A Royals player is searching for KC’s best restaurants. Here are his favorites so far
Major League Baseball players have a fair amount of downtime, and they find different ways to fill the void.
Some play video games. Others like watching movies or television. But for Royals outfielder Mark Canha, it’s eating.
Canha loves to try new restaurants and he has shared details of some of his finds on his Instagram account, which is called Big League Foodie.
“The food world is just such an interesting world to me,” Canha said, “because you can be surprised by people’s creativity or you can also be like, ‘OK, I’ve kind of been there, done that.’ But it’s like endless exploration. There’s always new restaurants and places popping up.”
Canha was acquired in a trade with the Brewers a week before the season started, so he has only begun his explorations around Kansas City. But he shared a couple of his favorites on Instagram.
At The Town Company, which is located downtown in Hotel Kansas City, Canha raved about the lobster toast.
“I didn’t have lobster toast on my bingo card for amazing things I would eat in Kansas City but here we are!” Canha wrote. “Lobster Salad with a creamy/chili oil dressing atop Japanese milk bread!”
And Canha also wrote about how much he enjoyed Chewology in Westport.
“One of my favorite dishes I’ve had in a while!” Canha wrote on Instagram. “These beauties are the dressed eggs at @chewologykc which turned out to be an amazing welcome into the Kansas City food scene. This place features Taiwanese street food. Noodles, dumplings, and so many creative small plates. Can’t wait to go back!”
Canha uses a variety of sources to find his new eateries, from food websites to recommendations. He recently got one from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who lives in KC.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there’s good food everywhere,” Canha said. “You just gotta kind of know where to look online and kind of have some sources where you can find the places that are the right spots, and not the overhyped stuff that’s not so good. But I think there’s good food everywhere. Kansas City is no exception.”
Canha, who started his Instagram account during his rookie season in 2015, had visited Kansas City multiple times as a visiting player. He mostly had barbecue at those times, and he plans to eat Kansas City’s signature meal again in the future.
But he wants to find restaurants that are off-the-beaten path.
“I actively kind of look for these places,” Canha said. “It’s kind of a hobby for me, so I try and stay on top of it.”
Canha likes sharing his findings on social media because it’s a fun way to interact with fans, and he gets some great suggestions from them.
That hasn’t happened much in Kansas City, but he’s only been with the Royals for roughly six weeks and hasn’t had a lot of time to go searching. But he expects that will change as he tries new Kansas City spots.
“It’s a cool way to spend your off time. You know, especially on the road, if you’re away from your family and you’ve got nothing to do, you get some free time,” Canha said. “That’s my favorite thing to do is go eat at a restaurant and kind of unwind and just feel out the vibes and see what kind of people are eating there and what the food’s like. It’s just fun.”
This is the first in what I hope will be a ongoing feature on where the Royals players like to eat. If you’ve got a suggestion for Canha, send me an email and I’ll pass it along.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM.
