Barbecue, jazz and Kansas City

By Flavia Tomaello, https://flaviatomaello.blog/, Instagram @flavia.tomaello

Kansas City doesn’t enter through the eyes, it enters through the sense of smell. As soon as you step into the center, the air begins to smell like burning wood and barbecue sauce, a combination that is repeated on every corner and that explains, better than any tourist brochure, why this city in the American Midwest became, almost unintentionally, one of the most underrated destinations in the country. Far from the usual postcards of New York or Los Angeles, it offers live jazz almost every night, an African-American story that changed American sports, and a quality of life that surprises anyone who arrives thinking about a stopover.
Located on the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, the city is divided, somewhat confusingly for those who visit it for the first time, between two states: Kansas City, Missouri, the largest and the one that concentrates almost all the tourist attractions, and Kansas City, Kansas, just a bridge away. Founded as a trading post in 1833 in what is now the Westport neighborhood, it grew at the pace of the caravans that left for the West and, later, the cattle yards of the West Bottoms, which for decades turned the city into one of the most important meat centers in the country. That same commercial energy funded, over the years, an astonishing collection of urban fountains, enough for the city to earn the unofficial nickname City of Fountains.
Unlike other American destinations already saturated with tourists, Kansas City retains the air of a hidden gem. Prices are lower than on the coasts, moving from one neighborhood to another does not represent any effort and the entire city conveys a sensation of space that is unusual in the heart of the country. That friendly scale explains, in part, why those who arrive without much expectations usually end up talking about it for months.
A tower to stay
To stay, look south of downtown, over Crown Center, the complex that Hallmark Cards built next to its headquarters to integrate work, commerce and entertainment on the same site. There, the circular tower of the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center has stood since 1980, with 45 floors and more than 150 meters high that made it, for years, the tallest building in Missouri. Its structure responds to a very specific era of American hospitality, that of large interior atriums and hotels designed as destinations in themselves, capable of hosting entire conventions without depending on the immediate environment. Elevated walkways and covered walkways connect the tower to the National World War I Museum, historic Union Station, Science City, Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center, allowing you to move several blocks without stepping onto the street. From the highest floors, the view unfolds a city of wide avenues, historic neighborhoods and green areas that surprises those who expected to find another urban center in the Midwest.
The natural route begins right there, at Union Station, one of the country’s great historic railway stations that today functions as a science museum for children, a planetarium and a traveling exhibition hall. The KC Streetcar, free and with sixteen stops, connects the station with River Market, the neighborhood where the city’s oldest farmers’ market is held every weekend, and with Columbus Park, a small and somewhat hidden residential area with a strong Italian and Vietnamese heritage. Further west, the West Bottoms recycled its old brick warehouses, the same ones where cattle were processed a century ago, into antique shops, wine cellars and cocktail bars that welcome vintage hunters on the first weekend of each month.
To the south, the Crossroads Arts District concentrates galleries, artist studios and a cultural agenda that is especially noticeable on the first Friday of each month, when the entire neighborhood opens its doors until late. There is also the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, home of the local Symphony, Ballet and Opera, surrounded by craft breweries and cocktail bars that grow every year. A few blocks away, the Power & Light district brings together the largest concentration of hotels, the convention center and the T-Mobile Center, while a little further away, Arrowhead Stadium hosts the Chiefs, the city’s most popular American football team, every fall.
Flavors and memory
The city’s true gastronomic identity appears further south, on West 39th Street, an eccentric block of neon signs, charming dive bars, and establishments that mix cuisines from around the world. There, at the intersection that gives the street its name, is Q39, one of Kansas City’s barbecue temples. It was opened in 2014 by chef Rob Magee, trained at the Culinary Institute of America, with the idea of ​​applying competition techniques, the same ones with which his team won several national championships, to a table and tablecloth restaurant. Magee passed away in 2021, but his wife Kelly continues to run the place, which today distributes its famous wings, its smoked brisket for hours on wood-fired grills, and its burnt ends among neighbors and visitors who come from all over the country. It is advisable to reserve in advance, especially on weekends, and leave room for dessert.
