Savoy Hotel and Savoy Grill (1888-2014); The Savoy at 21c and 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City

This historic Kansas City building was home to the Savoy Hotel starting in 1888. Five years later, the hotel added the Savoy Grill, the longest-operating restaurant west of the Mississippi River. The restaurant and hotel closed following a 2014 fire, but the building was later renovated and reopened by the 21c hotel chain to include a contemporary art museum along with many tributes to the history of the former historic establishment. Soon after the hotel reopened, the former dining room of the Savoy Grill reopened as the Savoy at 21c Restaurant. Visitors to the restaurant can sit in a booth that was the preferred location of Harry S. Truman and view a series of historically significant murals that were created as part of the restaurant's 1903 opening. These murals by Edward Holslag depict early Kansas City history from pioneers departing Westport on the Sante Fe Trail to the arrival of steamboats on the Missouri River. A short hallway connects these historical works to a contemporary art museum that is open to the public 24 hours a day within the new hotel's lobby. A virtual tour of the hotel's art gallery and restaurant, including the murals by Edward Holsalg, is available within this entry.

The Savoy Hotel and Savoy Grill was constructed in four phases between 1890 and 1906 and featured a neoclassic design. The building was initially completed as a five-story structure, with a sixth story added along with rear extensions. From 1905 to 1906, a western addition was added, reaching seven stories. In the earliest years, the Savoy Grill was only open to male patrons while the hotel's dining room was open to all guests. Harry S. Truman was a frequent patron of the Savoy Grill when he operated a nearby clothing store prior to his entrance into politics, a career that was initially aided by Tom Pendergast. Truman ate at the Savoy so often that a plaque was later placed in booth number four, designating the preferred table of the former haberdashery owner who went on to become President of the United States.

The Savoy Grill maintained a turn of the century feeling up throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The hotel and grill have passed through many different owners, including the Savoy Investment Company which bought the building in 1962. Donald F. Lee purchased the restaurant in 1960 and acquired the hotel five years later. The Savoy Grill was the oldest restaurant in the city and the longest continuously-operated restaurant in the western half of the United States until a 2014 fire led to its closure. In 2016, work on renovating and reopening the historic hotel began under the auspices of the 21c Museum Hotels group and the historic dining room reopened in 2018. In that same year, the museum added a work by artist Brad Kahlhamer within the Savoy Grill that was inspired by Native American dream catchers and intended to help balance the historic murals that celebrate European-American expansion.

National Register of Historic Places, Savoy Grill, Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, National Register #74001073.

Diane Stafford, "Hotel Savoy renovation in Kansas City gets new timetable." The Kansas City Star. September 13, 2016. http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/development/article101620162.html (accessed April 21, 2017).

Deel, Karla. The Savoy Hotel Bed & Breakfast and the Savoy Grill. n.d. http://ediblenetwork.com/kansascity/edible-traditions-the-savoy-hotel-bed-breakfast-and-the-savoy-gr... (accessed April 28, 2017).

Scooters Bars. February 2010. http://www.scootersbars.com/2010/02/savoy-grill/ (accessed April 28, 2017).

Postcard of the Savoy Hotel, Mrs. Sam Ray Postcard Collection, Kansas City Public Library. Accessed August 28th, 2022. https://kchistory.org/islandora/object/kchistory%3A108939/datastream/OBJ/view.