Restaurants in Warrensburg

Crave's cart of satisfying comfort food, stationed on the patio behind The Union bar every day of the week until 3 a.m., provides sustenance for night owls and bar-goers. Chef PJ Ngelale turns out carnival-style appetizers such as onion rings, chicken strips, mozzarella sticks, and deep-fried beanbags, all served with dipping containers of marinara, barbecue sauce, or honey mustard. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs satiate protein cravings, whereas funnel cakes' crispy outsides, topped with fresh strawberries or apple slices, give way to a toothsome, moist interior.:m]]

Peanches, so named for his mother’s pronunciation of peaches, is Chef Pete Peterman’s tribute to his mother and her hearty style of cooking. Taking all his ingredients from Missouri-based farms, Chef Pete plans his menus by the season, honoring the available ingredients and respecting the migratory patterns of wild cornbread. To complement decadent plates of pig cassolet and yardbird, he carefully selects pairings from a roster of local Missouri wines and beers. Known for changing his menu frequently, occasionally in the middle of a dinner shift, Pete maintains a fluid relationship with the dishes he serves, ensuring each bite of parsley dumplings or Mason-jar beet salad is up to his mother’s standards.

A passion for flavor has motivated Martin Heuser all his life, carrying him from his family’s restaurant in Bonn, Germany, to the kitchen of two restaurants with Michelin stars, and finally to Kansas City, where he’s planted his culinary and familial roots. Martin and his accomplished sommelier wife, Katrin, draw upon their globetrotting days sampling the tastes of Sweden, Hong Kong, and Vancouver to inform Affare’s menu of modern German cuisine. Plucking the freshest produce and meats available locally, the duo seasons Benton's prime steak, fresh Alaskan halibut, and riesling-marinated chicken and whips up iconic German desserts such as apfelstrudel. Behind the bar, resident opera-singer-cum-bartender Richard Gibson pours glasses of wine from a wooden cask as he belts out the greatest opera hits of the 1880s, '90s, and today. The contemporary motif continues across Affare’s walls, where modern paintings by local artists and a floor-to-ceiling pop-art mural color the spacious dining room.

Mesob Pikliz's culinary team crafts authentic Ethiopian and Haitian cuisine that accommodates diners' diets with both vegetarian and meat-laden dishes. Shrimps sautéed in a mild chardonnay sauce and marinated chunks of fried goat represent the menu's Haitian faction, and spices imported from Ethiopia flavor traditional East African dishes from beefsteak tartars to stewed red lentils. The dining room's colorful artwork and bright orange walls cocoon guests in a sunny ambiance as they dine.

The circular nest of Harvey’s at Union Station affords an uninterrupted view of Union Station’s ornate ceilings, chandeliers, and arched masonry. An open-air second-floor patio lines the outer rim of the restaurant, offering ideal people-watching views of both the inside of the eatery below and passing commuters. During breakfast and lunch hours, the kitchen hums busily as chefs stuff omelets with homemade italian sausage, slip pizzas into a wood-fired oven, and rub shrimp with citrus and chiles for tacos. For Sunday brunch, a spread of brown-sugar-glazed ham, belgian waffles, and mini cinnamon rolls sprawls across long banquet tables like those a king might demand for all his stuffed animals.

Smashburger isn't just the name—it's the way chefs, otherwise known as Burger Smashers, cook every burger. First, they form never-frozen, 100% Angus beef into a giant meatball. Then they season it, place it on a butter-glazed grill, and smash it into a patty. The process caramelizes the beef, locking in flavor while keeping the meat juicy and tender. Each slab is then sandwiched in an artisan bun and is turned into one of an array of standard burgers or locally inspired specialties unique to each market.

This handcrafting approach typifies everything else the restaurant does, from blending handspun Häagen-Dazs shakes to hand painting Smashburger's logo onto every beverage cup. Letting its food stand for itself and relying mostly on word of mouth for advertising, the Smashburger franchise expanded to 160 restaurants in five years, with its swift growth from zero to 100 stores making it one of the nation's fastest-growing restaurant companies. This rapid development even caught the attention of Forbes and Inc. along the way.