. I'll see you a little later." Chappell is in his early 60's, is tall and lean and looks to be in great shape for his age. I could tell from the short time he was near me that he really dug being Jim Chappell. And I mean that in a good way. This was his place, it was his stuff and he was damn proud of everything.
Chappell's burgers are 1/2 pound USDA ground beef, cooked to your liking. My burger came out and it was thick and juicy with a good bun to go along with it. While I can't call it one of the best burgers I've ever had, or maybe even put it in the honorable mention category, it was still good. Definitely a very good burger compared to other sports bars that I've visited. The couple of bites of the cole slaw I had were average, at best. It's obvious the draw to Chappell's is the memorabilia, but the food is not that bad.
While there were a lot of televisions throughout Chappell's, I'm not certain this would be a place that I'd want to go to just to see a game. The decor and memorabilia overpowers Chappell's televisions. There's just a lot of very busy stuff on the wall that detracts from watching a game. But if you're into sports history and memorabilia, and you're looking for a pretty good meal to go along with it, it's tough to beat Chappell's. But plan on spending at least a couple of hours if you really want to look more closely at the things Jim Chappell has in his place. It's truly a sports museum that happens to have a restaurant in it.
Had you been travelling for many years already, you might as well visit our bar that you could only travel in less than two hours from your vicinity now. We are sports inspired. We offer exciting and live things.
Posted by: Daniel Parker | December 08, 2012 at 01:41 AM
It is pretty amazing what the owner did with the roof. I bet that it is a great place to watch baseball and Football. If I am around that will be one of the places that I will certainly go.
Posted by: price per head | September 25, 2012 at 05:37 PM