The 10 Best Restaurants in Kansas City, Beyond BBQ

Kansas City is known as the “Paris of the Plains,” a nickname tied to the city’s Prohibition-era vice and liquor culture. Today the name functions as a playful way to recognize Kansas City as a Heartland cultural center with many things to do, especially around food. The city spans Missouri and Kansas, with most attractions and restaurants on the Missouri side, while Kansas City, Kansas, offers additional exploration including nearly 60 taquerias and mercados on the official Taco Trail. The Plains Midwest remains under-explored and un-commodified, giving chefs room to create distinctive regional flavors. The essential restaurant list emphasizes versatility, including scratch-made Italian sandwiches, Palestinian dishes, and a distinctive take on Midwestern pork tenderloin, while excluding barbecue pits.

"Kansas Citians' third-favorite pastime-right after eating barbecue and listening to jazz-is reminding visitors that the city used to be called the "Paris of the Plains." Never mind that the historic nickname was inspired less by the city's wide boulevards and sculptural fountains than it was by the unchecked vice that kept the liquor flowing long through Prohibition."

"Today, it's become a slightly glib way to recognize the city as a Heartland cultural center (and there are plenty of things to do while you're here). Food is a key part of that. Kansas City straddles two states, and while most of the main attractions (and restaurants) are on the Missouri side, Kansas City, Kansas, has a lot to explore, too-including the nearly 60 taquerias and mercados that form the city's official Taco Trail."

"As a culinary region, the Plains Midwest remains comparatively under-explored and un-commodified-to diners' benefit. Chefs here have fewer dues to pay or boxes to check: the wide-open expanses of the Plains are a blank page anyone can write on. The "essential" restaurants on this list reflect KC's versatility, from scratch-made Italian sandwiches to Palestinian dishes with regional flair to a distinctive take on the Midwestern pork tenderloin."

"One thing you won't find on this list is a barbecue pit. Kansas City's native barbecue style deserves its own list of essential stops, and I wrote one for you here. Consider these restaurants your palate cleansers: the places to visit in between literal pit stops."

Read at Bon Appetit