Best Barbecue
Did you know there's a separate listing in the Yellow Pages for Barbecue? And at least 60 different locations for just about whatever kind you want. Apparently, cowtown we were and cowtown we remain, at least in this beefy category where it's apparently hard to change our tastes or our preferences--once again Jack Stack Barbecue fries the others for the Gold. That's five years straight, folks--they must have it right! Gates stays the course for the Silver and Arthur Bryant's once again beats the competition for the Bronze. Their two locations, the famous one at 17th and Brooklyn and their casino location both are still winning raves from Calvin Trillin to George Bush. Mosey over to all three and remind yourself what Kansas City is truly famous for!
The Best Box Lunch
The Best Box Lunch is a new category and for those of us locked in endless corporate meetings, it's an important one. The Catering Company lunches on the Gold, for its delectable packaging and fresh, sandwiches and salads. Panera Bread Company wraps up the Silver and its over 600 locations nationwide all can whip up great potato soup and hefty sandwiches and a goodie to pacify your cravings. Gift Wrapped Catering, up north, packages up the Bronze for the first time. Their upscale plated box lunches come with a flower as well as "to die for cookies" are delivered all over town.
Best Business Breakfast
Sticking to the working stiff, another new category: Best Business Breakfast. It requires good coffee, good service, and enough space at the table to hunker down and actually get some work done. Taking the honors for the Gold here is the well-known chain First Watch, whose premium coffee is brought to you in a pot, in their nine K.C. locations. Their menus are extensive and more than satisfy the hungry. But the place to be seen, and the one that brings home the Silver, is Classic Cup Café on the Plaza for its beyond the ordinary choices and excellent coffee. Panera Bread bakes up a surprise Bronze award--its bagels, rolls, and delicious pastries are created on the spot and you can get yourself as much coffee as you want, when you want it. Try their cinnamon crunch bagel, ummmm.
Best Business Lunch
So you skipped breakfast and now need a great business lunch? First make a reservation where our readers decided the Gold should be: once again, Grand Street Café, just east of the Plaza. From a fabulous pork chop to fresh fish to a perfect salad, this PB&J restaurant is renown throughout town for its food and service. Almost as popular and thus taking the Silver is perennial favorite Plaza III-The Steakhouse where its meatloaf, steaks, and hash browns can't be beat. The trio of award winners, for the Bronze, in-cludes new winner Webster House where the surroundings are almost as elegantly perfect as the food.
Best Business Dinner
Full yet? Nope. So now to din-ner. Business dinners are a hybrid--you're building a relationship, no doubt, but you want to impress and darn-it, your company is paying for a good meal. For the Best Business Dinner, look no further than a lunch winner: Plaza III - The Steakhouse takes the Gold--its slightly old fashioned but the still elegant look and subdued atmosphere combines with perfect steaks, perfect service, KC friendliness, too. The Capital Grille takes the Silver--the steaks are superb, the calamari spicy, the stoly-dolies inspirational. Voters gave the elegant American Restaurant the Bronze for its spacious and beautiful interior, its creative cuisine, and superlative service.
The Best Caterer
The Best Caterer Gold award goes to The Catering Company, owned by Lon Lane. Impeccable food, display, and service gives the 11 year old company the award for the second year running. The venerable Eddys' (yes, the apostrophe goes after the ‘s') Catering, in the restaurant business since 1933, deserves the Silver for solid performance, time after time. Snapping up the Bronze is Dean & Deluca, a special favorite of Southtown residents and business-es alike for sheer deliciousness.
Best Coffee House
Judging by the numbers, coffee is becoming more and more important in our town. With at least 20 locations here, and one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For, Starbuck's Coffee slurps up the Gold. Their coffee and Italian style espresso beverages, a variety of pastries and confections, and coffee-related accessories managed to entrench themselves in the hearts of sippers everywhere. Been there, done that? Try the Silver winner: Muddy's on 51st and Brookside Boulevard--where coffee is an art form and ten years of personal relationships have built the business one drinker at a time. Or perhaps the Bronze winner--LatteLand Expresso on the Plaza, if your idea of a great coffee place, especially if you ride a cycle down 47th Street on weekends. With two locations, this shop has made life much better for strollers looking for caffeinated and other beverages as well.
