After two years of operating Night Goat Barbecue out of his New American restaurant Fox and Pearl, Chef Vaughn Good has finally found a spot where his pitmaster abilities can take center stage. Good is moving Night Goat into Fox and Pearl’s basement – and turning the space into a dive bar.
Night Goat Tavern will have a “tavern-y” feel, according to Good. The building’s basement was a speakeasy, El Pozo, not long before Fox and Pearl opened upstairs. But, for the past several years, it has sat empty, and Vaughn and his team have been using it for storage.
“The space lends itself already to being a dive bar,” says Good. “I think the last time it was an actual legal bar was probably in the ’80s at some point.”
Currently, customers can only indulge in Good’s barbecue (which ranked No. 8 in our 2023 roundup of KC’s Best BBQ) on Sundays at Fox and Pearl. Night Goat Tavern, expected to open next year in late spring to early summer, will serve Good’s barbecue Wednesday through Sunday, 5 pm until midnight.
With the move, Good wants to transition his barbecue to resemble bar food with an emphasis on tacos and sandwiches.
As for drinks, Good says, “We’ll have yard beers, riffs on classic cocktails and focus a lot on whiskey and agave spirits.”
Aesthetically, Night Goat will resemble its predecessors as a lowkey drinking establishment, but the décor will be inspired by the ’60s and ’70s.
“This is definitely down in a basement,” says Good. “It’s just going to have that dive bar vibe. We’ve got a really cool vintage speaker system and we’re going to play a lot of vinyl.”
Until Night Goat Tavern opens, Fox and Pearl’s downstairs lounge area will be serving Good’s barbecue every Thursday evening 5 – 10 pm.
“First come, first served,” says Good. “It’ll have its own bar with its own cocktail menu. We’re using this as a testing ground for [Night Goat Tavern] and see what sticks.”
