Dutch delegation has one simple request for KC restaurants during the World Cup
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A Dutch delegation asked KC2026 to tell restaurants they want barbecue and fried chicken.
- Six games are scheduled at Arrowhead and fans from around the world are expected.
- KC2026 says visiting delegations reported being amazed and warmly welcomed in Kansas City.
Despite recent reports of lower-than-expected demand for hotel rooms in the Kansas City area during the World Cup, international visitors will be here during the tournament.
There are six games scheduled to be played at Arrowhead Stadium, and people from Argentina, Ecuador, the Netherlands, Algeria and other nations are expected to visit Kansas City.
And we know that fans coming from the Netherlands have a request for restaurants in the area. That’s according to Tracy Whelpley, the Director of Regional Impact for KC2026.
“We had a Dutch delegation here in early April, and the parting words after they spent three days here — and these were 17 people that hadn’t been to Kansas City before — as they left, said, ‘Make sure you tell your restaurants we don’t want Dutch food. We want barbecue and fried chicken, and we want to taste that,’” Whelpley said last week.
Those are meals that Kansas City does particularly well, and Dutch fans should eat well when they’re here.
That delegation from Holland reported to the KC2026 planning committee just how much they enjoyed their time in KC. And Whelpley wants fans coming here to know that they’ll receive a warm welcome.
That’s what she’s witnessed during pre-tournament visits.
“Whether they’re embassies or consulates, they’re telling me from the minute — and it’s consistent from the minute they got off the plane in Kansas City — they were amazed, surprised, but mostly they said, ‘Everybody we have met along the way has welcomed us and try to create this personal connection and help us navigate and help us be connected to the right people,’” Whelpley recalled.
“So I think if you come here, we are craving an experience that is going to be joyful, that it’s going to be easy to navigate, and that we want to celebrate all of your teams, and we are just so happy to have you here. And I think then they’ll come here and feel that genuine welcome that we all do so naturally, which gives me huge confidence about what we can collectively do.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 12:03 PM.
