Henry Perry (restaurateur)

Henry Perry (c. 1875 – 1940) was an African American barbecue entrepreneur considered a founding father of Kansas City-style barbecue. Born in Texas, Perry arrived in Kansas City around 1907 and initially sold pit-cooked meats wrapped in newspaper from a stand in the city's Garment District.

Perry's business grew, and he eventually established a series of barbecue restaurants and pits in the 1920s and 1930s. His most famous location was at 19th and Highland, near the city's 18th and Vine jazz district. Perry's style of barbecue featured a rough, heavily peppered, and often charred exterior, a result of cooking over a pit of oak and hickory wood. He offered a limited menu, typically consisting of ribs, burnt ends, and other cuts of meat, all served without sauce.

Perry employed several individuals who went on to become prominent figures in Kansas City's barbecue scene, including Arthur Bryant and Charlie Bryant, who later founded Arthur Bryant's Barbeque. Others who learned from Perry include members of the Gates family, founders of Gates Bar-B-Q. These individuals took elements of Perry's cooking methods and style, adapted them, and expanded on them, contributing to the evolution and popularization of Kansas City barbecue.

While Henry Perry himself did not leave behind a single, continuously operated restaurant bearing his name, his influence on the development of Kansas City barbecue is undeniable. His legacy lives on through the many barbecue establishments in the city that trace their lineage back to his original pits and the unique style he pioneered. He is remembered as a pioneering figure who shaped the culinary landscape of Kansas City.