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I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
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The American Restaurant 25th and Grand 816-545-8000 www.theamericanrestaurantkc.com |
If
you have lived in a much larger city than Kansas City and have become
accustomed to celebrating special events at a five star Mobil Guide
rated restaurant, you will be disappointed to learn that no restaurant
in the states of Kansas or Missouri has that elite status, since Tony's in
St. Louis lost its fifth star. But the justifiably highly acclaimed American Restaurant is as
close as it gets in Kansas City. With four Mobil Guide stars,
this is a very fine restaurant indeed. Although this New American
restaurant
is not quite up to the standards of the few five star restaurants that
exist in this country, the difference is not likely to distract from
your enjoyment. Although this restaurant is among the most
expensive in Kansas City, the check will not set you back as much as
the check at whatever five star restaurant you may have frequented in
another city. In addition, it is a long drive to the nearest five
star restaurant (Charlie Trotter's and Trio in Chicago). The
American restaurant is the best restaurant
in Kansas City. Relative to what The American
Restaurant provides, it is a good buy. Although it is the best
restaurant in Kansas City, it is not the most expensive. For
example, Morton's Steak House, located just below the American Restaurant, is more expensive (see below). You can park directly across the street in the Crown Center shops lot on the west side of Grand. But it is somewhat more convenient to park in the lot directly behind the American Restaurant on the east side of Grand Blvd. The American Restaurant is on the top floor directly above Morton's, so it is easiest to find the parking lot by watching for Morton's. The entrance to the lot is just south of Morton's and Hall's Department Store on the east side of Grand. The menu does not have separate prices for each dish, but rather a fixed price based on the number of courses. You can have a fine full meal with three courses, or take your time and go for four or five courses. The three tables by the large windows are the most popular, but you will get a bit more privacy and distance from other tables, if you choose one of the oval booths. After dinner, you can walk across the street to see a play at the Off Center Theatre or the American Heartland Theatre on the third floor of the Crown Center. |
Benton's Steak and Chop House Westin Crown Center Hotel One Pershing Road Kansas City, MO 64108 816-474-4400 web site |
This restaurant, at the top of the Westin Crown Center Hotel
at Crown Center, is named after the Midwestern painter and muralist,
Thomas Hart Benton. One of his students was the even more famous
artist, Jackson Pollock. The hotel is at the corner of Main and
Pershing, facing Pershing. There is free valet parking at the
entrance, if you have the claim check validated by the
restaurant. But alternatively you can drive down into the garage
yourself, take a ticket at the machine as you enter, and have it
validated by the restaurant. It is one of the Crown Center's
garages, so the parking there can be validated by other shops and
restaurants at Crown Center too, including the very pleasant Brasserie
Bar and Grille on the first floor of the hotel. Benton's is one of the city's best steak houses. They also have fish, but it is frozen. Benton's has an especially good view from the top of the hotel with large windows on all sides. The best view is from a 2-top table in a corner with glass on both sides, but all the tables in the restaurant have good views, including the very comfortable oval booths near the back of the dining room. While I like the food and decor at the Capital Grille at the Plaza better, Benton's is a fine restaurant with a uniquely interesting view of the city, especially after dark. The attached lounge has much smaller tables and is set up as a bar area, but offers the same menu. The big plus of the lounge is the live jazz on some evenings starting at 7:30 pm. Since the lounge is small, it can be difficult to get a table much after 7:30 pm, and the lounge does not accept reservations. When I was there, an excellent jazz trio began to perform at 7:30 pm, but the singer did not arrive until 8:30 pm. With daylight saving time, the best view was after 9 pm, when the lights of the city surrounded the restaurant. While not as high as Skies on the top of the Hyatt at Crown Center, the view from Benton's is directly surrounded by many of the city's lights, in contrast with the view from Skies, which looks over the lights of the city from above. |
| The Bistro at Union Station 30 West Pershing Road 816-460-2014 web site |
This
bistro is in the center of the Great Hall of the historic Union
Station. While the menu is modest in its offerings, the upper
level not only has an outstanding view of Union Station but offers a
string trio of classical musicians (2 violins and a cello) from about 5
pm until closing at 8 pm. Even if you should choose the more
upscale Pierpont's for dining while at Union Station, a drink at The
Bistro's upper level is a must, especially if you are there when the
string trio is performing. |
Kabuki 2450 Grand Ave. Kansas City, MO 64180 816-472-1717 web site |
This
excellent restaurant is located on the first floor of the Crown Plaza
Shops at the main entrance. Oddly this privately owned local
restaurant has the same name as a chain of Japanese restaurants, but is
not part of the chain. There are many pluses to this
restaurant. You can request brown rice instead of the usual white
rice, and you can request tofu to be substituted for any meat in any
dish on the menu. I especially like the spicy basil garlic
chicken with tofu subsituted for the chicken. I also like the
mongolian chicken, but prefer the spicy basil garlic chicken. If
you are a vegetarian, you do not have to worry about chicken stock or
beef stock in sauces. They do not use it in any of their
sauces. Even if you order a spicy dish, you may wish to request a
side of hot chili pepper sauce (as I do). There are three different kinds of chairs in the dining room. The most comfortable ones have padding on both the seat and backrest and have arm rests. You might want to prefer a table that has those chairs. Oddly there are no restrooms inside this restaurant. But there are locked restrooms just outside the entrance within the mall. You'll need to request the key within the restaurant to use those restrooms. Unlike some other restaurants, this one is open for lunch on Sunday, when parking at the shops is free (in fact free on weekends). |
| Milano 2450 Grand Crown Center KC, MO 64108 816-398-4825 web |
This
Italian restaurant is among the best at Crown Center and is among my
favorite restaurants in Kansas City. Although not located close
to the Hyatt in Crown Center, it is in fact a Hyatt restaurant.
