We went to the American Royal rodeo here and thought the event was fantastic. The employees were…read morekind and helpful, especially security. They did a great job having games/other outside entertainment options before the event started. There were plenty of bathroom and they were clean. The event was sold out and it still felt like the facility handled everything very smoothly. We really love the location in the West Bottoms. It's close to the new entertainment bridge, a few restaurants, and a brewery.

The space was amazing. Went for a quince and it was probably the most exquisite one I've been too…read more The layout was amazing. Very clean. Employees were nice. Overall great experience.

It's hard not to love the Brookside Neighborhood as it blends an urban feel into some beautiful…read moreolder homes. While technically it's suburban, the vibe is anything but. I fell in love with this neighborhood at a very young age as we lived here for a handful of years and frequented the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, the Dime Store, and every other family friendly thing that this hood has to offer. Flash forward to adulthood and you'll find me working on a sunny morning at The Roasterie, jogging the epic Trolley Track Trail, and generally admiring the beauty of the neighborhood during all four seasons. If I had to find a knock, I'd have to say it's that I'm not head over heels in love with the restaurants in the heart of Brookside. I do like Bella Napoli, and the convenience of Panera, but otherwise I've struck out on some of the core ones there. The value of this neighborhood is always high, but at the time of this writing it's sky high with houses going generally going for $300K and up, depending on what exact block. For me it can be a tough sell longterm as the surrounding public schools aren't amazing for the kiddos, however there are loads of private and even charter schools around that are appealing. I wish that the original structure of suburban sprawl had followed Brookside with an organic walkability. You won't really find that in Lenexa, OP, and other Missouri suburbs. Instead we're seeing mixed use developments retroactively trying to catch up by creating a destination space, but it doesn't have the same feel that the wonderfully settled in Brookside Neighborhood boasts.

It's hard to believe there has been no entry on Yelp for Brookside. Maybe the reason is in what…read moredefines Brookside. Brookside is two things. First, it is a shopping and commercial area centered around Brookside Boulevard and 63rd Street. Second, it is the collection of neighborhoods located around that area. If you ask those native to Kansas City "What is Brookside," the vast majority will tell you it is "a neighborhood." So... let's treat it like that, even though it is technically a collection of neighborhoods. :-) So, from 51st south to Gregory. And from Holmes west to Wornall. Some would restrict this geography a little, but this is basically it. Notably, to the south of Gregory is the Waldo area. The commercial districts are literally 2 minutes apart, and easily accessible without a car via the Trolley Trail. Many people say Brookside/Waldo when describing the area. So what does Brookside have? Just about everything but an amusement park, and much of it privately owned. Unique restaurants abound. I can only think of four chain restaurants/cafes in the entire area. Some of the restaurants are notable... Julian, Bella Napoli, Osteria Il Centro, Aixois, and Cafe Europa are probably my top five of the area. Watering holes are plentiful. The Peanut, Charlie Hoopers, and the Bier Station are my top three for beer. Great cafes include Bella Napoli and the Roasterie. There are even notable ice cream places such as Glace and Foos. Outside of dining and entertainment, just about every service you could want is here. Tailors, spas/salon, shopping, grocery, gas/auto, pet services, churches, etc. Again, the area is linked to Waldo (south) and Country Club Plaza (north) via the Trolley Trail. This greenway is enhanced by small parks sprinkled about the neighborhoods such as Brookside Triangle Park, Brookside Park, Arbor Villa Park, and the crown jewel just outside the area (Wornall@51st to 55th... Jacob L. Loose Park. Annual events like the Art Fair, the St Patricks Day Parade, and the Trolley Run are all fun to go out and see. Are there drawbacks? Sure. Real Estate is more expensive here. Public schools here are not well thought of. And access to major highways is a pain in any direction. But two of the three don't matter too much. First of all it's worth it to live here. I have moved around a lot in my life and the quality of living in Brookside is the best I have experienced. Second, access to highways matters for a few minutes a day... IF you need to go somewhere. But if you come home to Brookside you really don't need to travel too far for anything. You do not need to drive if you are an active person. The schools are an issue, but only if you have kids. And as good as Brookside is, the surrounding neighborhoods are beautiful as well! I can't think of a better place to visit or live.

Was a fun and great experience!! Learned a lot about the history of how coffee is maderead more

I had heard about The Caffeine Crawl for several years, but couldn't justify giving someone else my…read more$ for something that I could do on my own. Then I was given comp. tix last fall for a Saturday afternoon crawl in Johnson County. We went to four shops that I was unfamiliar with and was treated to 4 different presentations focusing on different aspects of the coffee industry; from store histories, pour-over presentations, new product roll-outs, and great question and answer periods with owners, managers and baristas. Tons of samples of beverages and sweets and even a goodie bag of related swag to take home. I was hooked! Yesterday I was able to buy a ticket for the Friday morning spring 2022 crawl kick-off and once again had a great time. Starting at Blip roasters for samples of 3 of the spring menu items and a tour of the entire facility - gift shop, roasting area, and the attached custom bike shop - Anchor Moto. Then on to Messenger Coffee's flagship location for a presentation in their lab to sample and compare Rwandan and Ethiopian pour overs, then a decadent sample of a black sesame and date concoction that blew me away. Final stop at the former Transit Coffee location for a presentation by PH Coffee and a progression of 5 samples ranging from a basic blended roast to their more sophisticated "Unicorn" offerings. Our guide was Jason that founded the Caffeine Crawl a decade ago and was the perfect person to have along as our escort. I can't say enough positive things about the crawl, and the shops that hosted the presentations. I can't wait to buy tickets for the fall event.

