Best Restaurants in Kansas City

Sharing is caring!

If you are wondering what some of the very best restaurants in Kansas City are, you’re in the right place!

As a food blogger based in Kansas City, I get a ton of messages from people asking for my best restaurant recommendations in KC. Are you guys horrible at coming up with ideas on the spot? Because I definitely am! To solve this problem, I used the “questions” feature on my IG stories and asked you all to tell me your favorite spots for dinner, drinks or really anything in Kansas City!

I got an overwhelming amount of responses, and decided to share them here so we can all refer back as needed. I will try to continue updating it as I try fun new places in the future. : ) Let’s all try to make our way through this list!

I did my best to categorize the restaurants by location (i.e. Country Club Plaza, Westport, Park Place, Downtown, etc.), which will be especially helpful if you are out of town and not familiar with most of these spots.

If I messed up and put something in the wrong group, please let me know! I have lived in the KC area my whole life, but I’m super directionally challenged and struggle with knowing where things are. The first step is admitting it, right? LOL.

I also tried to include whether they are a good spot for brunch, lunch/dinner, drinks, etc. based on all of your help!

Here we go!

best restaurants ON THE Country Club Plaza

• Gram & Dun (awesome patio)
• Cooper’s Hawk (great food and wine; $$)
• Tannin Wine Bar
• Rye
• Zocalo (Mexican/margs)
• O’Dowds (good food; rooftop bar)
• Seasons 52 (fancy; amazing food)
• Jax (good seafood; rose on tap)
• Classic Cup (good for lunch)
• The Oliver

best restaurants IN overland park/Leawood/Prairie Village

• RA Sushi (reasonably priced; good happy hour)
• The Grille (upscale; great food)
• North
• Pig & Finch (grapefruit cocktail)
• La Bodega
• Room 39 (Leawood & KCMO)
• 801 Chophouse
• The Ainsworth (known for their mac & cheese stuffed cheeseburger)
• The Mixx – lots of healthy options, great salad bar
• t.Loft – healthy, casual; bowls, juices, shakes and snacks
• Caffeteria – great brunch/lunch and dinner options

best restaurants IN Downtown Kansas City/Power & Light/Crossroads

• SOT (drinks)
• Julep (drinks)
• County Road Ice House
• Cafe Gratitude
• iTap (tons of draft beer; can bring in your own food)
• Nara (sushi)
• Rockhill Grille
• Taco Republic (lots of outdoor seating; delicious Mexican)
• Mission Taco
• Tom’s Town
• The Jacobson
• Boulevard Tavern
• Milwaukee Deli (great pizza)
• Ron Rico (Puerto Rican food & best mojitos)
• Cafe Trio (patio is great for happy hour)
• Chezelle (for breakfast/brunch – great crepes)
• Grinders Pizza
• Extra Virgin (great happy hour)
• Manifesto (great drinks, candlelit, used to be a speakeasy)
• Westside Local
• Il Lazzarone for pizza & draft beer
• El Patron (Mexican)
• Manny’s (Mexican)
• Empanada Madness
• Los Tules – downtown, great Mexican
• Corvino’s

• Ca’Va
• Brown & Loe
• Green Lady Lounge (good live music)
• Ruby Jean Juicery – on Troost
• Affare (especially for brunch)
• Bar K (dog park, restaurant & bar)
• Farmhouse
• The Russell
• Extra Virgin
• Paul & Jack’s Tavern (North KC)
• Pierpont’s
• Blue Line – good food, drinks & atmosphere
• You Say Tomato – good brunch
• Osteria Il Centro – good food, pasta, wine
• Beignet –  New Orleans-themed spot serving sweet & savory beignets & crêpes along with classic Cajun dishes
• Vietnam Cafe – for dinner/iced coffee
• Trezo Mare – Italian dining
• Novel – contemporary, American cuisine
• The Rieger
• Anton’s — American tavern spotlighting dry-aged steaks & numerous draft beers
• Nomad’s – coffee & cocktail bar
• Lidia’s – Italian

HOT SPOTS TO EAT IN Westport/Waldo/Brookside

• Beer Kitchen — great brunch, lunch & dinner
• HopCat (good food; rooftop bar)
• TikiCat (good drinks; cool atmosphere)
• Brookside Barrio (amazing Mexican, great drinks)
• Char Bar (good food; outdoor games)
• Summit Grill (great food; brunch-dinner)
• Port Fonda (great Mexican; drinks)
• Bluestem (great drinks & food)
• McCoy’s
• Bella Napoli in Brookside
• Blue Sushi Sake Grill (in Westwood)
• Pot Pie
• Aladdin’s
• Ragazza (for dinner)
• Artego Pizza

HOT SPOTS TO EAT IN THE West Bottoms/River Market

• Voltaire
• Swordfish Tom’s (Crossroads; for drinks)
• Antler Room
• Tribe (River Market)
• KC Taco Company
• The Ship – fun for drinks

HOT SPOTS TO EAT IN South Kansas city (Olathe, Overland Park)

• Coco Bolo’s (great Mexican food/drinks)
• Rock ‘n Brews
• Tavern at Mission Farms / Prairie Village
• Story
• K Macho’s (Mexican)
• Red Door Grill
• D’Bronx (pizza)
• Garozzo’s (Italian)
• J. Alexander’s
• Jalapeno’s (Mexican)
• Dolce Bakery
• McLain’s
• Sushi UNI
• Third Street Social (Lee’s Summit)
• Pearl Tavern (Lee’s Summit; great seafood)
• Jasper’s Italian Restaurant

If the thought of eating at any of these places stresses you out because they don’t have 100% “healthy” options, I want to encourage you to read my post about finding food freedom. It is so liberating to be able to eat wherever I want and enjoy trying new places with my family and friends, without feeling guilty. I promise; you can get there, too!

I hope this extensive list helps give you some new ideas of restaurants to try in Kansas City! Even though I was born and raised in this area, it amazes me how many of these places I haven’t tried, or even heard of! We definitely need to get out more. ; )

Thank you all so much for helping me create this list! Like I said, I will try to continually update it as I come across any new hidden gems, and I’m going to try to start crossing some of these off of my list! Please let me know if you try anything new that you found here! 🙂

Have a great week!

XO,

Shanna