Milano is next to the entrance to Crown Center shops in a glassed in
area. I especially like the minestrone soup, which is vegetarian
without the beef or chicken stock so commonly included in minestrone in
KC. Also I like this restaurant's use of extra virgin olive oil
instead of butter in many of its authentically Italian
preparations. In short,Executive Chef Giovanni D'Angelo really knows what he is doing. |
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This
restaurant is part of a chain of extremely expensive steakhouses.
Morton's Steakhouse is one of the most expensive restaurants in Kansas
City, but not among the city's most innovative restaurants.
Morton's
attracts the city's "power players." If you want to be among some
of the city's most influencial entrepreneurs and politicians, but you are not a member of the elite River Club, this is a
good place to go. If you want food value for your money, this may
not be the place to go, especially if your preferences lean towards
interesting preparations, such as European or Asian preparations.
The style of preparations at Morton's are strictly American. To
my way of thinking the high
prices at this chain serve as a form of "country club dues" to assure
an elite clientele. For that purpose, I prefer to join a real
country club or go to the Capital Grille at the Country Club
Plaza. The Capital Grille has a large menu with fine choices and
an outstanding environment. While Morton's uses high quality ingredients, as does the Capital Grille, Morton's does not have a menu (other than a blackboard menu). They wheel out the choices on a wagon, and you choose from the display. If you want to know the prices of items on the wagon, you will have to ask about each or walk over to the blackboard menu. In addition, you may not be happy to see a live lobster moving around on the wagon. When in Crown Center, if you really want a steak, then try Benton's Steak and Chop House on top of Westin Crown Center Hotel. Why pay far more for a steak on the ground level of Hall's Crown Center, when you can have your steak with the view from the top of the Westin Hotel or alternatively can go upstairs right above Morton's for a really fine dining experience at the renowned American Restaurant? |
Peppercorn Duck Club Hyatt Regency Hotel 2345 McGee St. 816-435-4199 www.hyattkc.com |
This
upscape restaurant is first class in every way. Its dining room
is among the most comfortable and elegant in the city. The
service is second to none in Kansas City. The dessert bar (mostly
chocolate desserts) is free with any entree
and is irresistable. I especially like the fresh fruit with
chocolate sauce from the dessert bar. Regarding entrees,
the restaurant specializes in duck, as the restaurant's name would
suggest. But the menu contains many choices, including a
vegetarian dish, various fish entrees,
and often additional seafood specials of the day. Their fish
comes in twice a week fresh. If they tell you that it came in
that day (or the previous day), you will find their seafood to be among
the best in Kansas City. Even scallops, which often are
disappointing in the Midwest, are excellent here, when included with a
special of the day. If you are a vegetarian, you will not be
pleased to learn that their vegetarian dishs usually contains chicken
stock. But they'll prepare pasta primavera off the menu, if you
request. All of their salads are very enjoyable. |
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This
old time steak house has a very large dining room inside Union
Station. If you are with a group of eight or more, you might want
to request one of the dining rooms on the lower level among the wine
racks. Those rooms are exceptionally attractive.
Occasionally you will be able to use one of those rooms with a smaller
group, so it does no harm to ask. The quallity of the food is
high, but not up to the standards of the Capital Grill in the
Plaza. However, the prices at Capital Grill are higher. In
terms of value per dollar, Pierpont's is an excellent choice,
especially if you are going to be at Union Station for other reasons. There is surface parking somewhat to the west of Union Station,but there is a modest charge in terms of dollar bills that must be pushed into a slot. If instead you continue west along Pershing Rd., you will find a road down behind Union Station (onto OK St) to a series of garages. The last of them offers free parking for three hours. |
| [format (E1)] Skies Top of the Hyatt Regency Hotel 2345 McGee St. 816-435-4199 www.hyattkc.com |
This
restaurant has a limited menu, but it is very good and has gotten
substantially
better in recent years. It previously had emphasized Texas style
mequite broiled food, but now has become more sopisticated. I
particulary like the barramundi. If you want to keep down the
cost, you could request the shrimp satay "add on," which is not listed
as an entree. But it can be, if you request it as an entree, with
a side of a
vegetable. The satay sauce is sweet and spicy. If you don't
like sweet sauces, you might want to ask for a different
preparation. The chef is very cooperative about changes.
Next time, I think I'll ask for shrimp scampy. After dinner at any of the Crown Center's restaurants, I head for Skies at the top of the Hyatt Hotel for drinks and the view of the lights of the city from this rotating restaurant. Such rotating restaurants in other cities often reserve the best tables for diners and locate the lounge area farther from the windows, but the lounge seating at this restaurant is as good as it gets. But on the other had, you might want to settle in and have dinner here. The food and service are very good, and the prices are reasonable relative to what you get: including the best view in the city. In one of the two bar areas, they have a piano player on Friday and Saturday evenings starting at 8:30 pm. If you would like to have dinner at the table next to the piano, request table A4. Alternatively for dinner, you could request a table on the lower level of the two tiers, to be closer to the windows. On that lower level, you might want to request a booth in section B or E. Parking is easy here. If you continue up McGee Street about a block past (north) of the hotel, you will find the entrance to the Hyatt parkiing garage. The rules are the same as in any of the other Crown Center parking garages, including 3 hour validation by any restaurant at Crown Center. |
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I can be reached by e-mail at barnett@ku.edu |
