Nightlife in Olathe

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.

Record Bar's chefs, bartenders, and bookers mix a menu of comforting pub fare with a love of music. Each dish entertains minds as well as taste buds with names that invoke their obsessive knowledge of rock history, such as in the Ian MacKaye vegetarian pizza or The Nuge sandwich, which comes stuffed with capicola, prosciutto, and Genoa salami. Hand-packed burgers or chicken penne pasta plates can also perform as an opening act for a cavalcade of live bands, such as relentlessly touring groups like Deerhoof along with regular acts like Bob Walkenhorst. New friends and groupies alike can share beers and burgers over weekly trivia each Thursday.

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.

Beneath a chandelier made from wineglasses, mixologists concoct drinks with techniques that come close to alchemy. Specialty cocktails include a red-wine martini that marries pinot noir with Chambord and vodka, and edible cocktails—dubbed "drops"—are solidified through a secret molecular process akin to the one that turns cotton into cotton candy. Though spirits abound, beer drinkers aren't forgotten; the bistro imports nearly 100 types of bottled beer from all over the world, with an emphasis on microbrews. Small plates also draw visitors, especially in groups, as the chef's flatbreads and platters of dried fruits, meats, and artisan cheeses are ideal for sharing. Those who prefer individually portioned meals can enjoy entrees such as caramelized sea scallops with a cauliflower purée.