Many of the city’s best restaurants are clustered near the artsy Crossroads neighborhood. For a date night or a light splurge, there’s The Town Company, which showcases Missouri ingredients in a menu making heavy use of a wood-fired hearth. Just a few blocks away, there’s Anjin, a small Midwestern izakaya with a deep sake list and a deceptively casual menu of Japanese sandos and snacks. And Anjin’s sister restaurant, The Antler Room, applies the same exacting techniques to a more formal service setting, with a broader palette of global flavors.
If you’re after historic architecture and maximally vibey interiors, plan at least one meal in the historic West Bottoms neighborhood, once home to the city’s stockyards. The Golden Ox is a faithfully restored historic steakhouse where you can get your fill of locally raised beef, frosty martinis, and creamy dessert drinks.
Kansas City remains a great cocktail town, with cutting-edge menus even where tourists might not expect them. Extend the night at the adjoining Stockyards Brewing Co., which shares the restaurant’s cattleman theme, or pop across the street to The Campground for a modern cocktail in a moody, intimate room. Mean Mule, a local distillery specializing in agave spirits, offers some of the most daring cocktails in the city right now, with a sprinkling of savory options inspired by ranch dressing or French onion soup (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!). A short Uber or Lyft from downtown, in Shawnee, Kansas, are two James Beard–nominated sister bars, Drastic Measures and Wild Child. Drastic is the elder sibling, with a mature feel and a thoroughly dialed-in menu of well balanced and approachable drinks. Wild Child is a little more manic—in the best way—with bigger swings, weirder glassware, and a more prominent spirit-free menu.
Dive bar seekers will feel at home in Chez Charlie, which offers great darts, a creaky old jukebox, and a clientele that skews younger and more counterculture. Old heads tend to post up next door at Fitz’s Blarney Stone, a townie bar with cheap drinks and seasoned regulars.
Watching the World Cup in Kansas City
Kansas City will host six matches at Arrowhead Stadium’s (known as Kansas City Stadium for the World Cup) GEHA Field. Soccer fans interested in seeing the games live can purchase World Cup 2026 tickets at FIFA’s official ticketing portal, authorized hospitality providers such as Pitchside, and secondary sites like SeatGeek and VividSeats. The matches play throughout June and July with dates set for June 16, 20, 25, 2, a Round of 32 match on July 3, and a quarterfinal on July 11.
If you’re simply looking for a place to post up and watch some World Cup matches with a pint in hand, your best bet is to head downtown. Johnny’s Tavern and No Other Pub in the Power & Light entertainment district cater to soccer fans, with friendly staff and a mosaic of screens. For a more intimate environment, check out The Dub, which has a focus on women’s sports, or travel south to Gael’s, an LGBTQ+ friendly sports bar and grill.
