Stuff I Like: Royals reporter Rustin Dodd knows where to go for ramen, pizza, drinks

Here’s what Kansas City Royals reporter Rustin Dodd is into right now:

Happy Hour at Thou Mayest

By now, it feels like Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters has been in the Crossroads forever. And probably for good reason. Let’s see: A coffee shop that plays good music, has a solid vibe and turns into a bar with cocktails and beer at night? That’ll play. You will find plenty of the usual coffee shop crowd at Thou Mayest — young hipsters, students, MacBook on MacBooks. But aside from the coffee, the place really strikes the right balance at night. The key? The Happy Hour menu from 5 to 7 p.m. Order a $2 yard beer or a $5 old-fashioned. Meet a friend at the long wooden bar on the first floor. And just hang for an hour or two. (It’s at 419 E. 18th St.)

Columbus Park

Kansas City is a town built on its neighborhoods. I suppose we could debate all day about the best ones. But here’s a quick endorsement for a gem: Columbus Park. Just northeast of downtown, the place is home to artists and art galleries, families and community gardens. You might feel you’ve been transported to another city, or even 1965. The best part, though, is the cuisine. I dig the salmon breakfast sandwich and coffee at Happy Gillis and the Shoyu Ramen at the Columbus Park Ramen Shop next door. The North End KC has some of the best sandwiches in the city. (Try “The Trap” or the “Giant Pork Tenderloin,” which is roughly the diameter of a basketball rim.) There is also the pizza at Caddyshack and pretty much anything at Vietnam Cafe.

Il Lazzarone

The other solid aspect of Columbus Park, of course, is that you are within walking distance of the River Market and the streetcar. There’s plenty going on here, but my favorite place is Il Lazzarone Pizza at 412 Delaware St. The Neapolitan pizza is legit, and the hours are clutch. The bar is open until 1:30 a.m. on most nights — a rarity for the neighborhood — and the oven stays open late, too. If you’re a sports writer like me with strange hours, you need a place like this.

“BoJack Horseman” on Netflix

I’m not much of a television watcher. I can go months without finding a show that will keep my attention. But the cartoon “BoJack Horseman” might be the best original show on Netflix right now. BoJack is a washed-up ’90s sitcom star (think Bob Saget, but he’s voiced by Will Arnett) who also happens to be a talking horse. It is also one of the heaviest shows I’ve ever seen, featuring a raw and poignant depiction of depression and loneliness. The third season came out in 2016, and all are available on Netflix. Bonus: It has the best ending-credits song in the history of TV.

“Longform Podcast”

Whether I’m running, driving or flying, I spend a lot of hours listening to podcasts about sports, politics and other random bits of culture. But here is a homer choice: a podcast about journalism. On “Longform,” you can listen to writers like Michael Lewis, Pamela Colloff and Ta-Nehisi Coates discuss their careers and writing methods. There are more than 200 episodes, and only a few of them feel dated, so you can comb back through the podcast feed and find episodes with writers that might interest you.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Stuff I Like: Royals reporter Rustin Dodd knows where to go for ramen, pizza, drinks."