After five years, KC area barbecue restaurant will close and move to Johnson County

After five years, Harp Barbecue is leaving Raytown.

Owner Tyler Harp started out in 2019 as a pop-up at Crane Brewing, then opened his own brick-and-mortar location at 6633 Raytown Road in 2022.

Now, he’s headed to Overland Park: 12094 W. 135th St. , near Quivira Road.

“A lot of our customers come from that way anyway, especially on weekends,” Harp said. “It makes more sense to be where our customers are at, in a location with higher traffic and volume.”

The location was most recently a Pizza Shuttle , but before that was Jon Russell’s Kansas City Barbecue , of which Harp was a fan.

“I always thought they had the best burnt ends around,” he said. “So the building has some significance for me.”

The space is about 3,000 square feet — roughly the same size as the Raytown location.

Harp said he expects to close Raytown “probably within four to six weeks” and only have a week or so off before opening the Overland Park location in late August or early September. Hours will be Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., though Harp said he’s considering adding a Sunday brunch.

The menu isn’t changing. Though brisket has long been the main draw at the pop-up and the restaurant, Harp said their sausages (jalapeno cheddar, blueberry white cheddar) are among their biggest sellers lately.

“The sausages are popular, the turkey’s good, the ribs are really dialed in right now,” Harp said. “I think we’re a lot more well-rounded than we’ve ever been.”