Fox Bar

Warm, laid-​back, very clean with good drinks. A hidden gem.

I had been here many years ago, but stopped in with some friends over the weekend. It seemed to be mostly men besides the group that was meeting in the back area. I don’t know if that is the norm and hope not because this seems like the type of bar that I would like to frequent on occasion. I had a good time dancing a little and was amazed to learn that you can line dance to about anything, even Lady Gaga! The bartender working that night was very friendly. Would like to see some lady night options.

How I long for a neighborhood bar, reminiscent of Cheers, where I can walk in and everyone will chime my name in unison. Well, there is no such place in my hood, and the closet watering hole is Fox Bar, which is in fact a gay bar, but hey, I will take it!
I really like Fox Bar, it is clean and comfortable, and has pool tables and a dance floor, though I must admit, I have never been there late enough to dance. The bartenders are great and other patrons are friendly, and they are self-​proclaimed «straight friendly». I have chatted with the owner (a native of Brasil) several times; he is super nice and makes one heck of an iced coffee. Yes, that’s right, fresh brewed espresso, and several different types of alcohol combine to make an intoxicating iced coffee, a perfect afternoon pick-​me-​up during these hot days!
Fox Bar also has daily specials. Let me know when you go, I will meet you there!

The only LGBT bar in Johnson County occupies an extremely anonymous site on the north side of Shawnee-​Mission Parkway, just west of Metcalf. The little strip mall it’s in is just west of the Steak ‘n’ Shake. Look for a sign advertising High Pointe apartments and turn in just east of the sign. The Fox has no sign of its own — just windows painted black with neon beer signs.
Inside, the bar is kind of in two sections, with a dance floor and small stage, several pool tables, clean bathrooms, and a friendly owner and staff. On the couple of nights I’ve been the clientele has been what you’d call mature. But then, I’m kinda mature myself! Drink prices are very reasonable.
I’ve now been a couple of times in the past two weeks because Bernardo, the owner, has generously offered the place for a monthly bingo to support the Kansas Equality Coalition, the statewide LGBT rights organization. KEC had been kind of dormant until last year, but it has revived with chapters functioning around the state and has even hired an executive director/​lobbyist in Topeka! Moving LGBT rights forward in Kansas is going to be a long slog, but you gotta start somewhere and it’s encouraging to know that folks are getting active and organized after a very long lull!
The KEC bingo will be at 8:00 p.m., the second Wednesday of each month. The Fox also sponsors other events. So check it out if you want a friendly, Cheers style place! They don’t serve food, but you can always run out to the nearby Steak ‘n’ Shake or the New York Dawg Pound just across the parking lot!

Probably about 5 years ago I came across this bar in a listing for «lesbian bars» in Kansas City. I used to keep an eye out for it when driving down Shawnee Mission Parkway, but never saw it so I never made a point to go there before. (FYI, it’s located next to Steak ‘N Shake and across the street from the KIA dealership).
I finally went this weekend (on a Friday around 9pm-​12am) and discovered that, like most «lesbian» bars, it has either been taken over by the men or was never really that lesbian in the first place. The clientele was mostly men — many of them kind of frat or «straight» looking — and a few lesbians.
When you walk in, there is an odd sort of small dancefloor, some tables, as you move to the right you see the bar, which stretches down the hallway to a small room with pool tables, darts, and a few more tables. There is one shared bathroom. There is dance music playing and TVs (I think the Olympics was on when I was there). I didn’t actually see anyone dancing, but there were people playing darts and pool.
I ordered a Maker’s Mark & Coke. The bartender looked at the wall of alcohol for a couple minutes and called the other bartender (maybe the owner?) over to look and it turned out that they were out of Maker’s Mark. I asked to try the Knob Creek whiskey & coke instead. The bartender poured the whiskey into a highball glass up to the halfway point… then he looked at the bottle, saw it was nearly empty and kept pouring. I ended up with a wide cocktail glass full of Whiskey on the rocks with a touch of Coke for color. He offered me another glass of Coke on the side since he made the drink so strong. The bartender/​owner only charged me $ 4.75 for this staggering cocktail. Needless to say, I only needed to order one drink that night AND I think Knob Creek will be my new Whiskey of choice. :-)
The Pros & Cons:
* it felt safe & was brightly lit
* no one was dancing (maybe because it’s brightly lit?)
* everyone looked at us when we walked in — the men seemed to wonder what we were doing there
* it was clean & the staff was friendly
* the drinks were poured with a heavy hand & were inexpensive
* there were plenty of people there, but the crowd was not too lively
So far, the jury is out. My drink was strong & cheap, the staff was friendly enough, the clientele was so-​so… it’ll take another visit or so to decide if I like it enough to make it a regular night out.

This bar has been my alternative to the run down Tootsies. The bar tenders are overwhelmed about the number of lesbians that have been frequenting this bar. So they are not so kind… I think it was just a gay male bar until we have been taking over. The drink prices are reasonable. they need a better sound system. The owners have however done a lot of improvement and added more pool table. Great safe place to go and have a few drinks.