Independence (Missouri) is a food day trips in Kansas City.
Independence, Missouri is 20 minutes east of Kansas City. Harry Truman's hometown anchors the Square with Clinton's Soda Fountain (the original where Truman worked), Cafe Verona and a Saturday farmers market.
Tip: Clinton's Soda Fountain runs the same lunch counter Harry Truman worked at age 14. Saturday farmers market April through October on the Square.
St. Joseph, Missouri sits 55 minutes north of Kansas City. Jesse James was killed here in 1882; the city today is a quiet riverfront town with Pony Express heritage and a small handful of legacy diners.
Tip: Hi-Boy Drive-In on the Belt Highway is the local burger anchor. The Pony Express Museum makes a half-day side trip.
Parkville, Missouri is 20 minutes north of Kansas City, set on the Missouri River with English Landing Park, a Saturday farmers market and Jonathan Justus and Camille Eklof's Parker Hollow seafood restaurant, opened October 2025.
Tip: Saturday farmers market 7:00 to 12:00. Parker Hollow from the team behind Justus Drugstore brings West Coast sustainable seafood and a raw bar to downtown Parkville at 100 Main Street.
Louisburg, Kansas sits 40 minutes south of Kansas City. The Louisburg Cider Mill has run since 1972, with a fall festival, cider donuts and apple cider in seasonal release.
Tip: September through October is peak; the donuts are made fresh through the day. Bring back a gallon of cider.
Lawrence, Kansas is the University of Kansas town 45 minutes west of Kansas City, with a serious independent restaurant scene built around Massachusetts Street's downtown strip and the farms of Douglas County.
Tip: Park downtown on Massachusetts Street. 715 Restaurant is the wood-fired anchor; the Lawrence Farmers Market runs Saturday mornings.
Weston, Missouri sits 40 minutes north of Kansas City on a bluff above the Missouri River, with a 19th-century downtown holding Pirtle Winery, McCormick Distilling and Big Muddy Brewery.
Tip: McCormick Distilling Co (1856) is the oldest continuously operating distillery west of the Mississippi. The Pirtle Winery tasting room is in a former church.