Best Barbecue
Benjamin Franklin is best known for his wise saying, “Many a meal is lost for want of meat.” He was no doubt thinking about barbeque. Ingram’s readers solved the endless debate by again delivering the Gold to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue. Long a staple, Jack Stack fans are vociferous in their fervor for the sauce, the ribs, the beans, and nearly everything else in this four-location, 50-year-old legend. Equally passionate devotees award the Silver to Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue, famed for its fries and their pulled pork sandwiches, and more. Both Kansas locations do a smokin’ business. Saucing up for the Bronze is Gates Bar-B-Q, its six locations known for fabulous meat and friendly staff—and, of course, they should know it all; they’ve been to Gates College of Bar-B-Que Knowledge, better known as Rib Tech.
Best Business Breakfast
Touted as the most important meal of the day, breakfast could also be the best. Doing it best for the Gold is again First Watch, whose attentive staff and array of choices have enamored Kansas Citians one more time at their 10 locations, of some 80 nationwide. Those folks who opt for local love EGGtc. for the Silver. This breakfast, brunch, and lunch place at 51st and Main is “All that it’s cracked up to be,” offering everything from crepes, breakfast pizzas, and huevos rancheros to the more commonplace. That’s pretty much all true for our Bronze winner, The Classic Cup Café, which is also open for late-night eating and people-watching as well. If you’ve not had their pancakes, throw your diet out one of their big windows and order them now.
Best Business Lunch
Since we all work really hard for a living, we can reward ourselves with the perennial Gold winner: The Capital Grille. Whether it’s “just” for a great (and huge) sirloin burger or a more restrained grilled tuna steak salad, you don’t have to eat meat here to say the menu, the atmosphere, and the service combine to create an incentivizing lunch. The Silver swims to McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant and the Bronze floats over to Bristol Seafood Grill. More about both of these extraordinary seafood restaurants later, but it’s clear that being able to talk to a colleague or client and not have to worry a second about the food or service is key.
Best Caterer
Being a great caterer requires solid attention to the needs and goals of the occasion giver as well as creativity and purely great food. All those requirements have again been met by our Gold winner, Inspired Occasions. Led by owner Lon Lane since he began in 1991, Ingram’s readers continue to entrust their events to this inventive and effective organization. Close behind for the Silver is the Kansas City Catering Company, where for 25 years they’ve served from 10 to 6,000 people delicious breakfasts, box lunches, dinners and more, taking all the worry from any event and letting the hosts win the applause. The Bronze moves to Brancato’s Catering, which who accommodates and improves upon every choice for perfect events, where they will do it all for you, from chairs to tents to the yummy food itself.
Best Dessert/Presentation
A perfect dinner deserves a perfect dessert. Or, a perfect dessert can leave such a lasting impression that the dinner could be forgotten. Either way, the Gold goes to McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Grill, where each dessert elicits an “aaaah” and the chocolate “bag,” really a rich paneled box filled with whipped cream and berries, a drooling “ooohhhh” before the silverware attack. The Cheesecake Factory deserves the Silver, its plentiful concoctions going far beyond cheesecake. And for display as well as taste, The Peppercorn Duck Club captures the Bronze, its selection overwhelming the eyes and then the taste buds as chocolate reigns supremely decadent.
Best Ethnic Restaurant
How exciting for Kansas City! Three different nationalities pick up awards this year. La Bodega on Southwest triumphs for the Gold, its northern-Spain tradition of snacking on numerous small plates, drinking and socializing perfectly representing how Ingram’s readers like to live. The Silver is brandished by Garozzo’s Ristorante, a Kansas City Italian tradition since 1989, now with four metro locations. The chicken spiedini is just one of several offerings you’ll say, “Come favoloso!” about. And across the seas, we wander to China where Bo Ling’s Chinese Restaurant grabs the Bronze.
Best Outdoor Dining
Some days and evenings are perfect outdoor sitting weather. Not all that many, so when they do happen, head to Gold winner, Baja 600. This Plaza venue is well known for its cheery umbrellas, trickling fountain, and tasty Tex-Mex food. Another well known and nearby favorite, the Silvered Classic Cup Café has both patio in back and front sidewalk locations which are highly popular for out-of-towners and locals alike. If you’d like a more pastoral and neighborhoody scene, Aixois French Bistro has been again honored with the Bronze, its tiny stream of water and larger stream of walkers and riders adding to the natural delight.
