A Whole New World

Good morning, Kansas City! Here’s what’s in store today:

🏗️ Aladdin Hotel restoration

🛫 Flights to New Orleans

☕️ New coffee + cocktail shop in Midtown

🍕 New pizza in NE Kansas City

Development

Historic Aladdin Hotel in Downtown KCMO Set for Transformation

The historic Aladdin Hotel at 1215 Wyandotte St. in downtown Kansas City is set to be transformed in 2025.

• The Team: The conversion of the 100-year-old building into modern apartments is being spearheaded by Zach Molzer of Molzer Development, Free Heel Capital, and local design/build firm Cardinal Crest. The team held a wall-breaking ceremony last week, sharing restoration and redevelopment plans.

• Past, Meet Present: Molzer described the design as “Great Gatsby”-esque, with historical nods to the 1920s. The building will soon feature 122 apartment units, a 16th-floor cocktail bar, a fitness center, co-working pods, a dog-washing station, and many more amenities. The restoration is expected to be complete by the summer of 2026.

Learn more about The Aladdin’s history and future HERE. 

Travel

New Direct Flights Added to New Orleans for Super Bowl

Thinking about a trip to New Orleans to watch the Chiefs make history? Airlines have added new direct flights between KCI and New Orleans to accommodate fans.

• Let’s GO to NO: United Airlines has added two new direct roundtrip flights on February 7-8, with return legs scheduled for February 10th. These flights will offer over 700 new seats to Chiefs fans and offer a little Chiefs fun built into the flight numbers: Flight 1972, in honor of the year the first game was played at Arrowhead, and Flight 2639, which spells out “Andy” numerically.

• Southwest to the Southeast: Southwest Airlines has added seven new nonstop flights, in addition to one already scheduled, for February 7th. The airline has also added two additional flights on February 8th, for a total of three flights. These new flights will accompany 5,425 fans!

Book your United flights HERE or your Southwest flights HERE. 

Food and Drink

The Black Pantry Celebrating its Grand Opening February 1st

The Black Pantry is celebrating the opening of its new Martini Corner shop in Midtown Kansas City.

• Bienvenidos!: The Black Pantry has operated within the Made in KC location in Martini Corner but will now get its own space just around the block. The shop spotlights Black-owned businesses and their products, featuring vinyl, books, apparel, drinks, and much more.

• Black Coffee: The space will also house Good Karma Coffee, a coffee shop and cocktail bar. It will offer espresso, lattes (like a Candied Yam Latte 🤤), and other coffee drinks using products from locally owned Marcell Coffee Roasters and Black Drip Coffee.

The Black Pantry opens at 9 am this Saturday and is located at 3134 Gillham Road.

Food and Drink

A New Pizza Shop is Coming to Northeast Kansas City

Northeast Pizza will soon open in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood in northeast Kansas City.

• Everybody Loves Pizza: Kansas City food and drink journalist Joyce Smith interviewed owner Noah Quillec about his new venture to bring pizza to northeast KC. Quillec’s family operates Cafe Provence and French Market in Prairie Village, but now he will start his own pizza-focused concept across the state line.

• Neighborhood Pies: The restaurant will open at 2203 Lexington Ave., across the street from neighborhood-favorite PH Coffee. It will offer New York-style pies, salads, garlic knots, wine & beer, and chocolate chip cookies from French Market.

Northeast Pizza will be open 4-9 pm Wed-Fri, and 11-9 pm Sat-Sun.

KC Daily Picks

In Other News…

• 🚨 Red Empire: The Empire State Building was lit up red on Sunday night in honor of the Chiefs advancing to Super Bowl LIX. It had been lit up green earlier in the day for the Philadelphia Eagles, but the red lights obviously looked better.

• 🚉 I’ll be Back: The KC Streetcar temporarily suspended service for two weeks starting yesterday (1/27) as crews prepare for the next phase of track construction.

• 🚲 Flat Tire: Three parks in Johnson County (Heritage Park, Meadowbrook Park, and Shawnee Mission Park) will end its bike rental program offered through RideKC.

• 🏆 GOAT #2: After Sunday’s playoff victory over the Bills, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes now trails only Tom Brady in postseason wins. Mahomes has 17 postseason wins, Brady has 35.

• 🍗 Let’s Get Wings: Not only did we take down Buffalo in football, but now we are going after their favorite food: wings. Check out our guide to six places to try some of the best wings in Kansas City.

• 🤝 Your Friendly Neighborhood Newsletter: KC Daily will always be free, thanks to members of our Fan Club who generously support our newsletter. Skip the extra Starbucks run this month and support your favorite local newsletter instead. We’ll reward you with awesome Fan-exclusive giveaways. 👀

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