Restaurants in Kansas City

In the long, narrow dining room of the historic Majestic Restaurant, one wouldn't have a hard time imagining the spirited saloon that once resided there. Behind the restored 19th-century bar and under a pressed-tin ceiling, barkeeps shake, stir, and pour classic craft cocktails alongside more than 100 types of whiskey. Downstairs, a speakeasy-style jazz club features live performances nearly every night of the week, which are best enjoyed while wearing Prohibition-era garb such as top hats filled with beer. Both the main dining room and downstairs club serve a full dinner menu of tender steaks, cold-water lobster tails, and classically prepared Scottish salmon.

Shift your appetite into gear with farm-raised, cornmeal-breaded catfish fingers ($9) or the peachtree collard-green dip, a creamy herb and collard-greens blend served with tortilla chips, sour cream, and salsa ($10). Crisp greens kicked up with sharp cheddar, fresh-baked croutons, and tomatoes ($8) are an airier eat. Less-demure diners dig into Peachtree’s signature entrees, including Southern-fried chicken and catfish with rémoulade sauce ($19), pork chops doused in gravy ($16), and hand-carved steaks such as the 12-ounce rib-eye brushed with tangy pineapple glaze ($28). Vegetarian options include a grilled-tofu and soybean veggie burger parked on a toasted bun with all the fixings ($10). For dessert, try a fresh-picked peach cobbler ($6) housed inside a homemade shell. View the complete menu here.

With a more casual dining experience, The Grille by Piropos in Parkville sets itself apart from its fine-dining sister establishment Piropos Restaurant. Nestled high in the hills of historic Parkville, it sits above the landscape, allowing diners to take in visions of Park University's beautiful gothic architecture or watch as the sun sets and the moon rises in the evening. Not only a restaurant for special occasions, it is also a favorite spot for everyday casual dining.

This vista-induced amnesia, however, doesn’t tend to last very long, as the aromas of South American–inspired food soon draw diners’ attention to the new casual-dining menu’s signature dishes from Venezuela, Mexico, and Argentina. This cuisine makes itself at home inside the dining room, where large, colorful murals and lavish wood furnishings give the restaurant an upscale, rustic ambiance. The outdoor patio, meanwhile, features views of the horizon and a fireplace, meaning at a certain time and from a certain angle, the sun is setting into the fire.

Daniel and Selam Fikru, now husband and wife, met when they were high-school students in their native Ethiopia. They've lived in Kansas City since 1995, and together, they've helped a large following of locals try their first tastes of Ethiopian food and subsequently fall in love with its rich, distinctive spices.

The couple's traditional recipes have earned their restaurant, Blue Nile Cafe, a recommendation from KCUR FM’s Food Critics, a place on LocalEats’ Top 100 Restaurants in Kansas City list, and attention from Pitch. But their success over the past two decades hasn’t come without hard work. According to a profile by the Kansas City Star, Selam is in the kitchen by early morning six days a week, simmering meats and lentils in a medley of ginger, garlic, and rosemary. Selam’s labors yield a bounty of entrees—served atop communal platters—featuring marinated chicken and cubes of beef or lamb, as well as vegetarian feasts of lentils, potatoes, and greens. Diners scoop up dishes with pieces of injera, which is a spongy sourdough pancake.

In the dining room, cream-colored walls bear colorful paintings that remind diners of their meals' distant origins. For an additional taste of Ethiopian culture, guests can partake in a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony wherein staffers roast, grind, and brew fresh coffee to order. Guests can otherwise opt for refreshing glasses of wine out on the patio.

In addition to welcoming guests into the dining room, Blue Nile Cafe invites them into the kitchen during classes that guide students in preparing injera and other traditional dishes. The restaurant also equips pupils with spices and grains for simmering over their own trashcan fires.

True to their eatery's name, the family behind Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant focuses not only on curating a hearty menu of classic Mexican favorites and custom pizzas, but on creating a friendly atmosphere. Affable servers descend from the restaurant's velcro walls to stop at tables to deliver traditional or deep-fried burritos bundled with beef, pork, chicken, or turkey. Chefs refer to old family recipes to build enchiladas, tostadas, and guacamole or hand the reigns to customers so they can choose toppings such as pineapple, jalapeños, or sausage to assemble signature pizzas.

Break from the rapid beating of seasonal gingerbread batters and take refuge in a European-style café that has a variety of Thanksgiving meal-ending stomach-pleasers. For $8, today's Groupon gets you $16 worth of freshly baked bakery bites at Jay WaLe’s Bakery-Bistro, named 2009’s Best Bakery by The Pitch, and, unlike most bakeries, it's not also the headquarters of a cookie-gang.Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.