Heidi Gardner to Wall Street Journal: These are must-see KC spots during World Cup
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Heidi Gardner named Mildred’s, Veil Cafe, and Goat Hill Coffee as must-visit spots.
- Gardner called downtown Kansas City incredibly walkable for World Cup fans.
- She recommended Loose Park and Whiskers Cat Cafe and Coffeehouse as local favorites.
Of course the Wall Street Journal is going to ask Kansas City native Heidi Gardner what spots around town World Cup fans should put on their must-see lists.
The Kansas City native and former “Saturday Night Live” star is one of her hometown’s biggest celebrity fans. She just co-hosted the Big Slick Celebrity Weekend fundraiser last week for Children’s Mercy.
The newspaper asked her to share “her most cherished places to visit during World Cup season, including where to find the best barbecue and cocktails.”
Her answers were very much a Valentine to “incredibly walkable” downtown Kansas City. She encouraged fans to grab coffee at Mildred’s, Veil Cafe and Goat Hill Coffee.
She said Loose Park is a great place to reset. The known cat lover declared her affection for Whiskers Cat Cafe and Coffeehouse were you can cuddle a cat, even adopt one, while getting your caffeine fix.
And Gardner, a vintage clothing devotee, recommended Daisy Lee Vintage — “very Y2K” — and Verdant botanical lifestyle store “that has flowers I’ve genuinely never seen anywhere else: pink sunflowers that aren’t dyed, just extraordinary things.”
Here’s what else she said.
Where to stay: “Downtown without question.” She name-checked the boutique hotel No Vacancy, calling the rooms “charming and cozy,” saying they make guests feel like they’ve been transported to an exotic place like Morocco, or “kind of in New York.”
She said the bar there, Le Lounge, “has some of the best drinks.”
Go-to breakfast place: Succotash. “They’re famous for their French toast. It’s more like a meal than a massive dessert ... Travis Kelce got really into it and then it really took off.”
Lunch place: The original Peanut at 5000 Main St. “Their buffalo wings are some of the best you’ll ever have. Also a great BLT, solid fries and just a really classic, good Coke.”
She also gave a shout-out to the vegan options at Bay Boy Sandwiches, and a “real hole in the wall,” Kitty’s Cafe, where she likes the pork tenderloin sandwich.
Bay Boy was listed as the No. 2 restaurant in Missouri for the month of October 2025 by the crowdsourced review website, Yelp.
Her go-to barbecue: This is why Gardner deserves “Queen of Kansas City” status — she named all the city’s icons.
“LC’s Bar-B-Q have my favorite burnt ends in the city. Arthur Bryant’s has my favorite ribs, and when you order, they bring out a whole loaf of Wonder Bread, which is still very novel and exciting to me.
“Joe’s Kansas City has the Z-Man sandwich: brisket, provolone, onion ring and barbecue sauce on a brioche roll, mind-blowing.
“And then Gates Bar-B-Q is just my all-around favorite. The quintessential Kansas City barbecue sauce. I can taste it in my mouth right now.”
Where to watch World Cup matches: Any of the Peanut locations, or “a newer bar downtown called Beckett’s, with great nostalgic sports memorabilia all over the walls and vintage TV screens everywhere.
“The Quaff, also downtown, is where I watched games growing up. My mom worked there as a cocktail waitress. They have shuffleboard, pool tables and really good wings.”
The specialness of Kansas City, Gardner told the newspaper, is that “everything is at most 20 minutes from each other, so in 24 hours you can actually see a lot.
“People here genuinely enjoy showing off for you. My dad was a driver for years, and I always say he’d get you to the airport on time, but he’d also give you the entire history of Kansas City on the way — and he’d do it in 20 minutes.”
.jpg)