BetsyinKY

Hello, Fodorites! My younger brother just accepted a job at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS and I am helping him move this week. As "payment" for my services, we are going to spend one full day and night in Kansas City before I fly home on Sunday. I have been prowling online for several days, researching things to do and places to eat, but before I head out, I thought I would see if there are any last minute tips or hints from this forum. Because of the length and nature of this trip, we are looking for more casual places to eat, but we are both adventurous eaters and prefer local places to chains. Right now, as far as places to see, we have the World War I museum, the Nelson Atkins museum, and possibly the American Jazz Museum. Combined with some strolling/shopping in the Country Club Plaza area and this seems like a full day (maybe too full, but we can always drop something). So, if anyone has any comments or suggestions, I am open to them. Thanks!

bbqboy

You could spend a day each at the WW1 museum and the Nelson. I would probably eliminate the jazz.
Are you staying on the Plaza? Is your day to sightsee Saturday or Sunday?
Julian in Brookside would be wonderful, but only is open for Brunch on Sunday.
http://www.juliankc.com/
Beard award wining Bluestem, same problem
https://www.bluestemkc.com/
Stroud's in Fairway is just 5 minutes West of the Plaza.
open til 9:30pm Sunday.
Don't forget the Steamboat Arabia Museum if you have time.
Really interesting.

Slw

These wonderful local restaurants are open Sundays in addition those above.
Aixois - Brookside
Avenues Bistro - Brookside
Cafe Trio - Plaza
Le Fou Frog - Downtown
Other notables
Michael Smith or his more casual Extra Virgin
Reserve- Downtown
Westport Cafe & Bar - Westport

Keith

I want to second the recomendation of the Steamboat Arabia. It is unique and outstanding.

Several families located and excavated a riverboat which had sunk with all of its contents. Over time, the river shifted and it was 60' beneath a farmer's corn field.

Although they had been treasure hunters, the adventure changed them and they did not want to see the contents broken up and sold. They have built a fabulous museum and continue to restore the amazing collection of everything people on the frontier would need or want.

I hope your brother enjoys Pitt State. My daughter is entering her junior year this fall.

Tabernash2

You have named my favorite places in Kansas City. Good choices.

I love the Plaza area, and the residential boulevards near there. Great architecture.

And you will like the awesome museum:
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/

Have fun there! PLease report back.

BetsyinKY

Thanks, everyone! I am glad to know I'm on the right track. I will have to look into the Steamboat Arabia museum. It sounds fascinating. I will definitely report back when I get home next week!

musicfan

You have gotten some great suggestions!

I will also second (third?) the suggestion of the WWI Museum. Just out of curiosity I looked at TripAdvisor yesterday and it is the #1 attraction in Kansas City--people rave about it and I must agree. DS is spending his second summer working there, but even if he wasn't I would still recommend it.

DH and I finally visited the Steamboat Arabia last winter for the first time last winter (after living here for 20+ years) and were impressed at how interesting it is. Have a wonderful time and best of luck to your brother in his new position.

bbqboy

Don't forget Chicken Annie's in Pittsburg.
My nephew's a Gorilla, now a teacher in Eldorado.

http://www.chickenanniesoriginal.com/

Bitter

I can't top the suggestions above, but I can go in the opposite direction, i.e. not fancy or gourmet:

Just east of the Plaza is Winstead's. It is a long time favorite. Basically burgers and shakes.

In the River Market (Steamboat location), there is a Minsky's pizza location. Not fancy (actually a bit drab last time I was there (been a few years)) but good pizza. (Minsky's has many locations across the greater KC).

And Harry's Country Club at the River Market is a comfortable bar with good food. Definitely nothing fancy, and but it has a nice feel.

It's been a while since I visited, but I believe some of the River Market establishments will also likely be grilling burgers brats etc for lunch on Saturday.

Keith

I like the ethenic restaurants in the City Market.

But other than the low price, I don't understand the appeal of Chicken Annie's or Chicken Mary's. The food does not appeal to me.

BetsyinKY

Well, I attempted to post a quick response to all the advice yesterday afternoon while I had a 2.5 hour layover in Minneapolis/St. Paul, but apparently, the airport Internet did not let it post. Anyway, here is a quick recap of what we were able to do.

We had a smooth trip to Pittsburg and while I was there, we did eat at Chicken Mary's, which we enjoyed, although I don't know that it was an experience worthy of a Food Wars episode. However, being from KY and living an hour from the World's Largest chicken frying skillet, I had to see what KS chicken was about! We also ate at Harry's in downtown Pittsburg and it was excellent diner style food, with great pie for dessert.

Anyway, the Kansas City portion of the trip got cheated a little bit, because we were exhausted from a hard three days of traveling, cleaning, and moving. Our original plan would have put us there before lunch, but we didn't get into town until about quarter of one that afternoon. We had lunch at the original Oklahoma Joe's location, and although the line was long and the wait torturous once we got inside and could see and smell food, we both thought it was worth it, at least once. Great ribs and pulled pork and I loved the sauce and would liked to have brought some home, but didn't want to put it in my checked bag for fear of BBQ sauced clothes when I got home!

By the time we got out of OK Joe's, it was 2:30ish and we had to make a choice between Nelson-Atkins or WWI museum, because we knew barely had time for one, let alone both. We decided on the Nelson-Atkins because they had a Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera exhibit going on that sounded (and was) interesting. This is a great museum and we would have loved to spend more than two hours here! It was $8 to get in the Frida/Diego exhibit, but when you put that with the rest of the museum (which is free), we got way more than $8 worth of culture!

After the museum, we checked into our hotel (Residence Inn at Broadway/46th St.) and then walked to Glace artisan ice cream shop. This is some serious ice cream! I had spiced dark chocolate and lavender and they were both delicious. My brother had the lemon curd and then wished he had gotten a second flavor. There were so many good ones that even after sampling 4 or 5, it was hard to make a choice.

We then spent time strolling around the Country Club Plaza area, which was fun on a summer Saturday evening, because there was live music on just about every corner. We heard everything from Top 40 to dixieland jazz to easy listening to bagpipes. Even though most of the stores were closed by this point, it was still fun to window shop and just listen to all the music.

Dinner was at Port Fonda. I had read a review of it in the NYT travel section earlier this year and my brother likes mexican food, so we decided to try it. The food was very good and the atmosphere at 9pm was quite a scene. It's definitely not for everyone, with loud rap/hiphop music blaring and an industrial look to it, but if you can handle the noise, the tacos carnitas were delicious, as were the ricotta filled doughnuts doused with tres leches and cinnamon. OMG good.

I wish we had been able to spend more time in KC, but hopefully, we will have more chances to explore as we visit him at Pitt State. Thanks again to everyone who offered tips and advice!

Keith

Thank you for the trip report