Best Dessert/Presentation
Aah, how to finish a meal? The category of Best Dessert/Presentation is an interesting one--not only must said dessert be delicious, it must be beautiful as well. And moving up a notch for the Gold is McCormick & Schmick's. Surely it's for their prize winning chocolate box--a stand up box filled with fresh berries and whipped cream. Salivation; salvation. They'll personally show you all the other desserts, equally gorgeous. The Silver goes to the Cheesecake Factory, both its Plaza and College Boulevard locations no doubt, for their name-sake in all its 35 (!) varieties--plus, there's another ten or so non-cheesecakes desserts which are equally pretty. No one who has stood, bedazzled, before the sumptuously arranged chocolate station at the Peppercorn Duck Club could doubt that it deserves the Bronze, at least. From brownies to pie, from bread pudding to cake, there are those of us who would happily call this the main course rather than dessert.
Best Ethnic Restaurant
Kansas City is not just fried chicken and barbecued beef. More and more ethnic restaurants have opened, featuring fine food from the entire world. Winning the Best Ethnic Restaurant this year, for the Gold, is Garozzo's with its long time location at 5th and Harrison and its newer ones on College Blvd. and 40 Highway. Their spidini may be the best in town. It's Silver chopsticks for Bo Ling's big prize. Now in four locations, each with dim sum on weekends, they've become a Kansas City tradition. The Bronze is a tie--shared by Piropos Restaurant in Parkville where high atop a hill, you sup on real Argentinean delicacies like the lightest empanadas you've tasted or Ozobuco Porteno--and La Bodega on Southwest Blvd., where a huge variety of hot and cold authentic tapas tempt your palate.
Best Outdoor Dining
Freezing in the winter, sweltering in the summer, Kansas City still is a great place to eat outside, sporadically. For the Best Outdoor Dining honor, the Gold prize, according to our discerning readers, is awarded again to Classic Cup Café on the Plaza where the ambiance of the Plaza and the people walking a foot from your table conveys you to Boston or Paris. Also accommodating Plazonians, the Silver belongs to Baja 600 where the food selection meets the glory of the great outdoors. The Bronze this year goes to Lidia's whose big patio with sheltering umbrellas serves as the base for some of the best Italian food around. Occasionally, even a train rumbles by.
Best Place to Eat with a Group
It's a big group and you don't want to spend a fortune. You do want good, though. Is it a dilemma? Not if you go to the Best Place to Eat with a Group: Buca Di Beppo for the Gold. Based in Minneapolis, this chain wins raves for those who want Italian family style meals served with flair. Claiming the Silver next, the aforementioned Lidia's happily serves groups of all sizes--it's not family style but it's definitely family sized. Their pasta special is all you can eat. And the Bronze is a bit of a surprise because it's known for so much else besides: the Hereford House. A Kansas City tradition since 1957, this restaurant serves traditional American dishes including fresh seafood and hearty steaks and much more.
Best Place to Take Out of Town Guests
So your best friends who made the mistake and moved to St. Louis are back for the weekend. Where should you take them? Well, the Best Place to Take Out of Town Guests apparently is, once again, Plaza III-The Steakhouse. Try an Irish coffee after dinner at this Gold awarded restaurant. New on this list, for the Silver, is Pierpont's at Union Station. The Station is a proud stop in itself which every visitor now sees, and the restaurant has come into its own with everything from mussels to pasta to steak in elegant surroundings. And the Bronze goes to Strouds, where chicken is king but pan fries and cinnamon rolls say you're home at last--but much better than ma ever did ‘em.
Most Romantic Restaurant
For lovers, Valentine's day or not, our Most Romantic Restaurant is one that's new on the list, illustrating its improved menu and ambiance amidst the stars--Skies in the Hyatt Hotel captivates with the Gold. Circle the entire city while sipping an exotic drink and delicious appetizers and you'll forget where you are. The Silver goes to the beautiful American Restaurant, no doubt because its atmosphere, food, and service speak volumes. The Raphael, with its dark corners and beguiling lighting casting a faint glow, takes the Bronze for its capability to make everyone feel young(er) and in love.
Best Seafood Restaurant
Yes, actually, we are a bit more than beef. For the second year, McCormick and Schmick's swims away with the Gold for Best Seafood restaurant in town. Walk past those ten kinds of oysters and array of fresh fish and see if you aren't hooked, too. And there's more than fish to love, including a great happy hour, lots of meat entrées, a wonderful outside deck, and don't forget that dessert. Gulping down the Silver, once again, is the ever popular Bristol Bar and Grill on 119th Street whose seafood is always superb; its Sunday brunch is divine. The venerable Savoy, in the heart of old downtown, succeeds like few others for the Bronze. Devotees swear by their lobster (and steak) combos, their Caesar salads still made tableside, and the ambiance of one of Kansas City's true originals.
