What I Ate Last Weekend - Dining in Kansas City

Last weekend (why am I always so behind on my posts?!?) I visited my friends and family up in Kansas to make sure everybody was still doing well and hadn’t forgotten about me. It was the first trip in many trips that my mom didn’t feel like cooking for me, so we went out to eat so many times! Everywhere we went was someplace new and everything we ate was delicious. Kansas City is becoming pretty hip. I like it.

Friday, brunch at Chez Elle
My dad is totally digging this random intersection just west of downtown, around the corner from the Boulevard Brewing Company. When I was home for Easter, he took me to The Blue Bird Bistro, but this time, he picked this adorable creperie around the corner. The restaurant is in the old Summit Theatre, and there are condos for sale above. You could rent a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath for under $2,000/month. What a bargain.

Friday, dinner at Martin City Brewing Company
My mom’s been talking about “The Pub” since it opened and was delighted that I had the time and energy to check it out with her during this trip. Martin City is this tiny little town along the train tracks about 10 minutes southeast of Leawood. Growing up, we went there for gymnastics lessons, mini golf, or Sonic, and then later for Tropical Sno (mmm shaved ice). Martin City Brewing Company hasn’t been open for very long, and they aren’t selling their own beer quite yet, but the current selection of microbrews and the not-bar-like menu were fantastic. I highly recommend the scallops and risotto balls.

Saturday, brunch at The River Market
If you’re ever in KC on a Saturday morning, I highly recommend the trip to Downtown Kansas City’s River Market. For locals, there’s tons of fresh produce, flowers, spices, and other amazing things for sale. The prices we totally reasonable, and the samples were delish. After our coffees, my Mom and I had some spinach pies from a little Indian bakery. They were served with tzatziki, which spawned a lengthy conversation about Dahv Dahv, making your own yogurt sauce, and eating gluten free.

Saturday, dinner at Swagger’s
For my last night in KC, my mom wanted to take us all to Jack Stack, one of her standbys for a tasty spinach salad. Apparently a lot of other families were craving the same thing... Rather than wait around for a table we walked across the parking lot to the brand new bar and grill, Swaggers. While the name is less than desirable, the menu and beer selection was surprisingly vast. I chose a Swagger’s Light Lager while Reg spent about 20 minutes scouring the menu for the beer with the highest ABV. To eat, I tried convincing the bros to get The Dead Texan (knowing Chris would have ordered it, had he been there) but everybody choose slightly more reasonably, but still gigantic burgers and sandwiches, many that had been featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Cool!

Some Kapkas, just before heading to the airport
And thus begins a seriously overdue health food binge.