Kansas City bar that abruptly closed last year will rise again: ‘A leap of faith’

The new owner of the Drunken Worm, which closed abruptly in September, plans to reopen the midtown bar later this year.

Ronald Struminger, who bought the building at 1405 W. 39th St. last month, has teamed up with former bartender Courtney Yager and former general manager Levi Keefer, who will serve as managing partners in the new operation.

“We’re trying to return it more to what it was when we opened in 2014,” Keefer said. “A tequila-focused bar with traditional street tacos and kind of a Day of the Dead theme. I think we got away from that there toward the end, so we want to get back to basics a little.”

Krown Concepts, a bar management company that also owns The Levee and John’s Big Deck, opened the Drunken Worm in 2014. It expanded in 2022, taking over the former Mo Brew, its next-door neighbor to the east, which was also owned by Krown Concepts.

The bar closed less than a year later, surprising staff who said they’d received no notice. Yager and Keefer said that they have maintained a positive relationship with Sean Sobol and Chad Sander, owners of Krown Concepts, but that they will have no involvement in the new Worm.

Struminger lives in New Jersey. County records show his LLC, Strumlord Holding I, purchased the building from Plaza Bella LLC on March 28.

Yager said they met him through friends at a Chiefs game.

“This is a bit of a leap of faith for him,” Yager said. “But he saw something in this space and 39th Street in general, and so he’s taking a chance on us.”

They are remodeling and repainting the space — expect a darker ambiance — and hope to be reopened by Memorial Day.

Hours will be similar to the old Worm: 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday. They plan to serve brunch on the weekends until 2 p.m.

“We see this as a place where people can hang out all day long,” Yager said. “We’re installing a bunch of chargers and outlets so people can work remotely during the day. We’ll have great wi-fi, a new sound system, lots of TVs, the NFL package, Golden Tee. You can grab a taco or take a meeting on your laptop. We’re excited to be back on 39th Street.”