Building housing legendary Kansas City barbecue Arthur Bryant’s gets new owners

The Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque property has been sold.

The Rauschelbach family has owned the restaurant, at 1727 Brooklyn Ave., since 1982 but the Bryant family still owned the brick building and parking lot.

Arthur Bryant’s president Jerry Rauschelbach said the family wanted to sell the property and a local group, MMD Acquisitions LLC, closed on the deal Nov. 30.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Officials with MMD Acquisitions did not return phone calls.

As for the legendary restaurant, Rauschelbach said Wednesday, “I’m still going in daily to operate the restaurant as if the property never got sold.”

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Arthur Bryant’s traces its roots to “Barbecue King” Henry Perry, who set up a barbecue stand in the Garment District shortly after arriving in Kansas City in 1907.

Charlie Bryant was his protege. Then his brother Arthur came up from Texas to visit and never left. Perry put him on the payroll. Perry died and Charlie took over. When Charlie retired in 1946 it was Arthur’s turn. He had his own ideas.

He moved to the current location in early 1959 and rebranded under his own name.

Earlier this year, Rauschelbach shared its key to longevity: “We’re just a little grease joint in the ’hood and I’m OK with that. Nothing fancy. You get what you get when you got what you got decades ago.”