These are the best places to travel this summer

I’ve been singing the praises of Kansas City since I moved here in 2022. I grew up about 200 miles southwest of KC in the state of Kansas, and visited Kansas City several times a year as a kid. After college, I moved to Europe, spending a year in Germany followed by a decade in London.

Now that I’m back in my home region, it feels like I’ve arrived just in time – for Kansas City feels like it’s on the cusp of something big.

It’s important for visitors to know their place in Kansas City – after all, the city confusingly straddles two states: Missouri and Kansas. Downtown Kansas City is on the Missouri side (KCMO), unless of course you’re talking about downtown KCK (Kansas City, Kansas). Suburbs sprawl in every direction beyond the downtown core, and while Kansas City became the first US city to offer free public transportation in 2020, you’ll want a car to get around if you’re short on time or heading to the suburbs.

If you’re ready to get your glutton on, read on for my favorite places to eat and drink in Kansas City, on both sides of the state line.

A close-up shot of woman with a red manicure holding a brisket sandwich over a plate of other food.
Barbecue at Arthur Bryant’s, Kansas City. Arthur Bryant’s

1. Brisket at Arthur Bryant’s or Gates Bar-B-Q

Unsurprisingly, the most commonly asked Kansas City food question is: what’s the best place for barbecue? And if you ask four Kansas City residents, you’ll get seven or eight answers – and none of them will be wrong. KC owes much of its legendary barbecue status to Henry Perry, a Black pitmaster who opened a barbecue restaurant in the city in the early 1900s. Although Perry’s restaurant no longer exists, the apprentice pitmasters he trained built Gates Bar-B-Q and Arthur Bryant’s, barbecue institutions that are still going strong.

2. The “Burrito of Love” at Succotash

It’s dangerously easy for me to walk to Succotash from my apartment, which I often do on Friday mornings before the weekend crowds descend. If I’m feeling indulgent, I order the Burrito of Love: scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese – all wrapped burrito-style in a buttermilk pancake. I’m not the only fan of the place: Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, says Succotash’s French toast is “magical.”

A barista makes a coffee in front of a mural at a loft-like coffee shop.
A barista at Blip in Kansas City. Blip

3. A coffee at motorcycle-inspired Blip

As a full-time travel writer, I’m the WFH type – which means that by 1pm, I’m looking for a coffee shop and change of scenery for the rest of the afternoon. On my regular rotation is Blip, a coffee roaster that also stocks motorcycle merch in a huge industrial space in the warehouse-filled West Bottoms district.

4. Mochi donuts at Blackhole

I’m a natural early bird, which comes in handy for some breakfast spots in Kansas City that close early or shut up shop when they sell out. On Troost Ave, Blackhole Bakery is best known for its mochi donuts, which come in so many flavors – grapefruit rosemary, chili mango, birthday cake – that you’ll have to visit more than once to try them all. (The spot is carry-out only.)
A woman puts a creamy sauce on donuts at a fine-dining restaurant.
The seaweed donuts at Corvino, Kansas City. Jenny Wheat, via Corvino

5. Seaweed donuts at Corvino

For a decadent dinner close to downtown, Corvino is my top choice. The darkened dining room is perfect for a date night or a celebratory meal with friends. While the menu is always shifting slightly, the seaweed donuts with trout roe and cream to start are essential. Reservations are recommended, though you might be able to slip in without one at slower times.

6. Any sandwich at District Biskuits

The Midwest is the land of wheat and meat, and ordering biscuits and gravy is often a good way to judge a restaurant’s breakfast caliber. District Biskuits in North Kansas City serves a great B&G – but its fluffy, crumbly biscuits truly shine in its sandwiches. The Cure, a large biscuit stuffed with soft scrambled eggs, American cheese and bacon jam, fixes just about everything.

Small plates are displayed on a wooden table elegantly set for dinner.
Small plates at the Antler Room, Kansas City. The Antler Room

7. Any small plate at the Antler Room

If you have a group (or are dining solo with a big appetitie), head to the Antler Room and order as many of the small plates as you can handle. Options rotate frequently and might include fresh pasta, potato gyoza and grilled octopus.