Best Place to eat with a Group
Group dining requires big enough tables and attentive waiters no matter the food. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue has a Golden reputation here for those reasons—not to mention the saucy barbeque and a nicer atmosphere than found in some of our grittier favorites. For the Silver, it’s Hereford House, with four suburban locations, resting upon the original 1957 near-Downtown reputation. For conviviality and a mini-show that pleases people especially if they don’t much want to talk to each other, the Hibachi Japanese Steak House chops it up for the Bronze, just off the Plaza on 47th Street.
Best Place to Take Out-of-Town Guests
It stands to reason that if you want a good place for a group, and you have a whole bunch of people descending upon you, invited or not, treat them to Kansas City’s best known traditions: barbeque and steak. So of course, for the Gold, see above and take them to Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue unless they’re confirmed vegans. Ambling for the Silver, go to the place Calvin Trillin made famous: Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque. You don’t have to order their original sauce since they have two others and you don’t have to go to their location at 17th and Brooklyn (they’re at the Legends at the Kansas Speedway and at Ameristar Casino) but if you want the original experience, head on down to the old ballpark area. And last but hardly least, readers delivered the Bronze award to the venerable Plaza III–The Steakhouse for its old style ambience, excellent steaks, and attentive, friendly service which just shout out, “This is Kansas City.”
Most Romantic Restaurant
A starlit night outside, an outdoor panorama of Kansas City and indoor collection of soft lights and flowers, white tablecloths, perfect service… and you, my love. A great piano player and, oh yes, always superb food by Chef Debbie Gold for the Gold. Of course, it’s The American Restaurant. Take your honey there anytime—they’ll add the romance. Winning the Silver is Piropos Restaurant. That’s where “A taste of Argentina” can add the spark to light his/her fire. If that’s your desire. And there’s a tie for the Bronze: Starker’s Restaurant with its cozy wine-lined walls (my favorite room) and Skies rotating atop the Hyatt Regency, where all of Kansas City is your wallpaper.
Best Seafood
No, Kansas Citians are not just beef-glutted, cholesterol-laden foodies. We like fish, too, even though it’s (mostly) good for us. (And fortunately, it can be fried.) The first place we trek is to the Bristol Seafood Grill for its Gold-awarded piscatorial delights from the mussels to the daily catch. This independent local has two Kansas City locations and two in St Louis. McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Grill makes good use of its national reputation on the local Plaza scene to serve up its array of flown-in daily fish and shellfish, prepared exactly as you wish and perfectly. The City Tavern, well known among oysterholics, snags the Bronze—fewer selections, perhaps, but equally exquisitely prepared.
Best Steak
When Julia Child said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook,” she surely was thinking of our Gold winner, Plaza III–The Steakhouse. The salads are good, of course, but the steaks—oh, my. Order the hash browns extra crispy to go with your perfect cut, and you’re in carnivore heaven. One of the best chains anywhere, anytime, took the Silver this year: The Capital Grille just across the street. We hear the desserts are great, but who has room after the other indulgences? The Bronze sizzles at the Hereford House, where it’s possible to not only have an excellent steak but a great time, too.
Best Wine List
If JJ’s didn’t win the Gold each year, we’d swoon. Hundreds of bottles to choose from and waiters who know them and nicely help you through the selection maze. Despite the construction in front of them, support them especially this year for both the food and the wine will remind you what a winner this place is. Newer on the scene is the Silver champion, JP Wine Bar & Coffee House, in the Crossroads district and on 119th Street. With fewer options but the advantage of flights, you can indulge your sense of wine imbibing adventure. Ingram’s oenophiles gave the Bronze to Leawood’s Trezo Vino Wine Bistro, with its Sunday and Monday 1/2 Price Wine Nights and a happy hour that lasts until 7 p.m. weekdays. This pretty establishment offers an extensive list of flights, glasses and bottles paired with wonderful food.
