Top reasons why I absolutely love Kansas City


I think I want to start a series of entries on this topic, each with a different theme

There are things about Kansas City, some of them quite subtle, that place it above and beyond most any other cities and greater metro areas in the country. When I try explaining these reasons to outsiders many of them just do not understand it, but I have come to the conclusion that you have to really live there to understand it and you have to put into it what you want out of it, which is great because Kansas City has many diverse choices. You just have to seek them out. Whether you understand the people or not, the traditions or not, the culture or not, you cannot be afraid to immerse yourself in it and let it carry you. That is the great thing about Kansas City. The community, the people, the institutions support each other. It is not a situation of "gimme gimme gimme, I want it, me me me me!!!", which seems to be the mentality of many citizens of the St. Louis area from my many encounters with them. St. Louisans live their lives with a much more selfish attitude, and that may be fine if that is how you grew up, but it rubs out of towners the wrong way. In Kansas City, people are much more laid back, much more accepting of others, and above all, are some of the most hospitable people you will find in all the midwest. Is there any wonder why Kansas City is experiencing a large population boom, particularly younger people, when nearly every other city, including St. Louis, is losing people to the 'burbs and to the east and west coasts? There has to be something special about this quaint little cowtown in the middle of nowhere, when a phenomenon like this occurs (and yes that is how people in St. Louis like to refer to a place they know nothing about, they ridicule it).

So to begin my series on the greatness of Kansas City, I can think of no other logical starting point than food and dining.

I would like to title this piece: The Kansas City Experience: Beef, Its What's For Dinner

The top ten restaurants in Kansas City, and my reasons why they are the best:
1. The Golden Ox
This steakhouse is on my all-time favorite restaurants list and my all-time favorite steakhouse list. This place has been around forever. It is located in the West Bottoms area, which used to be the famous Kansas City stockyards (largest in the world) and this restaurant has been around since the days where you could walk out back and say "Daddy, I want that one!" No where can you find fresher beef, prime hand cuts, and get it exquisitely flame grilled by master chefs that have been hand picked from some of the country's top beef and steakhouse specialists. The prime rib, hand cut a good inch and a quarter thick, will melt in your mouth and it all goes down perfectly with a cold, smooth, draft Boulevard Wheat fresh from the brewery a few blocks away (and of course the wheat is Kansas grown, also a few blocks away). Show me any other steakhouse where the beef and beer is as fresh as a Johnson County high school girl rollin' on X at the Granada!

2. The Hibachi
Many people do not know that I am a huge connoisseur of Japanese food, but, well...surprise, I am. While the Golden Ox is my favorite traditional steakhouse, The Hibachi is right up there as my favorite Japanese steakhouse! Many people also do not know that my family has a long history with the Japanese culture and people. My Grandfather began the Kansas City Foreign Trade Zone in the 1960s and became very close personal friends with the Consul General of Japan, a friendship and tradition that my father carries on today. In the process of growing relations with Japanese businessmen, my father became friends with and subsequently began counsel for a determined Japanese restauranteur by the name of Kinji Kineda, who in the early 1970s had an idea to put a Japanese steakhouse on the Plaza in Kansas City. That seemed like a radical idea at the time, but my father saw his vision. Good family friends to this day, the Kinedas' have owned and operated the Hibachi for over 25 years, as well as The Kabuki in Crown Center for nearly 20 years now. Simply stated, The Hibachi is the finest Japanese cuisine in Kansas City and, realistically, probably the entire midwest. I have been to many Japanese steakhouses in many different cities over the years and none of them comes even close to The Hibachi. My recommendation: The Hibachi Special.

3. Gate's Barbecue
Even for the scrutinizing palates of Kansas Citians, it is hard to rank all the barbecue joints from best to worst, reason being, they are all just so goddamned good! I am not going to attempt to tell you which ones are the best, I am simply going to list a couple, in no particular order, which I frequent the most and have consistent wonderful experiences at. I have eaten at many BBQ places in KC , but I cannot possibly put them all on my list. Simply stated, I just don't go to the others enough to serve them justice with a review. Instead, I will list a few places, and give you reasons why they are a fine establishment, aside from the actual food, which is a given.
Okay, so to begin, Gate's has got to be the most efficient barbecue joint in all of KC, and again, perhaps the midwest, the country even. If you don't know what you want when you get to the counter, you will be passed up faster than a Franklin county Sunday driver. Learn the menu, study it. Know the difference between a whole and half slab, spare ribs and baby back, Budweiser and Bud LIte (okay, advantage here goes to St. Louis), you get the idea. They move you through there faster than a herd of cattle to the watering hole. After you pick up your order then you have the privilege of experiencing the cafeteria style sauce bar. Again, know what kind of sauce you like, because Rufus standing behind you doesn't want anything holding up his experience of picking a half slab clean and suckin' out the marrow. Yes, Rufus knows what kind of sauce he wants, so get the f**k out of the way for pete's sake!! What, are you from St. Louis or somethin'?!?

4. Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue
This place is the fanciest barbecue dining experience you will ever have. This place looks like a California bistro with some of the most professional restauranteurs in town and, of course, Jack himself will seat you. So do people go here for the ambience? Maybe, but I doubt it, because once you dig into a pile of 'cue you could give two shits where you're eatin' it at. A wonderful upscale barbecue experience, great for those hard working business men and women that keep our town turning. Just make sure you don't drip sauce on your tie. But hell.......if you do, you've got yourself a damned fine snack for the boardroom after lunch! In Kansas City, I for one, would not categorize someone as unprofessional if they were licking sauce off of their tie. Kudos to them, I say!

5. Arthur Bryant's
I don't think there are words that can adequately describe the Arthur Bryant's barbecue experience. It is simply out of this world. There is nothing like ordering a sandwich, having the cook lay out some deli paper, throw on 6 pieces of bread, a gob of pickles, reach his hand into a pile of beef, pull out about a pound and a half of it, throw it on top and drown it in sauce, then wrapping it all up and taping it shut. Voila!!!! And there you have an Arthur Bryant's sandwich, or, as I like to call it, Arthur Bryant's Pile 'O Heaven!!

6. Winstead's
Ready for a malt in a flower vase to wash down those fries to wash down that cheeseburger to wash down all that barbecue? Great! Then you are ready to go to Winstead's!! 'Nuff said. Try it, you'll like it, oh and screw that Takhomasak bullshit, none of that at Winstead's.

7. Pizza Shoppe
Ever eaten pizza in St. Louis? Then have you ever eaten it any place else? Well this is even better than that!!! This is Kansas City Style, Italian pizza, owned, operated, and served by one of the most prominent Irish families in the city. That is where I come in. My Godfather, Dick Ryan, his lovely wife Loritta, and their gianormous family make this place one of the friendliest neighborhood pubs in town. This is the kind of place you can go to after work and find your family friends from church taking their kids out for pizza, your doctor sippin' Bud on a stool, your electrician eating a meatball the size of your fist, and the local high school football team, band, cheerleaders, etc. enjoying the hospitality and excitement of post-game comraderie. Oh, oh, and bonus!!!!!! IT IS REALLY F-ING CHEAP!!!

8. Pierpont's at Union Station
Okay, moving on to a higher class of dining (but the others are so good!). This place is an experience in itself. Situated in the Northeast corner of the recently renovated Kansas City Union Station, it is the perfect combination of old and new. You are surrounded by an elegance of a forgotten time. A time when Kansas City was a major transportation hub and people from all walks of life intermingled. This, again, is the experience of Union Station. There is no better place to have a five star meal, than within the hallowed walls of the ornate and grand monument that Kansas City has so graciously preserved for all to experience.

9. Kelly's Westport Inn
Time to party it up KC style!! Kelly's isn't the trendiest bar, or the best bar staff, or even the best music in town, but it is definitely one of the best places to party your Kansas City ass off. If you are looking for one of those epic nights that you won't ever want to forget, then this is a good starting point. But don't count on remember a thing, because you are gonna be really fucked up (not censoring for purposes of emphasis)!!! Westport is fun. It is not a place everyone wants to go, but that is okay, because there are so many other choices in Kansas City, but if you want a cool place to experience, at least once, then this is it. It also just happens to be the original saloon from the old Town of Westport and is the oldest standing building in all of Kansas City. Drink at your own risk though, John Brown's ghost will haunt you forever!!! (he was an abolishonist of more than just slaves)

10. Garozzo's
St. Louis prides itself on its fine restaurants of its Italian district, The Hill. I cannot argue that there are some top of the line places there. Gorozzo's could have been plucked right off the hill and plopped down on KC's north side, but to be fair to Michael Gorozzo, both the food and the ambience need better props than a St. Louis reference. This place is situated in Kansas City's Columbus Park neighborhood and once you drive through it you would swear you just saw Vito Corleone walking in the front door of this place. Once inside, if you ask me, "I didn't see nuthin'".................except some of the best looking Italian food this side of Sicily. Don't ask no questions, just eat and be merry, you fuggin' guy.

Posted: Wed - May 5, 2004 at 05:45 PM        

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