8. The Z-Man sandwich at Joe’s Kansas City Barbecue

Kansas City barbecue has deep roots but continues to evolve, with a new generation of pitmasters firing up the smokers and creating their own takes on the storied tradition. The Z-Man sandwich (sliced brisket, smoked provolone cheese and onion rings on a Kaiser roll) from Joe’s Kansas City Barbecue holds legendary status, and is best devoured at the joint’s original location, in a gas station.

A mural at a cafe, next to chalkboards displaying menu items.
A colorful mural at Café Corazón, Kansas City. Café Corazón

9. The horchata latte Café Corazón

Some of KC’s best coffee shops show off the city’s multicultural side. Café Corazón – now with three locations, in the Crossroads, Westport and Brookside neighborhoods – pours flavors from Latin America, including yerba mate, horchata lattes and (my personal favorite) the Mocha Azteca, made with Oaxacan chocolate.

10. The Pendergast cocktail at J Riger & Co

Take a drink of history at J Rieger & Co in the East Bottoms: the spot closed during Prohibition but was resurrected nearly a century later by the founder’s great-great-great-grandson. Rieger’s old-fashioned is one of my favorite drinks in town; naturally, the bar also pours a cocktail called Pendergast, with whiskey, sweet vermouth, Benedictine herbal liqueur and Angostura bitters.
A sandwich made with roast beef and onions with a biscuit is displayed on a wooden table.
The Bandit sandwich at Bay Boy, Kansas City. Bay Boy

11. The roast beef–raspberry jam sandwich (really) at Bay Boy

For anyone who loves a sandwich (and, really, who doesn’t?), Kansas City has several spots that might just be the best thing since sliced bread. If you don’t think a sandwich can be life-changing, then you haven’t been to Bay Boy, near the Country Club Plaza. The Bandit, a roast beef sandwich with raspberry jam (!!), sounds wrong – but after one bite, you’ll taste just how right it is.

12. A Vietnamese espresso at Cafe Cà Phê

Cafe Cà Phê is the city’s first Vietnamese coffee shop, and its inclusive ethos welcomes all. The Hella Good, with Vietnamese espresso, ube (purple yam) syrup and oat milk, is one of its signature drinks, and I loved the adorable latte art atop my Dirty Thai-Ger, which mixes espresso with Thai iced tea.

Falafel and other food at is photographed overhead on a patterned table.
Falafel and other dishes at Baba’s Pantry, Kansas City. Pilsen Photo Co-op, via Baba’s Pantry

13. Shawarma and falafel at Baba’s Pantry

Swap the rolls for pita bread at Baba’s Pantry, a Palestinian-American deli that Bon Appétit named as one of the best new restaurants in the entire country in 2022. Nowhere else in town does falafel and chicken shawarma as good as this. For a special treat, stop by on Fridays at 5pm for kunafa, a traditional Palestinian dessert of thinly shredded pastry, sweet cheese and sugar syrup.

14. Burnt ends at Slap’s BBQ

In KCK, Slap’s BBQ, well...slaps. (Its name is actually an acronym that stands for “Squeal Like a Pig.”) Burnt ends – the fatty charred ends of brisket, like smoked beef crackling – are a Kansas City invention, and a must-order here.

15. As many tacos as you can eat along KCK’s Taco Trail

For a low-cost, no-reservations-required dinner, eat your way down KCK’s Taco Trail. You might not have time to visit all 60 of the taquerias in this part of town, so prioritize Carniceria y Tortilleria San Antonio, a taco bar inside a grocery store, and the al pastor tacos at El Camino Real.

Shelves contain dozens of bottles of liquor behind a bar at a cocktail lounge.
The bar at Swordfish Tom’s, Kansas City. Zach Bauman, via Swordfish Tom’s

16. A nightcap at Swordfish Tom’s

In the early 1900s, Kansas City earned the nickname the ”Paris of the Plains“ for its wide boulevards, lavish public fountains and “sinful“ nightlife. Prohibition didn’t slow KC down – thanks to Tom Pendergast, a corrupt political boss who controlled the city for more than a decade from 1925. You’ll notice his name pop up at many modern Kansas City drinking establishments – including Swordfish Tom’s, a cocktail bar in a basement boiler room that’s one of the best in the city.