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@Core Coffee
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From the Bar
Big shout-out to Core Coffee, one of the Caffeine Crawl stops this past weekend. The cafe is a cozy neighborhood place built around community, with locally sourced beans, food, and coffee, of course!! They put me onto a MAGNIFICENT light roast, Ethiopian bean from Split Log. The Caffeine Crawl was back for its 107th run, with two dozen local coffee and tea businesses, eight routes, and the usual mix of samples and short presentations. I got to visit Core Coffee, PT's, Goat Hill, Parisi, and Blip!
Worlds of Fun is opening this weekend. The park opened in 1973, originally developed by Lamar Hunt and Jack Steadman, and KC has been measuring spring by that gate opening for a long time. For 2026, Season Pass Holder Preview Day on April 24 and opening days on April 25 and 26, one more rite of passage, right on schedule.
And April has been doing what April does in Kansas City: showers, gray skies, a little impatience, and then a clean break of sun just when you need it.
I’ll see you at the bar ☾
—Jay, SecretKC editor
🥃 The Can’t Miss List
Rooms that always understand the assignment.
The Lobby Bar of KC · Evening
Bar Stillwell
Grown Ass Bar Energy
Best place to begin and end adventures.
Cocktail-first lounge · Evening
Verdigris
Swanky cocktails.
Personal Favorites
Core Coffee
Cozy cafe, great coffee & brunch spot
The Monarch Bar
Serious cocktails, intentional energy.
A clean handoff between dinner and night.
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🍸 The Weekend
DJ Sir Queen · Fri
Nighthawk runs late and stays loose: a live-performance room with cocktails, snacks, a red-curtain stage, and space for music, drag, and comedy. Friday night goes late!. → Nighthawk
Blues & Funk Fridays · Fri, 10 PM
Uptown Lounge bills itself as a piano bar and cocktail bar, with live music Tuesday through Saturday, Blues and Funk on Fridays! TGIF energy!! → Uptown Lounge
Saxophonist Nneoma Lanea · Fri, 8–11 PM
Sherri’s Executive Lounge is a luxury cigar-and-jazz room, featuring Nneoma Lanea live. → Sherri’s Lounge
ZZ Top & Dwight Yoakam: Dos Amigos Tour · Sat, 7 PM
A straight-up double bill at Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs. There's a clear bag policy, so bring the good sense with the boots. → Azura Amphitheater
Sunday Brunch · Sun, 9:30 AM–2:30 PM
Iron Horse serves brunch Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 to 2:30. Leawood does plate service, Lee’s Summit does buffet, and the menu keeps the classics moving with $2 mimosas!→ Iron Horse
🥂 Date Nights
Mythology & Mixology Cocktail Class · Thu, 6 PM
VOO Lounge is running a hands-on cocktail class inspired by Greek mythology. Guests craft two cocktails, then stay for live music after class. → VOO Lounge (RSVP)
Bubbles & Broadway · Sat, 6:30 PM
Music Theater Heritage is hosting a Broadway-forward benefit/fundraiser featuring material drawn from shows currently playing on Broadway. → Music Theater Heritage
The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show · Sat, 6:00–8:30 PM
North America’s largest interactive comedy, true-crime, murder-mystery dinner show is in Kansas City for the night, with the April 25 performance tagged “Game Over.” Dinner, a case to solve, and enough room for someone at your table to get suspicious. → Crowne Plaza Kansas City Downtown
Antler Room
The room is built around rotating shared plates, and house cocktails, with the menu moving through Mediterranean, East Asian, and Midwestern influence. → The Antler Room
👨👩👧👦 Family Friendly
Worlds of Fun Opening Day · Sat
The park reopens for a new season with more than 60 rides and attractions, including high-adrenaline coasters. → Worlds of Fun
Midwest GameFest 2026 · Thu–Sun
Four days of tabletop hobby gaming: board games, card games, miniatures, role-playing games, organized play, tournaments, panels, workshops, exhibitors, cosplay, and more. → Midwest GameFest
Barnyard Babies Family Festival · Sat, 10 AM–3 PM
This one is built around the barnyard: cows, sheep, pigs, goats, alpacas, horses, rabbits, and chickens, plus train rides, ponies, honey harvesting, corn piles, antique tractors, and giant animal-shaped kites. → National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame )
Wanderfest · Sun
Tower East’s neighborhood event is a full-day district crawl: art, crafts, music, food, drinks, a guide map, passport stamps, and a raffle at Cherry Pit Collective. It is family-friendly. → Tower East KC
Last Call 🍸
Pre-gaming the Caffeine Crawl @Core Coffee
The first coffee I ever had was in Holland. I was 19, newly arrived at Soesterberg Airbase, and SSGT McGrail was my host. After a homemade Dutch dinner with his wife, he asked me, “Do you drink coffee? It doesn't matter, you gotta try this Dutch coffee.” I have been obsessed ever since.
Light roasts have always been a challenge for me on pour-over, until Deana at Core Coffee talked up Worka Sakaro G1, an Ethiopian bean from Split Log, a local roaster. Fantastic cup. Maybe I was just on the wrong beans?!
I learned something at every stop during the Caffeine Crawl. PT’s did a great, simple water test and made the case for good-quality water. Parisi talked about matching the brew style to the bean. Blip Coffee Roasters got into the logistics of roasting. Goat Hill Coffee & Soda delivered an important lesson around customer service, which matters just as much as the coffee.
That was my first Caffeine Crawl. I did not even know it was a thing, IIRC there were eight different routes running that day around Kansas City!! I am looking forward to the next one!
Stay sharp, KC ☾