Eat & Drink

These are the most beautiful restaurants in Kansas and Missouri, national ranking says

The Grünauer family opened Grünauer in the Freight House in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District in 2010 after years of operating a restaurant in Vienna.
The Grünauer family opened Grünauer in the Freight House in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District in 2010 after years of operating a restaurant in Vienna. GRÜNAUER

What’s the most beautiful restaurant in Kansas City? A recent national ranking has one answer.

OpenTable, the online restaurant-reservation service, partnered with People magazine for its 50th anniversary to release a “50 most beautiful restaurants in America” list.

The list includes one restaurant from each state in the United States, and you don’t have to go far from Kansas City for Missouri’s pick.

The restaurant site selected Grünauer, the Austrian restaurant in the Freight House near downtown Kansas City.

“Lofted ceilings modeled after beer barrels channel biergartens in the owner’s native Vienna at this Kansas City restaurant,” OpenTable said on its website.

Grünauer is a family owned Austrian restaurant in downtown Kansas City.
Grünauer is a family owned Austrian restaurant in downtown Kansas City. Grünauer

The family behind the restaurant has owned and operated a traditional Viennese restaurant, Gasthaus Grünauer, in Vienna for more than 60 years, according to its website. The Kansas City restaurant opened in 2010 and is an homage to their roots.

Items you can get at Grünauer include the spicy Hungarian goulash sausages and schweinsbraten, a roast pork with bread dumpling and red cabbage. The menu changes seasonally.

The Weather Room in Topeka was selected for Kansas.

“This modern steakhouse in Topeka evokes the state’s pastoral landscape with emerald green banquettes and golden-hued curtains,” OpenTable said.

Joseph Hernandez
The Kansas City Star
Joseph Hernandez joined The Kansas City Star’s service journalism team in 2021. A Cristo Rey Kansas City High School and Mizzou graduate, he now covers trending topics and finds things for readers to do around the metro.
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