If you need another sign that we're eating well on both sides of the state line, Urbanspoon's list of America's Most Popular New Restaurants in 2012 should do nicely. Sweet Siam in Lenexa, Remedy Food + Drink and Cafe Gratitude are included in the collection of 50 restaurants.
Urbanspoon based its rankings on the amount of buzz that a restaurant received from critics, bloggers and diners. Circle 7 Ranch in Ballwin, Missouri, and O'Shay's Pub in St. Louis also made the list. If you haven't been yet, here are Charles Ferruzza's reviews for Sweet Siam, Remedy Food + Drink and Cafe Gratitude.
You know you're good when you've been open awhile and you still make a list of the best new restaurants in the country. Kunda Eats has put together its 2012 list of the Best New Restaurants in America, and two Kansas City joints, Beer Kitchen No. 1 and the Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, are among the picks.
The list covers 204 restaurants in 53 cities that have opened late 2010 through 2011. It was a good week for Beer Kitchen; it was also named to Urban Spoon's "America's Most Popular Kid-Friendly Restaurants," alongside Oklahoma Joe's. Take that news as a caveat or sage advice depending on whether you're eating out with the adolescent set.
In 1995, the idea that Sandra Bullock didn’t have to pick up a phone to get a large pizza with anchovies, garlic and extra cheese seemed revolutionary. Nearly two decades after The Net, Ashishh Desai and the team at Menufy are proving that Hollywood’s early vision of the Web was onto something: Ordering restaurant food online doesn’t have to be hard.
The KCK startup creates online menus, ordering systems and websites for restaurants. The 10-person business began as a conversation three years ago. Desai and Hoang Nguyen were sitting in the dining room of what would become Menufy’s first customer: Stix in the Legends. Nguyen, Stix’s general manager, had been tasked with developing and launching a website for the Asian-fusion restaurant.
“We started this thinking about Stix,” says Desai, who remained the restaurant’s senior manager until last year. “But we quickly realized we could think broader, and this template would work for other restaurants.”
Blue Ribbon Hunter, Yahoo's travel food competition show, attended this year's Kansas City Bacon Festival, the annual benefit for the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City. They interviewed meat lovers and chefs alike to find out why our city enjoys pork belly as much as we do. There's the Local Pig's bacon and waffles dish, Ameristar's cheesecake bites covered in chocolate and candied bacon, and Trezo Mare's tempura-fried pork belly wrapped in bacon. Blue Ribbon Hunter also tracked down the recipe for the winning entry: a Bacon Benedict from David Derr of Art Institutes International. You can watch the video here.
Open Table, the online restaurant reservation system, has begun mining its diner review database to create rankings, and in the newly released 2012 'Top 100 Notable Wine Lists,' there's a name familiar to Kansas City oenophiles: Tannin Wine Bar and Kitchen. General Manager Barry Tunnell runs the wine program — his style and taste in wine have been evident to regulars since the restaurant at 1526 Walnut was JP Wine Bar.
Tannin is the only Kansas City restaurant to crack the top 100 (Open Table selected the restaurants based on an analysis of 5 million reviews across 15,000 restaurants), but there are several other spots within driving distance: 4 Olives Restaurant in Manhattan, Kansas; Copia Restaurant and Wine Garden in St. Louis; and Robust in Webster Groves, Misssouri.
The potato skins at Chappell's are serious business.
Kansas City is nationally known for tailgating, so it makes sense that America would wake up to the idea that we're comfortable drinking and eating fried food indoors as well. The Daily Meal has named Chappell's Restaurant & Sports Museum to its list of 'America's Best Sports Bars.' Here's what the site had to say about the KC institution:
Upon entering this Kansas City, Mo., bar, you’re immediately greeted with 100 years of sports greatness: 1,000 football helmets, Super Bowl rings, autographed Hall of Fame baseballs, and more — there’s a reason it’s called Chappell’s Restaurant and Museum. While taking in the relics around you, watch a game and dine on some classic American dishes, like the fish and chips and Chappell burger.
Somebody's been reading Fat City. Chappell's was named to our list of five bars where you should be watching sports last month. And earlier this summer, Charles Ferruzza noted that potato skins (a dying breed of appetizer) are still proudly featured on Chappell's menu.
Trivia and pizza at Waldo Pizza is a good pairing.
Great cheap eats are like high school secrets: You know word is going to get out, but you just hope you can keep it to yourself awhile before the whole world knows.
Consider the world informed about Longboards in Gladstone, Grinders and Waldo Pizza. Urbanspoonreleased its list of 'America's 100 Most Popular Cheap Eats' (determined by blog posts, reviews and votes), and those are the three area representatives. As for other regional fare, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard in St. Louis got the nod as did A Dong in Des Moines. The Fort Worth location for Fuzzy's Taco Shop (Kansas City has an outpost at 103rd and Wornall) also cracked the top 100.
Chef Jasper J. Mirabile prepares tableside mozzarella.
You just need to make a good shrimp Livornese to keep them coming in. For close to 60 years, that's been the plan at Jasper's Restaurant, and the shrimp, among other dishes, is why Travel + Leisure has named the Kansas City eatery to its list of the 30 Best Italian Restaurants in the U.S.
In the piece, Jasper's also earns the title of the 'Best Midwestern Italian steakhouse,' which, like baseball statistics, is a delightfully specific category. Tony's in St. Louis was also named to the list.
It's only a matter of time before we start cracking open a six-pack of cupcakes.
If London is experiencing a hangover, it's not from missing the Olympics. The Daily Mailreports on a trend that is without question going to be heading over the pond: alcoholic cupcakes.
Eliminating the need for a box of cupcakes and a bottle of wine is the de facto American dream. Smallcakes owner Jeff Martin (his doughnut shop Twisted Doughnut just launched) was experimenting with Guinness cupcakes two years ago. You can't fight boozy pastries. Here are five strategies for dealing with the upcoming alcoholic cupcake craze.
Chef Jasper J. Mirabile Jr. is kicking out the top Italian in KC, according to Zagat.
Kansas City has a few absolutes for out-of-towners. You're going to sample wood-smoked meat. Somebody will tell you that KC has a prodigious number of fountains. And if you're going for Italian food, you'll wind up at Jasper's Restaurant.
Zagathas named the top Italian restaurant in 22 metro areas, and Jasper's was tabbed for Kansas City. In the accompanying USA Today article, though, salesman Jim Burditt from Bucyrus, Kansas, explains why he is committed to Martinelli's in Salina and Garozzo's in Overland Park:
"Martinelli's chopped salad is the best salad I have ever eaten, and it also has great lasagna and chicken piccata," Burditt tells USA Today. "Garozzo's is famous for chicken Spiedini and a three-way pasta dish that is so large, I dare anyone to finish it."
Where would you send someone if they asked you for the best Italian food in Kansas City?
Courtney Cole, Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus executive director, answers The Pitch's questionnaire
A consultant tells KC that big retail could save Citadel Plaza
Big Rip Brewing Co. expands the Northland's beer universe
Yo La Tengo is at Grinders tonight
Which out-of-town restaurant would you lobby to bring to KC?
WWE's Monday Night Raw returns to Kansas City October 14
DelHi Soul Food Buffet closes in KCK
The Gaf has closed in Waldo