Inside luxury beach lounge + New steakhouse coming to JoCo
Welcome back to Let’s Dish — your one-stop shop for all things eats in Kansas City. I’m Jenna Thompson, one of the restaurant reporters for The Star!
I hope you all enjoyed a shortened work week (if you had one)! Lucky for you, we still aren’t skimping on story portions.
In this installment, we’ll take a trip to the KC Current soccer players’ new coffee shop, as well as a donkey-saving juice shop. You’ll also want to stick around for an inside look into the metro’s new beach-themed lounge, all-you-can-eat sushi, and an upscale steakhouse opening in Lenexa.
Hope you’re hungry!
The beach comes to Kansas City
There are plenty of perks to living in the City of Fountains, but it is famously landlocked.
To combat this, the team at Palm Tree Club hopes to bring a “never-ending luxury vacation” to the metro. I took a tour yesterday with my colleague Tammy, and we documented the entire experience in our story.
When customers step into the dining room, one of the first things they’ll notice is the massive wooden sculpture protruding from the middle of the bar and climbing up the ceiling. Videos of tropical beach vacations are projected on the walls.
The elevated DJ booth aims to give the space a feel unlike most restaurants. While team member Eric Coomes said it’s not a night club (there won’t be pounding music and dancing), but it still hopes to bring a fun atmosphere.
We also got to sample some of the food and drinks: an espresso martini flight, burrata, A5 wagyu dumplings, hamachi carpaccio and more. (More on that in a second.)
What’s new?
What’s better than sushi?
Endless sushi, of course. And other than that, very few things.
If you agree, you might enjoy the new Pan-Asian, all-you-can-eat restaurant in the Northland called All in One Eatery. It’s created by the folks behind Magic Noodle and features dishes from China, Thailand, Japan and beyond.
Owner Elvin Yiu told me he’s planning on bringing one to Overland Park very soon, in a former Applebee’s.
Plus, the menu items are delivered by robots. (How fun is that?) Take a peek inside the former Kirkland’s space.
À la carte
✴️ This local BBQ place was graced by a visit from “God” this week, when Morgan Freeman stopped by during his first-ever trip to Kansas City.
✴️ An upscale steakhouse is on its way to Johnson County, and this one is a sister company of another popular restaurant in Overland Park.
✴️ There’s only one place in the metro where you can buy fresh-squeezed juice and support rescue donkeys, and it’s this new cafe in Fairway.
✴️ Surprise, surprise. The new 1587 Prime steakhouse has an homage to Taylor Swift in the form of this drink. And cheers to the newly engaged couple!
✴️ Stars on the soccer field, and also in the coffee business? Pitchside Coffee opened in the Crossroads. Take a look inside!
My standout dish of the week
Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth.
I’ve fallen victim to the ideology that I need a sweet treat after every meal, and I’ve spent the past year trying to break that habit. I’ve mostly avoided the Dubai chocolate craze that has overtaken the world.
Except for yesterday, when Palm Tree Club served Dubai chocolate tiramisu. How did they know tiramisu was my weakness?
I tasted plenty of scrumptious samplings at the restaurant yesterday, but when I saw the chocolatey treat sitting out on the bar, I knew it would be my favorite. I was right.
Rich, creamy, and just the right amount of crunch from the pistachios — it was undoubtedly my favorite.
To be honest, there wasn’t anything I tried that I didn’t like, but the octopus yakitori was a close favorite. If I go back, I’ll probably have both: octopus for dinner, and a tiramisu sweet treat!
Hungry for more?
- Check out all the restaurants we’ve covered in our Let’s Dish series here.
Looking for the latest industry news? Here’s what spots have opened and closed in the KC area lately.
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Happy eating! We’ll see you next week.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Inside luxury beach lounge + New steakhouse coming to JoCo."