When Eric Sweeney landed his first restaurant job in 1972, he didn’t know what was in store for the restaurant — or for him — in the coming decades.
At 12 years old, Sweeney said he already had an entrepreneurial mindset and wished to earn an extra dollar of his own here and there. So when a job became available at Hayward’s Pit Bar B Que, just down the street from where he lived in Overland Park, he jumped on it.
What he didn’t know then as a pre-teen was that he’d one day grow up to eventually own and operate the restaurant.
This year marks the Johnson County barbecue mainstay’s 55th anniversary, and Sweeney said he’s done his best to carry on the mission of its founder, Hayward Spears Sr.
The restaurant got its start in Overland Park
Today, Hayward’s operates at 10901 W. 75th. St., in Shawnee, where it has been for the past six years or so.
But the restaurant got its start in May 1970 in Overland Park, originally named Cherokee Pit BBQ. Two years later, it was renamed to Hayward’s Pit Bar B Que.
Its first location was at the Cherokee South Shopping center off 95th Street and Antioch Road. Spears founded the restaurant after relocating to the Kansas City area from Arkansas.
Word traveled fast. The roughly 1,200-square-foot space, Sweeney said, often had a line out the door.
“(Hayward’s) was the only barbecue restaurant around Overland Park at the time,” Sweeney said. “This was the early ‘70s, and Overland Park was growing.”
The restaurant later moved to a new space off Antioch and College in 1981, where it stayed for roughly 35 years before relocating to Old Town Lenexa (in a space where Strip’s Chicken & Brewing is now).
Spears owned and operated Hayward’s for roughly 35 years before retiring. He later passed away at age 88 in 2022.
By then, Spears had made a name for himself in the local culinary scene. His restaurant received multiple recognitions, including earning “best barbecue” recognition from Ingram’s Magazine in 1990.
Spears also served as a board member of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and the foundation board of the Johnson County Community College.
“He was a very influential figure,” Sweeney said. “He used to go out and shake hands and kiss babies, and people loved that.”
Sweeney has owned Hayward’s for 12 years
Before he came back on board at Hayward’s, Sweeney spent several years working at various other Kansas City spots — including upscale eateries Fanny’s and Houston’s in Kansas City, Missouri, before they closed.
Today, the “heyday” of Hayward’s is still reflected in various aspects of the Shawnee restaurant. The walls are adorned with mementos of Hayward’s guests throughout the years.
The key difference, aside from location, is that the Shawnee location is Sweeney’s. It’s a family affair, with his wife, DJ Sweeney, son, Riley, and daughter-in-law, Samantha, working alongside him at the restaurant.
Despite the different ownership, Sweeney said he does his best to keep the barbecue that customers know and love the same as it has always been.
The restaurant’s best-seller, Sweeney said, remains the “Hayward’s hash” sandwich — smoked beef brisket, burnt ends and smoked pork rib tips on a toasted sesame hoagie roll.
Other menu highlights include rib and burnt end platters, habanero cheddar sausages and pulled pork sandwiches. Sweeney said about four or five tons of meat pass through the restaurant’s smokers every week.
“It’s the exact same recipe — the rub is the same, and the sauce is the same,” he said. “You’ve got to be consistent, no matter what.”
Growing up in Overland Park and attending Shawnee Mission South High School, Sweeney said he knows many of today’s customers from his upbringing. (In fact, his graduating class had a 45th anniversary reunion event at the restaurant recently.)
“I take care of the people in here like they’re my kids,” he said. “Almost all of the customers coming in here, I know their wife’s name, I know their kids’ names, I know their grandkids’ names.”
Looking toward the future
Sweeney said operating Hayward’s hasn’t been without challenges. The restaurant has made it through a lot — including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The biggest factor that helped it stay afloat for so long, he said, was the passion behind it.
“Passion is the only thing that gets you through the hard times,” he said.
Going forward, Sweeney said he hopes to continue to grow the Hayward’s brand, bringing in new clientele while continuing to keep the restaurant’s longtime loyalists happy.
Over the decades, Sweeney has watched a lot of those customers grow up and start families of their own — just as he has. As those customers get older, he said, it’s hard to lose some of them.
But it’s also fulfilling to see how much the barbecue at Hayward’s has meant to those customers over the years. Ultimately, he said, he hopes to just keep going.
Sweeney’s own appreciation for barbecue goes back as far as theirs, after all. He was in front of a grill at a young age. After receiving a smoker as a gift from his father when he was 13 years old, he began smoking meat for his friends and neighbors.
Barbecue is what he loves, so that’s what he serves. It felt natural as a child, he said, and it feels natural now.
“The only plan I have is to put out the best barbecue that I can,” he said. “It’s all about passion, that’s what I tell everybody. If you have a passion, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
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