Attention Kansas City Locals and Past Visitors!!!

k1ngl1ves · Jun 4, 2017

Hey! I'm leaving for KC tomorrow for a family vacation and a convention. I'll have all day Tuesday and Wednesday for activities, and Thursday-Saturday evenings to check out this city. I've never been there before. I did some googling, but I wanted to get advice from locals and past tourists...

What's some great things to do with family in KC? I'm going to the WWI museum and Boulevard for sure, but I have no idea what else is good. Just like any city, I'm sure some things are over-priced and not worth the effort, while there will also be some hidden gems only locals know.

Also, what's the top 5 best bbq joints? Great nightlife spots too?

Thanks! I appreciate all replies!

:mug:

tjosborne · Jun 4, 2017

Worlds of fun if you want to go to a good amusement park. I'm taking the family there in July, so I'll be following this to see what else there is to do. I was wondering what the best bottle shop for beer is.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 4, 2017

tjosborne said:
I was wondering what the best bottle shop for beer is.

This is also something I am interested in finding out.

:mug:

jodell · Jun 4, 2017

The Westport district is a really fun place to go. They have 3 or 4 brewpubs that all male fairly good brews and are fun to go too

k1ngl1ves · Jun 4, 2017

jodell said:
The Westport district is a really fun place to go. They have 3 or 4 brewpubs that all male fairly good brews and are fun to go too

Thanks! I'll add that to the list! :mug:

oylerck · Jun 5, 2017

If you like jazz or if you have interest in the ***** baseball league 18th and vine. Also some night life here. This is a historical area for kc.

Crown Center has a few options. An aquarium and a train museum, Legoland and some other options. I didn't see if you were bringing anyone along but this is more geared to children and young at heart.

Oklahoma Joe's BBQ, gates, Arthur Bryant's. not in that order. If you like South Carolina style BBQ Arthur Bryant's is influenced by that. I believe the other two are the sweet KC style everyone knows.

Nelson-Atkins museum for art.

Westport, zona-rosa and power & light district are all night life areas.

Calibration brewing is on armour road close to worlds of fun. I've only tried their IPA and it's decent but it's a little brewpub. I haven't lived in the area for a while and none of these brew pubs were around when I lived there.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

Thanks guys for the great info! I appreciate it!

pwags23 · Jun 6, 2017

Q39 is hands down the best BBQ in KC. It is only a few years old, so it doesn't get as much attention as some of the older joints. You can also never go wrong with Joe's. As far as the local breweries go, they are all pretty good, but my personal favorite is Torn Label.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

pwags23 said:
Q39 is hands down the best BBQ in KC. It is only a few years old, so it doesn't get as much attention as some of the older joints. You can also never go wrong with Joe's. As far as the local breweries go, they are all pretty good, but my personal favorite is Torn Label.

Any good bottle shops? I'm staying on Westport for 2 days, then staying downtown downtown for te rest of the week.

Thanks!

pwags23 · Jun 6, 2017

Any of the Gomer's liquor stores usually have a pretty good selection.

ifnotuthenwho · Jun 6, 2017

If your looking for a bottle shop where you can drink, go to Bier Station, 120 E. Gregory (A.K.A 71st St.) It has about 28 Taps, and a wall cooler with a ton of bottles. You can grab a bottle and take it to the bar to drink there, or put together a six pack to go.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

pwags23 said:
Any of the Gomer's liquor stores usually have a pretty good selection.

ifnotuthenwho said:
If your looking for a bottle shop where you can drink, go to Bier Station, 120 E. Gregory (A.K.A 71st St.) It has about 28 Taps, and a wall cooler with a ton of bottles. You can grab a bottle and take it to the bar to drink there, or put together a six pack to go.

Exactly the kind of info I was looking for! Thanks guys! :mug:

BitterSweetBrews · Jun 6, 2017

I am in Omaha and we go to KC once or twice a year.

Jack Stack is pretty good BBQ too. Great Steaks (either grass or corn fed) at Antoine's (Downtownish) ot Houstons (Country Club).

The Country Club district is high end, but cool architecture. It is not too far from the Nelson Atkins Museum, which is free. Lots of fountains in the area, which are beautiful.

Take the free trolly/tram from Crown Plaza/Union Station through downtown to the River District. It is a good easy (did I say free) way to see the sights and plot out what you want to do. It goes by the Power and Light District (2 square blocks where you can walk around with drinks), Kemper Arena, Sprint Center and a bunch of other interesting places. I don't think it is far from the WW1 museum (Union Station that is).

As others have said, Westport is nice, (similar to Omaha's Old Market). There are also a few brew pubs within a mile of Boulevard in the Cornerstone Art district. There are 3 or 4 breweries within a few blocks. This includes Second Shift and Border Brewing, both are small. I think Border is only a 3 barrel brewery in what amounts to the large 1 bay garage. Second Shift is in an old gas station, I think and is a 7 barrel brewery.

