WINING AND DINING
Best Barbecue
It’s a fact: you just can’t eat too much barbecue. The four locations, the four sauces, the many varieties of all things barbecue at Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue once again fire up the Gold—for the 11th year in a row. They’ve been around for over 50 delicious years. Beginning as a fabled Q team, the Slaughterhouse Five, another winner, this time the Silver is Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue—in Olathe and near the Johnson-Wyandotte county line. If we had a category for best fries, this joint might win. Gobbling up the Bronze is another favorite: Gates and Sons Bar-B-Que, established in 1946 and now with six locations. Go to their flagship Cleaver Boulevard location on Fridays to taste what’s new. And try their yammer pie.
Best Business Breakfast
The term “power breakfast” is way out of style—now it’s more about good food and better coffee. Our readers breakfast at three favorites: the Gold-winning First Watch, whose ten locations always have a fresh pot brewing; Silver winner The Classic Cup Café, a European style bistro whose buttermilk pancakes are a small round of heaven; then the down-home and friendly style at 51st and Main (and also now in Shawnee) for the Bronze—it’s EGGtc.
Best Business Lunch
“Let’s do lunch.” If it’s for business, you need a place where the food is consistently excellent, the service is impeccable and the tables big enough for your iPad. Along with all that, you can get a burger, steak, or sesame seared tuna, or just settle for the wedge, dripping with Roquefort dressing for a splendiferous Gold lunch at The Capital Grille six days a week. Our voters selected Grand Street Café, with its easy parking and varied menu, for the Silver. Back on the Plaza and for the first time in this category, M&S Grill catches the Bronze, along with excellent seafood and reasonable prices.
Best Business Dinner
The same requirements at lunch exist for a business dinner—just add a few more bucks and an extensive wine list. The Capital Grille tops this list for the Gold for the same reasons it won for lunch. Another steakhouse, the venerable Plaza III – The Steakhouse glides into the Silver, its spacious tables and subdued hum suitable for the biggest deals. And the Bronze goes to JJ’s, whose proprietor, Jimmy Frantzè, has always specialized in great food, wine, service, and ambience.
Best Caterer
Lon Lane’s Inspired Occasions takes the Gold again for the best in his field. He and wife Marcia began back in 1991, and they’ve served thousands of beautiful meals since. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue plates up the Silver, and their motto, “Impress Every Guest” rings true every time. The Bronze goes to relative newcomer, Scrape the Plate Catering, which combine upscale cuisine with a down-home twist. You can buy its packaged goodies on-line.
Best Dessert/Presentation
Yep, a fish place wins the Gold again—McCormick and Schmick’s. It has to be the “Chocolate Bag,” unique to this location—a handmade chocolate box filled with white chocolate mousse and fresh berries. Oh, yum. Speaking of decadence, Andre’s Confiserie Suisse has been sweetening up Kansas Citians since 1955. Its “Matterhorns” alone could account for this year’s Silver. The Cheesecake Factory, because it’s more than “just” cheesecake, wins the Bronze. National Cheesecake Day was July 30—did you get your slice for half price?
Best Ethnic Restaurant
Ethnic food must be true to its roots, its culture, and its tastes. La Bodega, a long-time resident on Southwest Boulevard, taps the Gold again for its authentic Spanish tapas menu and the conviviality it inspires. Korma Sutra, in Westport for years and now on 110th as well, lives up to authentic Indian cuisine and is well-known for its lunch-time buffet. It scarfs up the Silver. The Bronze goes to a different country, Italy, for Garozzo’s Ristorante, authentic as can be. Of four locations, some of us still favor their Harrison location the most—and we haven’t even told you about their Thursday lunch special.
Best Grocery Store/Chain
This new category helps us face the reality that we can’t eat out every meal, though some of us sure do try. Cosentino’s bags the Gold, for both its Downtown location with huge take-out/dine-in choices, wine selection, flowers, and cards, and the older Brookside location, which has changed the buying and dining habits in that area since 2004. Hen House clucks right along behind for the Silver, its fresh poultry and fish especially noteworthy. Hy-Vee, with 22 locations in the KC Metro, bags the Bronze.
