Upscale in Kansas City

Voltaire

• ★ 4.8
• Wine bar
• $$$
• West Bottoms

Voltaire in the Kansas City West Bottoms is the Moxie Industries wine bar and globally-inspired bistro, next to the sister Golden Ox in the Live Stock.

The Antler Room

• ★ 4.7
• New American
• $$$
• Longfellow

Order Whatever pasta is on, plus a glass from Leslie's growers-only list.

The Antler Room in Kansas City's Longfellow is Nick and Leslie Goellner's husband-and-wife room. Kitchen leans new american. At 2506 Holmes St.

Underdog Wine Co.

• ★ 4.7
• Wine bar
• $$$
• Crestwood

Underdog Wine Co. on 55th Street in Kansas City's Crestwood Shops sells natural and small-importer bottles by the glass and the bottle, with a tasting bar.

Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue Freight House

• ★ 4.6
• Bbq
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Order Burnt ends, lamb ribs and the famous hickory pit beans baked with sausage.

Jack Stack's Freight House in Kansas City's Crossroads serves Russ Fiorella's family barbecue under 25-foot ceilings inside a converted railroad warehouse.

Novel

• ★ 4.6
• New American
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Order The chef's tasting menu, with the wine pairing built around small-importer bottles.

Novel in Kansas City's East Crossroads is Ryan Brazeal and Jessica Armstrong's tasting-menu room, opened on the Westside in 2013 and relocated to McGee.

Swordfish Tom's

• ★ 4.6
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Drink The Wise Sage cocktail

Swordfish Tom's in Kansas City's Crossroads is an intimate, speakeasy-inspired cocktail bar with no beer, no wine, no food, just premium spirits and crafted.

Le Fou Frog

• ★ 4.5
• French
• $$$
• River Market

Order Steak au poivre with frites and a Pinot Noir from the list.

Le Fou Frog in Kansas City's River Market is Mano and Barbara Rafael's French bistro on the corner of 5th and Oak, with Provencal classics since 1996.

Rye Plaza

• ★ 4.5
• American
• $$$
• Country Club Plaza

Order Fried chicken plate with mashed potatoes and biscuits; finish with the butterscotch pie.

Colby and Megan Garrelts opened Rye Plaza in 2017 as the Country Club Plaza outpost of their Midwestern cooking; fried chicken and biscuits headline.

KC Bier Co. Bierhalle and Biergarten

• ★ 4.5
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Brookside and Waldo

Drink German lagers, helles, dunkel

KC Bier Co. on 79th and Wornall in Kansas City's Waldo has run authentic German lagers since 2014. Order the german lagers, helles, dunkel. At 310 W 79th St.

Novel Wine Bar

• ★ 4.5
• Wine bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Novel's bar in the Kansas City East Crossroads runs a parallel wine programme to Brazeal and Armstrong's tasting room, with grower-focused bottles.

Lidia's Kansas City

• ★ 4.4
• Italian
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Order The pasta tasting trio, three handmade pastas served family-style with unlimited refills.

Lidia Bastianich's Kansas City room sits in a former railroad house just north of Union Station, opened in 1998 with the famous pasta trio service.

The Restaurant at 1900

• ★ 4.4
• New American
• $$$
• Mission Woods

Order Whatever the chef's tasting menu of the night is; the wine list leans Old World.

The Restaurant at 1900 in Mission Woods runs out of a renovated 1967 Modernist building on the Kansas side, with chef-led seasonal menus and a quiet polished.

Anton's Taproom

• ★ 4.4
• Steakhouse
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Order The dry-aged ribeye with bone marrow, plus the charcuterie board to start.

Anton's Taproom in the Kansas City Crossroads is a butcher shop plus steakhouse with grass-fed beef from regional farms and a long natural-wine list.

Tom's Town Distilling Co.

• ★ 4.4
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Drink Botanical Gin cocktails

Tom's Town Distilling on Main in Kansas City's Crossroads is downtown's first legal distillery since Prohibition, founded 2015. At 1701 Main St.

