Nightlife in Grain Valley

As soon as guests enter Sorano's Sports Bar, they’re surrounded by 12 televisions, all tuned to premium sports channels. While fans cheer and whoop in the background, servers shuttle plates of pub-style finger foods, hamburgers, hot dogs, and Mexican fare to eager diners. Nearby, bartenders siphon drafts and crack open bottles of domestic and imported beers, and pool tables beckon guests to illustrate their favorite geometry proofs. In addition to brews and bites, the sports bar keeps spirits high by hosting free poker tournaments, karaoke nights, and DJ performances throughout the week.

This hootin’ and occasionally hollerin’ rock 'n' roll bar honors traditional cattle wranglers and two-wheeled easy riders alike with a hearty menu of American classics, including thick burgers and big, down-home meals. Everything is made fresh from scratch, putting it miles of open trail away from typical frozen bar food. Saddle up for a satisfying lunch such as a “twin shaft basket bonanza” of Angus butter burger smothered in steak butter ($4.49), KC cheesesteak or chicken ($6.49), fat boy buffalo chicken strips ($5.99), or several other finger-seasoning delights—all paired with a nest of golden fries.

At Cork & Brew, a dark wooden wine bar pops against the backdrop of white walls and heavy red drapes. It’s a fitting centerpiece for a restaurant that focuses on libations—bartenders pour more than 40 wines and recruit beers from local brewers such as Boulevard Brewing Company, Weston Brewing Company, and Doodle Brewing Company. They also add shots of house-infused vodka to martinis, which dining companions can sip on the restaurant’s private outdoor patio. Despite a focus on spirits, Cork & Brew doesn’t shirk cuisine. Chefs recruit local produce and meats from providers such as Bichelmeyer Meats, Fabulous Fish, and Farm to Market Bread Company and incorporate them into thick burgers, grilled fish, and still-life paintings.

A rigid Western obsession with time tables and organized schedules has left the American spirit dangerously confined. Today's Groupon offers improvisation, the well-paved road to free thinking, with a ticket to see The Trip Fives Improv Comedy live at the Westport Coffeehouse on January 9 at 6:30 p.m. for $5. Welcome in a new year with unstale jokes you can't see coming, despite your resolution to nurture clairvoyance.

You can strum a guitar while blowing a French horn and clinking your cymbal-knees together, but no one will pay a lick until you can play two full pianos at once. Today’s Groupon doubles your musicology with $20 worth of admission and beverages at Ernie Biggs Dueling Piano Bar for $10. Singing “Piano Man” is all well and good, but making it “Piano Men” is arguably better.

KC's martini bar and DJ lounge. Colorful retro decor with 2nd and 3rd level and huge outdoor patio. Bocce ball and skee ball. Chill spot early on and rocking DJ bar late night on the weekends.