What readers had to say about our Top 40 Restaurants picks

Best Restaurants 

Our December issue featured our list of the top forty restaurants in the city and the announcement of our Restaurant of the Year, Fox and Pearl. The meat-centric Westside hotspot Fox and Pearl was named the best new restaurant in the city while chef Nick Goellner’s Antler Room was ranked number one overall.

The list garnered huge web traffic and a flood of comments from readers. The top ten ranking of Westport’s excellent high-end Mexican spot Port Fonda appeared to be the most controversial single decision, with a number of readers complaining about Fonda being on the list at all while others argued it could have easily been number one overall. (This debate mirrored a heated discussion among our editors.)

Most readers seemed appreciative of the list, praising Kansas City for the exhaustive process that involved spending tens of thousands of dollars to eat our way across more than two hundred and fifty local restaurants and maintaining strict editorial independence.

Here’s a sampling of the reaction.

“With very few exceptions, this is one of the best and most well-rounded lists I’ve seen in the KC restaurant scene in years.” — Travis Kramer

“I’ve lived here for twenty years and eaten at none of the forty. I can easily think of a dozen that should be on the list, but I’ll just mention Garozzo’s and Lidia’s.” — Ken Williams

“Wow, looking at this list I am reminded of what an amazing eating town KC is. I loooove Antler Room, but honestly their top twenty could have all been number one!”— Jessica Salley

“I’ve been to The Distrikt Biskuit House and Niecie’s Restaurant. Both are delicious! I feel like the list is missing Jasper’s Restaurant & Marco Polo’s Italian Market.” — Candi Richmond

“Bottom line: A lot of time and money went into tasting meals, creating a list and agreeing on the top forty. It’s not a perfect list but a good list of restaurants to go out and support. It represents a lot of different cuisines and price ranges.” — Carlton Logan

“A testament to fading cowtown middle-class life and restaurant trends that have worked their way down to the Heartland so that middle-class rubes can overpay whilst still wearing their baseball cap and enjoying sorta fine-dining.” — Tony Botello

“Port Fonda? So overrated. It’s good, and the bloody Mary bar is nice, but it’s not the “best” — Mexican or otherwise.” — Daniel Robert

“Lots of places I’ve never heard of but eager to try! Grunauer and Rye made the cut which are two of my faves.” — Katy Yearton

“So many great restaurants in KC. Thanks for the reminder. I would add Aixois but can’t figure out who I would remove. Glad places like Niece’s and PotPie got a look. Good food at good prices!” — Mo Dickens

“Where is Cafe des Amis in Parkville? You guys missed this gem.” — Kathie Smid Hartigan

“It’s missing Rockstar Burger?!” — Jules van Dongen