Stroud’s isn’t the only lovable joint in jeopardy due to the widening of 85th Street in Kansas City.

Its longtime neighbor, B.B.’s Lawnside Bar-B-Q, also faces upheaval during the 18 months that the street is torn up.

In some ways B.B.’s owner Lindsay Shannon has it worse than Stroud’s Mike Donegan, whose venerable chicken shack must make way for a new four-lane.

At least Donegan has a clear choice. He either moves his roadhouse somewhere else, assuming it’s even possible. (Like Shannon says, you drop a beer bottle at Stroud’s, and it’s guaranteed to roll to the next table, the floors have that much slope.) Or Donegan must abandon his “wonderful dump,” as it has been described, for another building.

Either way, he can be fairly confident that his clientele will follow wherever he goes, if only for the gravy and gizzards. Stroud’s fans are legion.

B.B.’s future is far more uncertain.

Only part of the parking lot is in the right of way of the $7 million project, so the building is safe. But Shannon worries that a year and a half of road construction will cut off his customers and his revenue.

“On October 15 we’re going to celebrate 15 years here in business,” he said. “Only I hope it’s a celebration and not something else.”

It’s way too early for a wake, but not since urban renewal obliterated the corner of 12th Street and Vine has a single city “improvement” project been so unkind to Kansas City culture.

Here’s Stroud’s, known for its pan-fried chicken, cooked in cast-iron skillets and served family style. And practically right next door is B.B.’s , which blends Kansas City barbecue and that other local art form, the blues, which Shannon celebrates on a weekly radio program on FM station 101.1, the Fox.

Shannon tells me it’s no coincidence that B.B.’s is situated near Stroud’s on the south side of 85th Street, just east of Troost Avenue.

Generations of hungry Kansas Citians have been willing to wait as long as two hours for an oilcloth-covered table for the sake of Stroud’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.

But some of us have been known to drive on past Donegan’s poultry palace when our stomach was growling. And there to the east sat B.B.’s.

Shannon always figured to benefit from Stroud’s overflow.

“That’s one of the reasons we picked the location we did,” he said.

That and the vacant building already had a barbecue pit in it, along with enough room for bands to perform live and to have a deck out front.

But being next to Stroud’s South never hurt, even though B.B.’s eventually made its own reputation. These days it’s Stroud’s that sometimes benefits when all the tables are taken at B.B.’s.

Sadly, that’s all about to change. Stroud’s must vacate by the end of the year and, come spring, work will commence on widening 85th, which also entails rebuilding the Troost Avenue bridge that passes overhead.

“If at all possible, we try to keep a lane open for through traffic,” said project coordinator Jennifer Berry at Jackson County Public Works.

And if at all possible, Shannon hopes that single lane, if there is one, will be enough for him to stay in business right where he is.

If not, then B.B.’s, like Stroud’s, may be looking for a new home.

Say, next to a legendary chicken joint? Sounds tasty to me.