Author: Allison Hall
West Coast Crunch Marion native Josh Tajchman brings Cali-style street tacos to his hometown BY Mary henn | PHOTOGRAPHY BY zach bauman THAT ONE PLACE Marion is fourteen hundred miles from Hermosa Beach, but you only have to go a half mile down Main Street from the Elgin to get authentic California-style street tacos. Chef Josh Tajchman and his wife Alison started a taco truck called That One Place (1018 E. Main St., Marion, KS) when they moved from L.A. back to Josh’s hometown of Marion. Tajchman’s menu includes traditional beef and chicken tacos, but one of our favorites is…
Old Waters Find craft beers and diner-style burgers in the historic downtown Excelsior Springs BY MARY HENN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT & REBECCA NORDEN THE ATLAS SALOON Downtown Excelsior Springs is just under a ten-minute drive from Sundance Ranch, and there are many drinking, dining and shopping options—including two breweries, a wine mercantile, a diner and a museum, to name a few. Our favorites include The Atlas Saloon and Ray’s Diner, two Excelsior mainstays that have been intact for decades. Actually, The Atlas has been in the same location since 1894, making it the oldest bar in Clay County and one…
Commercial Break C-Street’s recent revival has made it our favorite street in Springfield. BY Natalie Torres Gallagher | Photography by Josh Beecher Springfield has more than one claim to fame. It’s not only the birthplace of Route 66 but also the site where Wild Bill Hickok won the first Wild West quick-draw shoot-out in 1865. It’s home, too, to the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium (the state’s number one attraction, where you can pet stingrays and point out all the fish you recognize from Finding Nemo). But the Queen City of the Ozarks is also a hotbed for the…
Three bars you can’t miss at Omaha’s Old Market District Omaha’s Old Market District is a warren of brick walls, hidden doors, hometown brews and local flavor. Among the art galleries, bars with live music and a wide range of shops, there are three watering holes you just can’t miss. BY ROB HENRICHS 1 Wicked Rabbit While not technically in the Old Market, it’s certainly worth the short trip to see this fun speakeasy (1508 Harney St., Omaha). Walk into the unassuming liquor store next to Hotel Deco and you’ll be greeted by a clerk who operates the store. When…
Four must-see music destinations in Tulsa Tulsa is equal parts folksy and artsy—the kind of town where a guy will holler to warn you that you don’t need to feed the meters on weekends and where the mixologist at a nationally recognized Tiki bar will complain vocally about a visiting couple from Lee’s Summit who refuse to believe that any bar doesn’t stock Fireball for a round of shots. Here are some spots from the artsy side—four musical destinations not to miss. BY MARTIN CIZMAR WOODY GUTHRIE CENTER 1 Cain’s Ballroom Find a list of the best music venues in…
The ‘Half’ Way In Tulsa’s Arts District, a boutique hotel takes over a dilapidated apartment building. BY MARTIN CIZMAR There’s a sign in the window of the dive bar below Tulsa’s newish 21 1/2 Boutique Hotel that says “YOU DON’T KNOW S*** ABOUT TULSA.” It comes off a little aggro as you’re walking past a pub with Christmas lights on the ceiling and into the type of hipster hotel with pictures of shaggy-headed Scottish Highland cows on the wall. But if you pop into that bar, called Caz’s, a friendly bartender will explain that it’s just sort of true—and she’d…
The Gemstone of Blackstone Omaha’s Cottonwood Hotel is a tribute to the Jazz Age BY Rob Henrichs Opened in 1916 as the Blackstone Hotel, the Cottonwood Hotel has hosted John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Serving as the place to stay on the route from San Francisco to Chicago, the hotel remained popular through the 1970s before the building was renovated to become a downtown office space. The two hundred-room hotel reopened with a refreshed design and new owners in late 2020 after a $75 million renovation. The renovation was inspired in part by Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, and those…
Book the Look St. Louis’ Angad Arts Hotel is one of the most unique in the country. BY MARTIN CIZMAR Walk down the hallway on the first floor of the Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis and you’ll see pages of poetry hanging from the walls. The pages are from Quarantine Chronicles by St. Louis poet Jared C. Lewis, who started writing a poem a day in March 2020, including a piece called “Let’s See Where This Goes,” which was all too prescient: “so what comes next/is for the spirits to know/but I know in my gut/it’s just the beginning…
The definition of “comfort food” tends to vary depending on who you ask. At two new Brookside restaurants, Brady & Fox and Earl’s Premier, the term applies both to time-honored Irish recipes and East Coast oysters, respectively. You’ll find fish and chips at both of these transatlantic spots, but more importantly, you’ll get to sample a different kind of home. The Latest Craic You can find an Irish pub in just about any corner of the world. When you’re thirsting for a Guinness in Kansas City, home to one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the country, you…
Ask around Columbus Park, where Kansas City’s rich Italian heritage stretches back more than a century, and you’ll find a handful of locals still wistfully recall LaSala’s Deli. LaSala’s operated from 1921 until it was sold in 2012, becoming the North End before closing permanently last year. The deli was known for its “poor boy” and “rich boy” subs, which were layered with either economical or premium cold cuts and cheese. It’s the KC rich boy I went in search of: an oval-shaped roll split down the center and stuffed with pepperoni, Genoa salami, ham, provolone, tomato, onion and Italian…