It is good you are going to Boulevard during the week, they may be bottling, which it cool to see (wear tennis shoes), They don't allow flip flops (or you will have to wear surgical booties). As I recall after the tour you get a couple 4oz samplers free and they sell more for $1. Go early as the tours fill fast, we went at 11:00 a.m..

You might also see if the Royals are in town. Baseball tickets at not that expensive (cheaper than Cubs or W. Sox).

cekramer · Jun 6, 2017

Sporting Kansas City is also playing on Saturday, those games are a blast to go to and also relatively inexpensive compared to other professional sporting events.

BitterSweetBrews · Jun 6, 2017

ifnotuthenwho said:
If your looking for a bottle shop where you can drink, go to Bier Station, 120 E. Gregory (A.K.A 71st St.) It has about 28 Taps, and a wall cooler with a ton of bottles. You can grab a bottle and take it to the bar to drink there, or put together a six pack to go.

Where is this in relation to the Downtown/Union Station/Plaza corridor. I am heading to Overland Park in a couple weeks and like places like that too.

BitterSweetBrews · Jun 6, 2017

k1ngl1ves said:
Any good bottle shops? I'm staying on Westport for 2 days, then staying downtown downtown for te rest of the week.

Thanks!

If your going to be in Westport, don't miss the Doughnut Lounge. Yes it is exactly what it sounds like. A bar that makes great doughnuts in all kinds of bizarre flavors (i.e. Portland's Voodoo Doughnut).

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

BitterSweetBrews said:
I am in Omaha and we go to KC once or twice a year.

Jack Stack is pretty good BBQ too. Great Steaks (either grass or corn fed) at Antoine's (Downtownish) ot Houstons (Country Club).

The Country Club district is high end, but cool architecture. It is not too far from the Nelson Atkins Museum, which is free. Lots of fountains in the area, which are beautiful.

Take the free trolly/tram from Crown Plaza/Union Station through downtown to the River District. It is a good easy (did I say free) way to see the sights and plot out what you want to do. It goes by the Power and Light District (2 square blocks where you can walk around with drinks), Kemper Arena, Sprint Center and a bunch of other interesting places. I don't think it is far from the WW1 museum (Union Station that is).

As others have said, Westport is nice, (similar to Omaha's Old Market). There are also a few brew pubs within a mile of Boulevard in the Cornerstone Art district. There are 3 or 4 breweries within a few blocks. This includes Second Shift and Border Brewing, both are small. I think Border is only a 3 barrel brewery in what amounts to the large 1 bay garage. Second Shift is in an old gas station, I think and is a 7 barrel brewery.

It is good you are going to Boulevard during the week, they may be bottling, which it cool to see (wear tennis shoes), They don't allow flip flops (or you will have to wear surgical booties). As I recall after the tour you get a couple 4oz samplers free and they sell more for $1. Go early as the tours fill fast, we went at 11:00 a.m..

You might also see if the Royals are in town. Baseball tickets at not that expensive (cheaper than Cubs or W. Sox).

Great info! Thank you!

cekramer said:
Sporting Kansas City is also playing on Saturday, those games are a blast to go to and also relatively inexpensive compared to other professional sporting events.

Not a bad idea! I'll look it up.

I have my wife and 2 children with me, but my parents will be down come Wednesday night. We have adjoining rooms, so they offered to watch the kids at night so I can take my wife out for fun and drinks. Until then, we are looking for kids stuff to do. There seems to be a ton down here. We went to the Zoo today... wow! What a great place! Better than the ones by me.

Is the aquarium worth it, or is it an over-priced tourist trap like the Shedd in Chicago?

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

Thanks for all the advice! I appreciate all of it! I love HBT!

:mug:

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

BitterSweetBrews said:
If your going to be in Westport, don't miss the Doughnut Lounge. Yes it is exactly what it sounds like. A bar that makes great doughnuts in all kinds of bizarre flavors (i.e. Portland's Voodoo Doughnut).

My wife is on google maps and just told me about this! Now I need a donut... or 5.

:ban:

BitterSweetBrews · Jun 6, 2017

k1ngl1ves said:
Great info! Thank you!

We went to the Zoo today... wow! What a great place! Better than the ones by me.

Is the aquarium worth it, or is it an over-priced tourist trap like the Shedd in Chicago?

On your way home go up I-29 to Omaha and the Henry Doorly Zoo, it's ranked as the #1 Zoo in the world (takes all day though). You can then take I-80 home.

