HopCat Grand Opening

HopCat has chosen Kansas City to open their twelfth location and they’re opening this Saturday with a Grand Opening all-day party.

HopCat derives its name from the hepcats of the jazz scene in the 1940s. You can see the love of music throughout the first floor with commissioned works of art that focus on some of the greatest musicians. Each floor has a different, unique style, just like each of their current 12 locations are different to accommodate and adapt to each city. So while they may be a chain, if you visit another location it won’t be quite the same as the KC one.

The beer selection is phenomenal. Tyler Goebel, HopCat’s Beer Program Manager, has hand selected each of the 100 taps on the first floor and 30 local taps on the second floor patio area. They’ve built a reputation with breweries, small and large, that they have great beer knowledge and will serve it properly. Two exclusives to Kansas City will be on tap this Saturday: COOP Ale Works Hot Chocolate DNR, available in the Oklahoma City area only except this keg and Brickway Brewery‘s Barrel-Aged Epic Blackout Stout, a 17% stout with only 3 kegs in existence and HopCat will have one. Other breweries that will have beers tapped include Crooked Stave, Founders, Moonlight Meadery, Crane Brewing, Torn Label, and Lagunitas. They plan on having collaborations with local breweries and doing small and large tap takeovers for several breweries.

Their food menu includes elevated pub food that’s made fresh and incorporates beer in a lot of the dishes. Their “Crack Fries” are battered in light beer before sprinkled with black pepper seasoning and have been named in Food Network’s America’s 10 Best French Fries.

With all that food, there’s bound to be waste, but HopCat is pretty big into sustainability. About 90% of what would normally go in a landfill is either composted or recycled. It’s a key point in all their locations, but they had some extra help in Kansas City from Bridging the Gap training employees how to be more sustainable.

Their Grand Opening will be this Saturday, February 25, starting at 11am. They are located at 401 Westport Rd, in Old Westport, Kansas City, Missouri 64111. Free crack fries all day for everyone but the first 200 guests get a card good for a free order of the fries every week for a year, rare beers on tap, giveaways, and a happening time!

We have a ticket for two to their VIP Grand Opening on Friday, February 24, a HopCat can-shaped glass, and a free Crack Fries for a year card to giveaway so visit our Facebook page for details. Follow HopCat on their social media for updates and other cool stuff: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Thanks to Chris Knape, Joe Prate, and Tyler Goebel for taking the time to take us on a tour and share the information with us.

Here are some photos of HopCat. They were still adding the final touches, so we’ll be going back to get more once they open.