Save this Restaurant (Whorehouse)!
By CHARLES FERRUZZA
I’ve lost track of how many ill-fated restaurants have come and gone at 2801 Southwest Boulevard.
The best-known was probably El Patio Restaurant, operated by the legendary restaurateur Jose “Don Pepe” Hernandez for two years until 2002. The two-story building has a rich history: In the early 20th Century it was a saloon operated by a Kansas City policeman named Noah Beery who had three sons: William, Wallace (who was so fat that his friends called him “Jumbo”) and Noah. All three boys went on to become performers. Wallace ran off to join the circus at age 16, later did a series of silent films in drag (playing a Swedish maid named “Sweedie”), briefly married actress Gloria Swanson – her memories of their wedding night suggest that he was a really lousy lover – and in the 1930s became one of the biggest movie stars at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he was frequently teamed with another Kansas City native, Jean Harlow, in films like The Secret Six.
I’ve long heard rumors that, in the 1920s and ‘30s, the second floor was a lively downtown brothel. Those days are long gone, though: After a long time sitting vacant, the building is scheduled to be auctioned off on Friday, August 22 by the Lecompton, Kansas-based Bill Fair & Company.
“It was owned by a businessman who is getting divorced,” says Bill Fair. “The court ordered it to be sold off and the proceeds divided between the husband and wife. The auction starts at 10 a.m. and the building is sold to the highest bidder who puts $10,000 down that day and closes in 20 days.”
The building looks to be in worse shape than it is. The neon “Restaurant” sign caught fire last year and did some damage to the exterior and part of the interior. But it’s still standing and as a piece of local history, it’s still an ideal place for a saloon, restaurant -- or brothel.
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