After 66 years, KC burger joint will close at the end of 2024: ‘My heart is aching’

Christmas Eve, 10:30 a.m. Terry was scraping the flattop, and Shorty was sweeping up near the counter. Harold’s Drive-In was closing early.

“A lot of our customers are water department, utilities, metro — people who work downtown,” said owner Deb Walker, “and a lot of them don’t go in today.”

Walker would know. She’s been working at Harold’s, a 600-square-foot shack at 1337 Admiral Blvd., since 2003. She bought the restaurant from its former owner, Nancy Smith, just prior to the pandemic. It’s been rough sledding ever since.

“We never really recovered,” Walker said. “You’ve got a lot of these downtown workers who work from home three or four days a week now. Some of their offices shut their doors because it’s cheaper to keep people at home. And then a lot of our regulars have been retiring or dying. We just don’t have enough customers.”

For a while now, Walker has been borrowing money to keep Harold’s open. More recently, she and her landlord, Charles Cacioppo, have been unable to come to terms on a lease. So she made the call earlier this month: After 66 years in business, Harold’s will permanently close Tuesday, Dec. 31.

“I’m going to get my CDL (commercial driver’s license) and drive for a while and kind of regroup,” Walker said. “Then, I don’t know what.”

Harold’s dates back to 1958, when Harold and Pat McBain took over a walk-up ice cream shop called Dairy Supreme. They changed the name and expanded the menu, selling burgers, sandwiches and fries to customers in the neighborhood, which sits between downtown and Northeast Kansas City.

Among the quirks of the joint are the lunch specials inspired by the letters of Harold’s name: An “H” is a pork tenderloin with fries and a soda ($11.99), an “A” is a triple cheeseburger with fries and a soda ($12.75), an “R” is an Italian steak with cheese fries and a soda ($11.99), and so on.

“They used to be served in boxes, like they do at Go Chicken Go,” Walker said. “Some of our old-timeys will still order an ‘H box.’”

Open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays, Harold’s serves breakfast all day and has become known in more recent years for its breakfast sandwiches.

“The sausage, egg and cheese, that’s our most popular,” Smith said.

“It’s regular drive-in food, but everything’s fresh and cooked right in front of you,” Walker said. “That’s the main difference.”

Smith and two sisters, Caramae and Mary Moore, worked at Harold’s during the 1980s, and Smith eventually bought it from Harold McBain in 1999. She left for a few years after selling to Walker in 2020, but came back as an employee in 2023. Mary still works in the kitchen, too.

“I’ve spent most of my life in this building,” Smith said. “I was born about a city block away from here, at the old osteopathic hospital. We grew up at 9th and Benton, 11th and Indiana. My sister worked at the old Admiral Inn next door (now the Rodeway Inn), then she got a job here, and I just followed her.

“It’s about 40 years I’ve been here,” Smith said. “My heart is aching a little, knowing it’s going away.”

The closing of Harold’s leaves one less 1950s-style drive-in around the metro. Remaining ones include Humdinger (about a mile east of Harold’s at 2504 E. 9th St.), Paul’s Drive-In at 10424 Blue Ridge Blvd., Mugs Up at 700 E. 23rd St. in Independence, and Christy’s Tasty Queen at 1405 S. 55th St. in Kansas City, Kansas.

Harold’s will be open Thursday and Friday, closed per usual over the weekend, and back open for two final days of service Dec. 30 and 31.

“We’ve had a lot of city workers and people from the neighborhood come by to say goodbye,” Walker said. “We even had a few people say they’re trying to string together some money to keep us open. But I don’t know if I can handle the stress of it anymore. I think it’s probably just time.”

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