Typically, if you think KC, you also think barbecue. While that’s certainly a worthy connection, writer Carla Waldemar looked beyond barbecue places in Kansas City, Missouri and came away with some tasty options.

Save this article to Pinterest to help you plan what you’re going to eat beyond BBQ in Kansas City, Missouri. Photos by Carla Waldemar. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

Beyond barbecue places in Kansas City Missouri

It’s true. Just like the hick-from-the-sticks sings in “Oklahoma!”, “I went to Kansas City on a Friday; by Sattiday I learnt a thing er two.” Thing One: KC reigns, in most smoked pork lovers’ opinion, as the home of the world’s best barbecue. Thing Two: The town can also hold its own as a James Beard-blessed culinary capitol.

So, let’s start right there. And with Beard medalist Michael Smith. I’d first met Michael…. oh, about a hundred years ago, when he cheffed at the city’s elite American Club, “just following others’ ideas,” he recalls. Today he owns pretty much an entire city block, peppered with his concepts including Extra Virgin, home of a stellar list of Mediterranean tapas and more.

Chef Michael Smith and his wife, Nancy, the owners of Extra Virgin Restaurant.

Two bros, seated near me there, discussed the menu. “You gonna have the rabbit gnocchi?” “Of course,” his friend replied with a ‘duh!’ in his voice. Me, too. Served in an iron skillet, it’s the kitchen’s best-seller, featuring leeks, shiitakes, Parmesan and breadcrumbs brightening the tender pulled meat in its savory broth.

Dinner that night was at The Town Company, where another duo of Beard nominees –Exec Chef Johnny Leach and Exec Pastry Chef Helen Jo Leach—coddle foodies’ palates with a tightly-curated menu, leading off with the don’t-miss hot buns (soft and fluffy, just like Grandma’s), served with a sweet, deeply flavorful carrot dip. Next, I chose a cold collage of citrus segments and parsnips (odd bedfellows, but spot on) done up in buttermilk, poppyseed and bee pollen—though it was hard to bypass the smoked egg chips, served with crème fraiche, trout roe and chives, or the duck fries with hearth aioli and pickled peppers, I confess. But larger-portion shared plates follow.

My choice: plump, come-hither sweet potato dumplings livened with ginger, gouda and scallions. See what I mean? Or chose salmon paired with clams, braised fennel and fregola, or a husky chili-smoked pork chop in pork jus, plated with –yes!—corn bread. Didn’t make it to the dessert list—mea culpa—but others are wise to save room for the miso butterscotch & carrot parfait adorned with kumquats and pecans. Or the mango sorbet served with papaya and black tea shaved ice.

Time out, the following afternoon, for a tour and tasting ($10, Thursdays and Fridays) at Christopher Elbow Chocolates, purveyor of bonbons worthy of Tiffany (but far tastier). Here we get to compare chocolate from three global regions—Madagascar, Vietnam and Ecuador—as we follow the process from cocoa bean, harvested by hand, to best-selling bonbon Fleur de Sel.

Christoper Elbow Chocolates sells creative sweet treats.

Hungry for more? Discover the food scene in St. Louis, Missouri.

Near my downtown hotel, I discovered a beyond-sweet breakfast haunt called Homesteader. A dozen or so locals raced for seats the minute the doors opened at 9am—here for an unassuming but inventive menu featuring the likes of a Fried Green Tomato Benedict (my yummy choice), chicken & waffles, a biscuit board, and beignets with chocolate sauce. My kind of hangout.

The Fried Green Tomato Benedict is a delicious option at Homesteader.

Hard to top that, but Sunday brunch at The Farmhouse held its own. It’s a tiny, upbeat site near City Market in Kansas City, Missouri, sporting acres of viands and produce to wander, plus lots of vendors’ stalls luring Sunday morning regulars. Graze through a Filipino stand’s menu, then a pizza stop, a Mexican eatery where I snared a couple of breakfast tacos, a bakery, deli, and more, more, more.

At The Farmhouse nearby, I grabbed a counter stool in the tiny, cozy, upbeat spot to sip a voluptuous Bloody Mary while forking up a veggie Benedict starring summer squash and crunchy kale (or choose corned beef hash, red curry, smoked pork quesadillas and such), plus the kitchen’s famous cinnamon roll, as huge as my head.

The giant Cinnamon Bun and a Bloody Mary are popular items at The Farmhouse.

Dinner at Affare, a 2024 Beard semifinalist for its beverage program, highlights contemporary takes on German fare delivered to comfy, well-spaced tables, backed by a bar showing oldie silent movies. My swell server recommended the abundant spinach salad in walnut vinaigrette, which blossoms from demure to dynamite with a show-biz bath of hickory smoke unleashed from a Mason jar at tableside.

Next, ruddy Pekin duck breast in a lebkuchen cookie-spice/citrus glaze and orange-peppercorn sauce. It’s dressed with ginger carrot puree, baby veggies and Duchesse potatoes. I was going to skip dessert until my server, who knew better, intervened with an offer of Nuss Kuchen: nut cake served with burnt honey ice cream, fresh fruit, Chantilly cream and chocolate ganache. Talk about gilding the lily!

Just when you think the food scene can’t get any better, along comes Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue, serving ribs and more in a nondescript counter-service site (you’ll find it by following your nose) where Presidents Truman and Carter and celebs Spielberg and Redford are numbered among its fans. Paper towels and squeeze bottles of sauces adorn each Formica tabletop. Jump into line below the back wall’s menu and watch the cook-magicians do their thing as you shuffle your way forward to order and pay and search for a table.

Arthur Bryant’s is the granddaddy of Kansas City Barbecue. Photo credit VisitKC.

I confess that I chose the kiddie menu because I’d been eating nonstop since I left the airport. Out came a pair of what could pass for brontosaurus ribs loaded with tender, juicy-as-all-heck meat, sided with fries. And here, people-watching adds a free bonus as a lady with a hundred-dollar haircut and designer jeans jostled a pair of dudes off a construction site and a family with three rambunctious kids.

Pro tip: Arthur Bryant’s is within walking distance of the famed 18th & Vine district, center of African American life in the 1920s and onward. The intersection is home to the Negro League Baseball Museum (a story in segregation as well as sports history) and the American Jazz Museum, with jukeboxes and hands-on mixing and listening devices among rooms honoring the bold-names who performed locally, from Count Basie to Ella Fitzgerald. And, after all that fabulous eating, a walk through those slice-of-life museums is just what Weight Watchers ordered. Another pro tip: KC offers a free streetcar line connecting the river to Union Depot, giving you a few minutes to rest your feet while perusing this must-eat Midwestern city.

To learn more about visiting Kansas City, Missouri, head to their helpful website, here.

-Story and photos by Carla Waldemar

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Please note, as is common practice in this industry, this was a hosted visit, however, all opinions are honest and based on the author’s opinion for the purpose of informing our readers.