Best Outdoor Dining
It’s once again The Classic Cup Café for the Gold—Kansas Citians do like that sidewalk and want to watch as Plaza patrons stroll by, struggling with kids, bags, and strollers. The Blue Grotto, relatively new on the “scene,” demonstrates with Silver finesse that a back space (not an alley, certainly) can be turned into a metro respite with both the charm of Brookside and the pizazz of pizza. Yia Yia’s out south is up for the Bronze, its big green umbrellas, glass artwork, and plantings all combining to create an oasis in a parking lot.
Best Place to Eat With a Group
Maybe it’s the piles of succulent ribs or stacks of fries or onion rings, but Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue again serves up the Gold for almost any size group. The only trick is not watching your comrades snarf down mounds of food. If you want entertainment for a group at the same time, do what our voters do and select Kyoto Steakhouse for knife welding, flying food Silver talent. The Hereford House drops down to the Bronze—big tables, steaks, and friendly service makes any group smile.
Best Place to Take Out-of-Town Guests
Not just one restaurant but at least 25 of them currently light up for the Gold—it’s the entire Power and Light District to impress out-of-town guests. There’s no better place to people watch and wander and finally decide just what you’re in the mood for. Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue stakes out the Silver, in a town where the barbecue experience must be great. And Plaza III – The Steakhouse eats up the Bronze again, representing the best of KC steak and people.
Most Romantic Restaurant
When you want a little romance served up with your aphrodisiacs, Chef Debbie Gold’s exquisite cuisine at The American Restaurant is, appropriately, the Gold choice. The atmosphere includes soaring windows looking down on a glittery moving tableau if you want a break from your beloved’s besotted eyes. The Silver belongs to Starker’s Restaurant secluded and reserved upstairs restaurant, their wine-lined room especially intimate. And Chaz on the Plaza, with its light and airy redo, inspires our voters for the Bronze. Of course, the Raphael is still right upstairs.
Best Seafood
Thanks to the miracle of flight, the Midwest can, in fact, get and serve fresh fish. Snagging the Gold yet again is long-time seafood favorite, the Bristol Seafood Grill, out on 119th Street in Overland Park, and Downtown as well. The hot biscuits are requisite with any meal there. McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant catches the Silver with a constantly changing daily menu including at least six different oysters every day. The Bonefish Grill, with two locations north and south, swims in for the Bronze, its value menu always pleasing.
Best Sports Bar/Grill
Sports bars, apparently by definition, must feature gazillions of TVs, all tuned to different channels, big tables, bigger burgers, yelling crowds and late hours. Fitting that bill exactly for the Gold is the 810 Zone on the Plaza. When the guys finally leave, look out! The two locations of Nick and Jake’s Bar and Grill sport the Silver, and Tanner’s Bar & Grill, at any of its eight KC locations, wins the Bronze. Tanner’s Taters alone are worth the trip.
Best Steak
This is always a fierce competition—steaks, as you know, are a KC signature, and there’s simply no limit to the numbers of restaurants that make these cuts of beef the centerpieces of their menus. When it comes to our honorees in this category, it all starts with the hoof. Returning to the Gold corral is hometown Plaza III – The Steakhouse. You already know why. The Capital Grille is next for the Silver, its steaks also always perfectly done and its ambience a secret ingredient. Ruth’s Chris Steak House takes the Bronze. Extra butter can do no harm in the steak world. Just don’t forget to try their crab cake, as well.
Best Wine List
It’s wine-o-clock and time for JJ’s traditional Gold win for the best list in town. Thousands of bottles, old and new, await your sipping pleasure, and staff is always ready with a suggestion or six. New for Silver honors in this category is Trezo Vino Wine Bar and Bistro on 115th Street. You can sample wines all night in the restaurant, outside, or in a private dining room. The Bronze goes to Plaza III – The Steakhouse, where the staff knows exactly which of their many wines will tickle your tongue.
Best Service
A restaurant can’t be great, or even good, without superb service. These three winners all have well-trained, long-term wait staff who truly care that you’re having not just an excellent meal but an excellent experience. For the Gold, The Capital Grille. For the Silver, the The American Restaurant. The Bronze goes to bluestem. Our kudos to these folks for doing a hard job really, really well.