Wow! It was magical! It was so much fun walking around. So pretty!…read more Our two year old had a blast riding the mini train, it was an extra cost but he his eyes just lit up. Worth it, he even rode it twice. Santa was there and we got a picture with him. The model trains were awesome. So many of them too! My son found Thomas the train and we watched him go by us a few times. The lights are worth going for. Lots of places to take photos. Perfect for families with little kids.

So many photo opportunities. We went early on a Sunday and it was enjoyable. If we had gone any…read morelater, I think the crowds would have gotten to me. It helped that everyone was in such a jolly mood. Speaking of jolly, the Santa walking around was the best one I think I've ever seen. He just looks like an old world santa -- perfect!

I'm told that every first Friday weekend in the West Bottoms (Fri.-Sun.), a historic district comes…read morealive and is home to antiques and boutiques which are open late. We weren't so fortunate to be there on those days however but still managed a couple of trips to this industrial district. I'm an amateur shutter-bug and places like this intrigue me. The empty streets, abandoned buildings, railroad tracks and rawness appeals to me and the fact that this was the heart and soul of Kansas City back in the day feeds my desire to learn about the history of this beautiful city. We came late in the afternoon and just walked the streets. A few shops were open but the majority of them were closed. Best way I can describe the place is it's pretty-ugly. Not everyone can appreciate the beauty in worn out, dilapidated buildings. I loved it! Stockyard warehouses with the broken glass windows, fire escapes that precariously dangle on the sides of buildings, thistle laden lots, the painted signs on the sides of brick walls - everything was a photo op. My biggest faux-pas? I didn't pack my "good" camera and it was amusing to walk around fairly unplugged with only an i-phone to shoot with (and to top it off, my storage was full LOL!!). I guess that was a sign from the universe allowing me to experience the West Bottoms. Some blocks of the Bottoms was so quiet it was eerie! I could sense something or someone watching from above or somewhere. Loved it all! Beautiful and would certainly come back again. We saw a few homeless people walking around with their shopping carts but overall, felt safe. I would hate to see this place excessively commercialized and I'm so happy to see that tenants are filling the empty warehouses and embracing KC's historical past and merging it with the new.

I have a strange fascination with the West Bottoms district. I'm surprised no one has reviewed the…read moredistrict as a whole. I realize the most blatant businesses, the seasonal haunted houses occupy this often uncharted area, but there's so much more. During the day (the foggier, the better), take a walk throughout this area. Lavish in the weird mixed up toons that you can't psychically hear, but if you listen for the echo, coming from both the jazz and bars that used to occupy this area in the early Kansas City era, and the stockyards and even railroads, still used. Look at that one doorway, or archway, the cracked stained glass or brick designed into the buildings on purpose, still standing and built in the early 1900's. There is also a small, if not minute homeless population in this area, but it's for them as well. It is amazing for photography, and chances are, you'll see photographers out, walking around with their DSLR's photographing old dilapidated structures. Knowing that, something happened here, you can sense it in the air. It's partially empty, but partially alive. It's vague and quiet and still but a sliver of life is in this area. Maybe that is cause it used to be. As for the shops, there are some. Good JUJU is one of the few. But as for the area, as uncharted, it's there. Once you walk around there with a couple of friends, on a foggy Saturday afternoon, you'll get it, and know, this is what Kansas City used to be about.

Kansas City is filled with awesome public art and landmarks throughout the whole city. This is…read moreanother awesome one in front of the museum. It's need to check out, especially if you have a giant badminton to hit it with.

I love the shuttlecocks and grassy area around the Nelson Museum. They do outdoor movies and yoga…read moreon Sunday. It's a great place to have a picnic and enjoy the weather. During spring they also set up a mini golf course

This bridge is beautiful! I've seen it multiple times and the structural engineering for this…read morethings is amazing! Impressive.

kind of split on this one... while it is a fine example of late 20th-century girder bridgery and…read morehighway engineering that carries Missouri Route 9 and some bicycle and foot traffic across the Missouri River it has cost us the style and grace of the ASB bridge next door which, in a saner world, would have been re-fit to accommodate non-motorized crossings but that's literally water under the bridge for going on 40 years now. as it currently sits the bridge offers a convenient way to get across the river for most people with just a few obstacles to navigate. opened for business in 1987 a people-lane was added in 2010 for a bit over $2-million which sounds a bit excessive but it'll keep a person dry unless there's rain...

So bummed about the overcast skies, but it was amazing!…read more My family came up from Dallas to KC for the view!

Have you ever seen the sun set at 1 p.m.? Sure it feels like that in the winter around here…read moresometimes, but this was so similar to a true evening coming on, albeit very briefly. This two minute "evening" eerily crept in and I have to say... it was as cool as advertised! My experience was watching with some wonderful fellow Yelpers at The Exchange in Lead Bank in the Crossroads which was a rooftop overlooking downtown KC. Sipping sodas and nervously looking through eclipse glasses, I enjoyed watching the sun shrink into a sliver through the glasses. However, the phenomenon of seeing city lights flip on was the coolest part to me. The whole thing has an eery, exciting vibe like when a huge thunderstorm suddenly forms overhead. I can only imagine what people thousands of years ago thought when an eclipse happened, and wouldn't they naturally look up and stare at it? Y'ouch. I'll admit I didn't understand all the hype for it and talk of closing roads and schools, but once I experienced it and felt the excitement, I changed my tune. Great time, glad it was in our backyard, and the rarity of it makes it a special experience no matter what.