Expand Your Palate, Expand Your Horizons

Events

Expand Your Palate, Expand Your Horizons

Happy Monday, Kansas City! Kansas City’s Ethnic Enrichment Festival will take place at Swope Park this month the weekend of August 18th.

• EEF: The Ethnic Enrichment Festival, now in its 44th year, is a weekend-long festival where countries from all over the world offer locals the ability to experience their culture through food, music, and dance.

• Family Friendly: If you want to teach your kids about different cultures without traveling across the globe, here's a great chance for them to taste food from countries like Israel and South Korea. They can also watch cultural performances from places like Samoa and Turkey on the main stage.

• Swope Park: located in the area just outside the Swope Park Pavilion, we recommend you show up early because the free parking does get full. Admission is free for children and $5 for adults; cash is recommended.

The event will take place on the 18th from 6-10 pm, Saturday the 19th from 12-10 pm, and Sunday the 20th from 12-6 pm. For more information on the event, check out their website here or go to their Instagram here.

Opening

Cafe Europa Makes A Comeback

Cafe Europa, a longtime KC favorite cafe that closed in June, will reopen as The Lemon Cake Bakery in Mission Farms in September.

• New Home: The Lemon Cake Bakery will focus on its bakery items, including the famous Lemon Cake, and will also feature a full-service coffee menu sourced by Messenger Coffee.

• Long History: Cafe Europa initially opened in 2001 and offered European-style cuisine until they closed their last location in Brookside earlier this year.

• Plans Change: Europa’s owner, Ben Cascio, had initially planned to open the Lemon Cake Bakery in Leawood’s Town Center until he found the location in Mission Farms where Dean and Deluca used to stand.

The bakery plans to open on September 1. No hours have been listed yet on their website, but you can follow them on Instagram for more details.

Restaurants

KC’s Yelp Help

Yelp has released its Top 100 Places to Eat in the Midwest, and 9 Kansas City-area restaurants took top honors.

• Yelp Helps: The list was created based on reviews submitted between Jan. 1 and May 1, and also considered the volume of reviews. Illinois led the way with 22 restaurants on the list, followed by Missouri with 16.

• KC’s Spots: The Kansas City metro had 8 restaurants make the top 100 including Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que(16), The Russell(33), Scott's Kitchen and Catering at Hangar 29(50), Hummus and Pita(63), Baba's Pantry(65), Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches(76), Q39 Midtown(77), and the Grünauer(81).

• Leavenworth Counts: The other KC area establishment to make the list was The Depot in Leavenworth, Kansas. It was one of 3 restaurants from Kansas to make the list.

To see the full list or to plan your next Midwest road trip, check out the restaurants here.

KC Daily Picks

In Other News

• BBQ 🤝Pizza: 39th Street neighbors, Artego Pizza and Q39 have paired up to create a brisket pizza.

• 🧽I’m Ready!: Vignettes, a pop-up bar space in North Kansas City, is now a Spongebob Squarepants pop-up starting August 18th.

• 💐Vocal Locals: Brookside is opening a new store called Shop Local KC, which will focus on florals and local goods.

• ⚽P&L Before Daylight: US women’s soccer fans flooded power and light at 4 am to watch their showdown with Sweden.

• 📚Heading Downtown: Kansas City Community College is set to build a new location in downtown KCK.

• 🚀Grow with Us: Showcase your business or event in front of thousands of Kansas Citians! Email [email protected] for more information or to learn more here!