Best New Restaurant (locally-owned)
Trumpets for Gold: Zest in Johnson County at 106th and Mission Road takes it. Owned by Joe DiGiovanni of Brookside’s Joe D’s fame, it targets a range of customers with its comfort food in a sleek interior. The mac and cheese and meatloaf are already legendary—but there’s caviar and rack of lamb, too. West Chase Grille receives the Silver prize for its contemporary American cuisine imaginatively served. The Bronze award is reserved for another newcomer, Blanc Burgers+Bottles, where burger and beer lovers can indulge their passions almost guilt free. It needs its own paragraph, but the shakes (some very grown-up) and sweet potato fries and onion rings are scrumptious, too.
Best New Restaurant (National chain)
NoRTH, one of eleven different restaurant concepts in 27 restaurants by Fox Concepts, conquers our readers’ hearts for the Gold, despite its capitalization. Modern Italian cuisine (including fabulous zucchini chips) is featured in this upbeat and very popular bistro on 119th in Leawood. Fogo de Chão, which means "campfire,” is a Southern Brazilian steakhouse which flames for the Silver award. Sample its gourmet salad bar, then devour different cuts of beef, lamb, chicken or pork. Make sure you’re hungry when you get there! A bit more subdued in presentation is our Bronze winner, Bice Bistro. Already well known in New York and Chicago, the Bice name behind this Italian American café is known for its cuisine and ambiance and now it’s amid the hubbub of the Power and Light District.
Best Service
Great service may be most easily recognized when you don’t have it. You will never have that problem at both our Gold and Silver prize winners: The Capital Grille and The American Restaurant. And since these two were so good, our readers didn’t vote for third place. Instead, how about George S. Kaufman’s Epitaph for a Dead Waiter? "God finally caught his eye."
Best Overall Restaurant
Appearing once again and to no one’s surprise for the Gold: The Capital Grille. Year after year, award after award. We don’t want to sound ho-hum because this restaurant is simply exemplary, just putting it all together oh-so-well, as if it were effortless. And also well-lauded for the Silver, but perhaps a bit more of a revelation to the uninitiated, the Bristol Seafood Grill at 119th and Roe and in the Power and Light District as well. They even manage to serve one of the best brunches in town, too.
Best Restaurant (Clay & Platte counties)
These two counties cover extensive ground, but Justus Drugstore in Smithville justly earns the Gold. Its explanatory tag line, “A Restaurant,” doesn’t do it justice—it’s probably the best food to hit the metro area in a long, long time … and well worth the 30 or so minutes to get there from Kansas City. Do call ahead—it’s always busy with fans who know just how great the food is. Silver belongs to Piropos Restaurant in Briarcliff, north of the river. Its Argentinean approach and unusual spices create an experience to be remembered, and the former Parkville location is open for private parties and events. The Bronze hops to Stroud’s Restaurant on NE Oak Ridge Road north of Vivion Road, best pan-fried chicken in town and a whole lot more. The other location in Fairway does equally well of course. Hmmmm, smell those cinnamon buns.
Best Restaurant (Johnson & Wyandotte Counties)
Certainly this zone has no shortage of excellent restaurants and the name you’ve seen before. Bristol Seafood Grill triumphs as our Gold winner. It’s probably because not only are the lake and sea catches wonderful, they have lots more as well. A newcomer to the area, Sullivan’s Steakhouse, wins the Silver. This chain started back in 1984 as O’Tooles and hasn’t stopped growing since. Try the meatloaf. Two winners for the Bronze: The Elephant Bar Restaurant, 119th and Metcalf, and the quieter Room 39 in Mission Farms, larger twin to its midtown sister, but still serving absolutely fresh and inventive breakfast through dinner meals.
Best Restaurant (Jackson County)
It’s always a tussle and you’ve seen the names before. For the Gold, it’s Plaza III–The Steakhouse where the food is matched by the service and graceful steakhouse atmosphere prevails. The Silver belongs this time to The Capital Grille while the moose head benignly overlooks the bar scene and two new private rooms and Sunday night jazz add to its delicious offerings.
Best Restaurant (Kansas Suburban)
This zone takes us a bit further afield, but just to the hills of Lawrence. The Gold treks to Pachamama’s, its Andes mountains translation as “mother earth,” appropriate for the bounty this restaurant yields. In 2006 they gave up their more pastoral location and moved to 800 New Hampshire in downtown Lawrence, making an even more delightful reason to visit this fun college town.