P.S. Kansas City

• ★ 4.4
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Power and Light District

Drink Crafted classic cocktails

P.S. Kansas City on 12th Street downtown is a modern speakeasy hidden in the historic district, with a compiled cocktail menu. At 106 W 12th St.

Boulevard Brewing Tours and Rec

• ★ 4.4
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Westside

Drink Boulevard Wheat, Tank 7 Saison

Boulevard's Tours and Rec Center on Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City is the visitor centre of the city's biggest brewery, with 60-minute free tours.

Brewery Emperial Taproom

• ★ 4.4
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Drink Pilsner, brown ale, IPAs

Brewery Emperial in Kansas City's East Crossroads runs the city's largest brewery patio: 20-plus picnic tables, cornhole, kids' sandbox, plus a wood-fired.

Le Fou Frog Wine Bar

• ★ 4.4
• Wine bar
• $$$
• River Market

Le Fou Frog's wine programme in Kansas City is the city's deepest French selection, with Mano Rafael's three-decade cellar focused on Provence.

Extra Virgin

• ★ 4.3
• Mediterranean
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Order A spread of small plates, the wood-grilled meats and a bottle of natural red from the European list.

James Beard winner Michael Smith's Extra Virgin in the Crossroads opened in 2007 as Kansas City's Mediterranean tapas room, with a wood grill and a deep wine.

Garozzo's Ristorante

• ★ 4.3
• Italian
• $$$
• Columbus Park

Order Chicken spiedini, the city's defining red-sauce Italian dish, with a side of pasta.

Garozzo's in Columbus Park has run the historically Italian North End of Kansas City since 1989. Mike Garozzo invented chicken spiedini in this room.

Westport Cafe and Bar

• ★ 4.3
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Westport

Drink Copper Rabbit gin cocktail, French aperitifs

Westport Cafe and Bar on Westport Road runs a craft cocktail programme out of a French-owned bistro, with the Copper Rabbit gin signature and scratch bistro.

Char Bar Beer Garden

• ★ 4.3
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Westport

Drink Boulevard drafts, KC craft beer

Char Bar's beer garden in Kansas City's Westport is the largest dog-friendly patio in town, with cornhole, ping-pong, bocce, a fire pit and Boulevard.

Extra Virgin Bar

• ★ 4.3
• Wine bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Extra Virgin's bar in the Kansas City Crossroads is a wine destination unto itself, with a European list that runs deeper than the menu and bottle nights.

Golden Ox

• ★ 4.2
• Steakhouse
• $$$
• West Bottoms

Order The Kansas City strip, with the shrimp cocktail starter and old-school sides.

Golden Ox in Kansas City's West Bottoms opened in 1949 inside the Live Stock Exchange as the birthplace of the KC strip steak, reopened in 2018.

Strange Days Brewing Taproom

• ★ 4.2
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• River Market

Drink IPAs, hazy ales, fruit beers

Strange Days Brewing on Oak Street in Kansas City's River Market has served globally-inspired beer since 2018, just north of the City Market with a casual.

Anton's Taproom Wine Bar

• ★ 4.1
• Wine bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Anton's Taproom on Main in Kansas City's Crossroads runs a natural-wine programme alongside the butcher steakhouse, with growers-only Champagne and Old World.

Harry's Country Club

• ★ 4.0
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• River Market

Drink Bourbon and Boulevard

Harry's Country Club on Missouri Avenue in Kansas City's River Market is the neighborhood bar with a long bourbon selection and Boulevard beer on draft.

Lidia's Wine Bar

• ★ 4.0
• Wine bar
• $$$
• Crossroads Arts District

Lidia's Kansas City bar in the Crossroads pours the Bastianich-family Friulian wines plus a wider Italian list. The bar takes walk-ins for salumi and a glass.

Kelly's Westport Inn

• ★ 3.8
• Cocktail bar
• $$$
• Westport

Drink Boulevard draft, well shots

Kelly's Westport Inn occupies one of Kansas City's oldest buildings, dated 1850 and run as an outfitting store by Albert Gallatin Boone (grandson of Daniel.