Best New Restaurant (Locally-Owned)
When James Beard award-winning Chef Celina Tio of The American ventured out on her own in Brookside, many were excited. And rightly so, proven since the Gold award goes to that venture, Julian. The Gaslight Grill in Leawood has plenty of seating and good food, a jazz band Wednesday through Sunday and a friendly owner. And the Moonlight Sushi Bar & Grill in Liberty is casual and inviting, inspiring sushi lovers from the Northland—and beyond—to vote it the Bronze.
Best New Restaurant (Chain)
Sometimes some of us disparage chain restaurants, and here’s a category to say we shouldn’t. The RA Sushi Bar & Restaurant sashays in for the Gold with its fresh sushi and inventive menu. We think our voters were talking about the downtown Kobe Japanese Steak and Seafood (similarly named restaurants are in Lawrence and Independence) for the Silver and Five Guys Burgers and Fries, with multiple locations now, wins the Bronze for their huge burgers any way you want them (as long as it’s medium) and big bags of crispy fries. Did you know they have a tasty grilled cheese sandwich too? But please . . .
Best Overall Restaurant
Tatuhtatah! (Pretend that’s the sound of trumpets blaring in this ultimate category.) To be the best in this city is really saying something. Again, we
return to names you’ve already seen: The Capital Grille for the Gold, The American Restaurant for the Silver, Plaza III – The Steakhouse for the Bronze. What more can we say? You just can’t go wrong at any one of the three.
Best Restaurant (Clay & Platte Counties)
Since May 2007, trekking out to Smithville has become a singular gourmet destination. That’s why our discerning readers voted the Gold again to Justus Drugstore. The 66-seat converted drugstore, and owner/executive chef Jonathan Justus, gives new meaning to the word epicure—even the drinks are extraordinary. The Silver is awarded once more to Piropos Argentinian Restaurant in Briarcliff, for superbly supplying us with many tastes of South America. Trezomare Restaurant and Lounge, also in Briarcliff, wins the Bronze for the first time—its diverse menu includes seafood, pastas, steaks, and more.
Best Restaurant (Johnson County)
It’s about time: J. Alexander’s Restaurant is one of those under-sung oases of excellence. Our readers noted and gave it the Gold, for fall-off-the-bones ribs, burger as you request it to their carrot (or even more sublime) chocolate cake. NoRTH’s modern Italian cuisine (and amazing zucchini chips) in Leawood masters the Silver designation, while Nick and Jake’s Bar & Grill on 135th Street, our Bronze success story, has not only survived but conquered southern JoCo competition enough to open up in Parkville, too. That’s three new winners for Johnson County.
Best Restaurant (Jackson County)
This vote certainly had to be close—all three of these restaurants deserve kudos deluxe. Garnering the Gold for the first time is bluestem in Westport, where a gorgeous lounge sets the stage for always superb food in cozy surroundings. Chef/owner Colby Garrelts was a finalist for the James Beard Best Chef Midwest once again this year. The Silver belongs to The Capital Grille, proving that a chain restaurant can be simply excellent. The Bronze goes to The American Restaurant. Try all these fine restaurants.
Best Restaurant (Outer Communities–Missouri)
Venturing out a bit, the Old Hoof & Horn in St. Joseph recovered from a fire to win the Gold. It’s known for catfish, prime rib, twice-baked potatoes, and a long history. In Excelsior Springs, the quaint depot restaurant, the Wabash BBQ, which opened in 1997, provides authentic smoked barbecue and sweet corn nuggets, earning the Silver for its efforts. The Bronze is awarded to Bill Sharp’s Country BBQ in Warrensburg—the giant pork tenderloin earns raves, as well as the barbecue.
Best Restaurant (Outer Communities–Kansas)
Pachamama’s in Lawrence has been serving exciting and original “new American market cuisine” since 1996 from its golf course location. Now downtown, it’s new Star Bar helps bring home the Gold. Also in Lawrence is Free State Brewing Co., which opened in 1989 as the first legal brewery in Kansas in over 100 years. A former trolley station, it wins Silver for its good food and brew. This poor reviewer has not traveled to Tecumseh, Kan., east of Topeka, to try for herself the Topeka Steak House, but enough voters do love the institution and reward it with the Bronze. 
Wining & Dining :: Entertainment & Culture :: Business Services :: Business Products :: Leadership