Best Steakhouse
Here comes a biggie, right up there with barbecue in KC. The Best Steakhouse, drum roll please, is yes, Gold for five times in six years, Plaza III - The Steakhouse. Aged, tender, with marbling to wonder at, these steaks will turn vegetarians into right thinking beef-eaters. Next comes the Silver, and it goes to new contender but well known Kansas City steak maven Rod Anderson at his conveniently located Hereford House, with locations near Union Station and three others as well, including Lawrence. The Bronze is granted to The Capital Grille where readers are thrilled by expertly done steaks and everything else, too.
Best Wine List
Here's to the restaurant once more winning the Gold for Best Wine List: it's JJs again, of course. Over two thousand different wines, maybe impossible to choose without consultation which waiters and sommeliers happily provide. The selection is noted, and applauded, by every major wine publication. And once again, the Silver belongs to Joe D's wine list of over fifty wines by the glass and over two hundred wines by the bottle, which has earned this cozy restaurant the Wine Spectator magazine's "Award of Excellence" for nine consecutive years. A new surprise on this list is McCormick and Schmick's which succeeded for the Bronze, due probably to its selection rather than its quantity--there are about 20 by the glass and nearly 50 by the bottle, all carefully chosen and certain to please.
Best New Restaurant
New restaurants sometimes lead a shooting star existence, so when we vote for Best New Restaurant, we have to be careful that the light will continue to shine brightly. Winning the coveted Gold is The Blue Stem, its tiny Westport location winning rave reviews by all. Fabulous foie gras is often on the seasonal menu--and what a great idea--a dessert tasting menu! George Brett's hits a near homer for the Silver, where great food and a high-end sports bar amosphere take on a whole new meaning. There's plenty of George memorabilia, flat screen TVs, and a friendly bar to reward fans of good food. Café Trocadero with its American fare makes up the trio, its Bronze reward telling you that while east 31st Street may not be your usual destination, it's worth the trip.
Best Service
There are those of us who believe that phenomenal service can al-most make up for a mediocre meal; but terrible service can destroy even a phantasmagorical repast. Service is important and our readers decided that the best of the best, the Gold standard, can be found at The Capital Grille. Crowded or not (well, it's always crowded), you can expect smiles, pleasantries, and the ultimate in efficiency. The Silver wends its way to the American Restaurant, where hours are spent to ensure the knowledge and efficiency of the staff matches the expert cuisine. The Plaza III-The Steakhouse shoulders the Bronze, well in keeping with its many other awards.
Best Restaurant (Platte & Clay Counties)
Ingram's readers favorite North-land restaurants are in Platte County--Piropos reaches for the Gold for the Best Restaurant in Platte and Clay counties. Just a bit of narrowing makes all the difference, but both awards compliment the chef, the ambiance, and the vision of the owners. Another PB&J restaurant, Yia Yia's, strikes Silver. One of several superior restaurants, this favorite has clearly won the hearts and minds of its nearby fans. For the Bronze, look no further than Café des Amis, a Parkville favorite. Known for its accurate but creative renditions of many French favorites, from charcuterie to crevettes Provencal, this elegant little café may not improve your accent but it will enhance your well-being.
Best Restaurant (Johnson & Wyandotte Counties)
You've already heard these names, but let's put them in different categories where they reign supreme. The Gold for Best Restaurant in Johnson County goes to a relative newcomer, 40 Sardines. A hip interior and plethora of Johnson County beiges do not diminish the quality of consistently good food and a fun bar menu for the inevitable wait. The Bristol Bar and Grill's down-home name gives no hint of its Silver status or the legion of friends and fans who crowd this spacious bar and restaurant, eager for some of the freshest fish around--and don't forget about those biscuits! Hereford House out south in Town Center Plaza in Leawood is clearly a favorite, for it scoops up the Bronze.
Best Restaurant (Jackson County)
We hate to repeat ourselves, but these winners will come as no surprise. For the Gold reward for Best Restaurant in Jackson County, Ingram's readers elected Plaza III-The Steakhouse--there's nothing left to be said. For the Silver, Pierpont's at Union Station, for a great variety of food in a fabulous environment. The Bronze is awarded to The American Restaurant where Chef Celina Tio oversees the finest in ingredients and preparation.
Best Overall Restaurant
Mixing metaphors, we now announce the whole kahuna, in the proverbial nutshell. Taking the Gold for Best Overall Retaurant is the Plaza III-The Steakhouse for the second year in a row. What more can we say? If you've not been there for a while, you'd best hurry. And switching from its best new restaurant designation last year, 40 Sardines liberates the Silver, proving that new and Johnson County can also mean simply excellent with creative offerings that go beyond expectations. The Bronze is awarded to Piropos, where dining amidst the treetops is second only to its delicious food and sweetly attentive service.