Never been to the Aquarium, but I would expect it is a step down from the Shedd. With kids you could take them to the Science City at Union Station (not too far from Westport). There is a planetarium and Imax attached.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 6, 2017

BitterSweetBrews said:
On your way home go up I-29 to Omaha and the Henry Doorly Zoo, it's ranked as the #1 Zoo in the world (takes all day though). You can then take I-80 home.

Never been to the Aquarium, but I would expect it is a step down from the Shedd. With kids you could take them to the Science City at Union Station (not too far from Westport). There is a planetarium and Imax attached.

I'll be on a beeline to get home on Sunday, for work on Monday.

I'll be back here next year, so I will take your advice and go to Omaha first.

Never thought about Nebraska. But honestly, who does? :ban:

TwistedGray · Jun 6, 2017

oylerck said:
Nelson-Atkins museum for art.

Note: It is free admission, but PACKED with cool art stuff if you're into that. Also, I think you are already doing the WW museum as you had mentioned that in the other thread...definitely do it.

BitterSweetBrews said:
It is good you are going to Boulevard during the week, they may be bottling, which it cool to see (wear tennis shoes), They don't allow flip flops (or you will have to wear surgical booties). As I recall after the tour you get a couple 4oz samplers free and they sell more for $1. Go early as the tours fill fast, we went at 11:00 a.m..

Find the earliest time. I went in August, first tour, and we had a blast. There was like six of us and I ended up getting 3-4-5 free pints by the time everything was said and done ... they were really slow that day so didn't mind allow me to try everything. (I am sure it will be busier as we're now in the summer, so you might not be as lucky.)

ifnotuthenwho · Jun 6, 2017

BitterSweetBrews said:
Where is this in relation to the Downtown/Union Station/Plaza corridor. I am heading to Overland Park in a couple weeks and like places like that too.

The plaza is around 48th street so that would put bier station about 2-3 miles south of it and a few blocks east. The nice thing about KC is that nothing is too far away.

oylerck · Jun 6, 2017

k1ngl1ves said:
Great info! Thank you!

Not a bad idea! I'll look it up.

I have my wife and 2 children with me, but my parents will be down come Wednesday night. We have adjoining rooms, so they offered to watch the kids at night so I can take my wife out for fun and drinks. Until then, we are looking for kids stuff to do. There seems to be a ton down here. We went to the Zoo today... wow! What a great place! Better than the ones by me.

Is the aquarium worth it, or is it an over-priced tourist trap like the Shedd in Chicago?

I thought the aquarium was cool. But everything's cheaper when that's where you grew up. No hotel fee and all.

oylerck · Jun 6, 2017

Omaha zoo is number #1 and we go once a year. They are working on an Asian exhibit right now. They also have a baby giraffe and an aquarium. Just went 3 weeks ago.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 8, 2017

A little disappointed about Boulevard. The food isn't very good, and nothing in a bottle that was a brewery special. Skipped the tour. Most of the beer available is already distributed in my town.

They did have some brewery specific beers on tap, but nothing to make me say "Wow!" Hopefully Torn Label will be better.

Q39 was amazing! We've got reservations for Jack's tonight...

Westport is a blast! 18th & Vine wasn't for me. It's small and a bit blah. Gonna hit the Power & Light tomorrow.

Thanks for everyone's input!
:mug:

ifnotuthenwho · Jun 8, 2017

Good luck with Torn Label. I'm not a fan of their beer, but there are a lot of people who are.

Jack Stack will be good. I think the barbeque is better at Joe's KC, but Jacks is really good and you get table service vs a walk up place.

tjosborne · Jun 8, 2017

Does anyone know if Rock and Run is a decent brewpub? I was thinking about checking it out.

k1ngl1ves · Jun 9, 2017

ifnotuthenwho said:
Good luck with Torn Label. I'm not a fan of their beer, but there are a lot of people who are.

Jack Stack will be good. I think the barbeque is better at Joe's KC, but Jacks is really good and you get table service vs a walk up place.

Jack's was good, but a bit pricey. We're going to Joe's this evening.

Any recommendations on brew pubs and bottle shops?

Thanks!

:mug:

ifnotuthenwho · Jun 11, 2017

Sorry, I'm a little late in responding, but I was the one that suggested Bier Station earlier. Did you happen to make it by there?
What are your thoughts on Torn Label? Also, how was Joes KC barbecue?

Attention Kansas City Locals and Past Visitors!!!

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

Well-Hung Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Hung Member

Welltown Brewery

Well-Hung Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Hung Member

Member

Well-Hung Member

Member

Supporting Member

Well-Hung Member

Tim Trabold

Active Member

Tim Trabold

Tim Trabold

Well-Hung Member

Well-Hung Member

Well-Hung Member

Tim Trabold

Well-Hung Member

El Jefe Brewing Company

Supporting Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Hung Member

Supporting Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Hung Member

Supporting Member

Similar threads