Best in show: Bar K vies for USA Today’s dog bar prize; here’s how a shared love of dogs is pushing expansion

The human-dog bond — and a desire to embrace it at places like Bar K’s innovative bar, restaurant, and dog park experience — is stronger than today’s often partisan and divisive climate, said David Hensley.

“It doesn’t matter your political affiliations … where you’re from, your socioeconomic status,” he said. “Everybody loves dogs, and that shared love of dogs brings people together.”

That mentality and commitment to Bar K’s mission helped put the popular Kansas City business in the running for USA Today’s Top 10 Best Dog Bars in America, added Hensley, who co-founded Bar K with Leib Dodell in 2016.

Click here to vote for Bar K in the USA Today readers choice contest. (Voting ends June 24.)

Keeping growth organic

Since opening its permanent Kansas City location on the Berkley Riverfront in August 2018, Bar K has played host to about 500,000 canine guests and 700,000 people, Hensley said.

Building a community of people around their love of dogs, the experiential business began expanding its footprint amid the COVID-19 pandemic. After researching demand in markets outside Kansas City, Hensley and Dodell introduced St. Louis to a 50,000-square-foot Bar K facility of its own in November 2021.

From the archives: See how Bar K’s St. Louis site builds on its KC pedigree with indoor dog park, doggy daycare

The grand opening for an Oklahoma City location followed in January 2023; an undertaking Hensley described as being built from the ground up. 

News broke in mid-2023 that expansion could jump to an even higher level with Bar K’s planned acquisition by Arizona-based Diversified Partners. The deal — which ultimately fell through — would have involved adding as many as 100 new locations.

“It didn’t get to the finish line,” Hensley acknowledged, noting that in many ways, “That’s OK.”

“We’re gonna continue to grow the brand organically,” he said.

Bar K’s leaders still plan to expand; just maybe not quite that fast, Hensley added.

“It’s our goal to be the experiential brand for dog-human recreation,” he noted

Dogs play together at Bar K’s location on the Kansas City riverfront; photo by Greysen Williams, Startland News

At the forefront, on the riverfront

Near Bar K’s first permanent location, the surrounding Kansas City riverfront is seeing a resurgence — now anchored by not only the dog bar, but CPKC Stadium, new housing, and the KC Streetcar expansion.

“When Bar K moved [from its early temporary location to the current spot], there was really nothing down here. It was kind of a blank slate,” Hensley said. “But the whole vision was to really develop a new community, a new destination area for Kansas Citians on the riverfront.”

FAQ: How KC’s riverfront is going from a dumping ground to an entertainment district