Restaurant Week. ‘Nough said.
Last week, Kansas Citian’s open tabled like they never have before in anticipation of the 7th annual Kansas City Restaurant Week, myself included. The fundraiser/restaurant expose benefits prominent local charities while feeding adventurous foodies for reasonable prices. If you weren’t making reservations or at least looking through menus before the start of restaurant week last Friday, you have probably set yourself up to miss out on a lot of those “hot commodity” restaurants. But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of amazing alternatives to choose from. Or if you are from the camp of why go to restaurant week, which I can’t imagine anyone saying, there are a couple of reasons why you should.Β
1. The prices are fixed. No one can beat lunch that sometimes includes a dessert (depending on the location) for $15 dollars. Nor can you turn down a nice dinner with your S.O. at say Lidia’s or Micheal Smith for $33; that includes appetizer, main course and dessert. For young professionals such as myself making $30K a year or if you have made a New Years resolution to spend less money going out, think of this as a treat to yourself. I mean, it’s such a great value, and like Christmas, Restaurant week only happens once a year.
2. The special menus. Many restaurants will feature a special dish on their restaurant week menus or just offer a crowd favorite that’s sure to please. If you ever wanted to try the best Mac and cheese in KC, Cafe Trio has you covered or if you are looking for new experimental dishes, places like The Homesteader Cafe, Grunauer or Renee Kelly’s Harvest are happy to accommodate the culinary daredevil in you.
Sasparilla Braised short rib at Renee Kelly’s Harvest
3. Discover your new favorite place to eat…with low stakes. We all know the food scene in Kansas City is growing rapidly and with so many options to choose from, it’s hard to get to every place you’ve ever wanted to try without blowing all your money.Β While you may still be hard pressed for time if you’re wanting to try every restaurant on your list during restaurant week (there are over 150 restaurants participating this year after all), you can try out a few new places, get 2-3 courses of food and spend between $15-33. And hey, if you don’t like it, at least you can walk away knowing you didn’t blow all of your rainy day money for nothing, although maybe half. π On the other hand, if you are blown away, you have just found a new favorite place to impress someone, drink with friends, etc.
Okay, I could go on and on about how great KC restaurant week is and the good it can do for the community, but you’re never going to know unless you get out there and experience it for yourself. Need I remind you that 10% of all proceeds go to local charities and you can also support local restaurants around KC? That means if you made a New Years resolution to give more to charity or buy more local, you can definitely justify bending your spending-less-on-going-out resolution.