A few blocks east, the 18th & Vine neighborhood holds one of the most important stories in the United States. There, at a meeting held in 1920 at the local YMCA headquarters, Andrew Rube Foster founded the first black national baseball league, in a country where African-American players were still prohibited from playing in the major leagues. That story is told today in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which has occupied the same building as the American Jazz Museum since 1997 and whose centerpiece is the Field of Legends, a dozen life-size bronze sculptures that recreate stars like Satchel Paige or Josh Gibson in full play. General admission is around ten dollars, although it is advisable to confirm the value before going, as it is usually updated every year. The entire neighborhood, also the birthplace of Kansas City jazz, still has clubs with live music almost every night and barbecue joints with several generations of history.
On the other side of the tracks, the Westside retains a very distinct identity, marked by decades of Mexican and Central American immigration that can be seen on every block of Southwest Boulevard, full of Latin restaurants and bakeries. In that same neighborhood, away from the most tourist circuits, The Westside Local has been operating since 2009, one of the first restaurants in the city to fully commit to the farm to table concept. The kitchen, headed by chef Julio Ventura, combines products from nearby farms with recipes inherited from his grandmother in Veracruz, and the result is served between exposed brick walls and a pet-friendly beer garden. The jalapeño jam burger and deviled eggs are, according to the neighbors themselves, reason enough to cross the city.
Neighborhoods to get lost
The rest of the city is divided into neighborhoods that reward walking. The Country Club Plaza, inaugurated in 1923 with architecture inspired by southern Spain, brings together trendy venues and a collection of fountains that light up as soon as the sun goes down. Across Brush Creek, the Art Museum District joins side by side the Nelson-Atkins, with free admission and a sculpture park where you can see the famous giant badminton shuttlecocks up close, and the Kemper, dedicated to contemporary art and also free of admission. Further south, Brookside and Waldo are connected by the Trolley Track Trail and share a village feel, with striped storefronts, gift shops, and neighborhood bars that fill their tables every night of the week. To the north, the historic Pendleton Heights neighborhood guards Cliff Drive, a scenic path converted for cyclists and pedestrians, while over the river, the new Berkley Riverfront grew up around CPKC Stadium, the first in the country built specifically for a professional women’s soccer team.
How much does the trip cost
There are no direct flights from Buenos Aires, so it is best to resign yourself to a stopover, generally in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta or Miami, which adds between twelve and seventeen hours of travel depending on the connection. A round trip ticket can be obtained from 900 or 1,000 dollars in low season, although in the months of greatest demand, especially in summer, the value can easily rise above 1,300.
Accommodation also depends a lot on the season. A night at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center usually runs between $190 and $250 for two people, not counting parking, which costs $33 per day on-site and $45 with valet. Similar-rated hotels in Crossroads or downtown run in similar ranges, while simpler options in Midtown or near Westport can start at $120 or $140.
The food is still, by American standards, quite affordable. A plate of barbecue at Q39 costs between $15 and $25, a full dinner and drink at The Westside Local is around $30 or $35, and a quick sandwich at any downtown barbecue joint can cost less than $12. To get around, the KC Streetcar is free and connects River Market with Union Station and Crown Center every ten to fifteen minutes, although to get to Westside or 18th & Vine it is better to use Uber or a rental car.
As for activities, admission to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum costs about $10, Science City at Union Station is around $17, and both the Nelson-Atkins and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art are free to visit. The National Museum of the First World War has a moderate entrance fee that should be checked before going, as it varies depending on the special exhibitions at the time. All in all, a four or five day stay in Kansas City, with flight, mid-range hotel and meals, can be planned with a budget of between $1,300 and $1,800 per person.
Kansas City does not make noise to be visited. Between the smoke from the grills, the bronze statues that commemorate the heroes of the Negro leagues and the circular silhouette of the Sheraton silhouetted against the sky of the Midwest, the city leaves an unusual feeling in a destination so associated with American football and hamburgers, that of having saved, without too much noise, a place with a lot to tell.