Leawood is a bustling suburb of Kansas City known for its top-notch schools, safe neighborhoods, great shopping, and established restaurant scene.
Whether you’re looking for a fancy sit-down restaurant, a trendy brewery, or family friendly dining, you’ll find what you’re looking for in Leawood. When selecting the best restaurants in Leawood, Kansas for this list, we considered factors most important to people looking for a new place to eat.
This includes location, quality of service, ambiance, menu selection, and overall value. This list features 15 local restaurants, not national chains, for those looking for a true Leawood dining experience.
1. Blue Koi
$$ | (913) 383-3330 | WEBSITE
Blue Koi is a locally owned Chinese food restaurant that has been featured on the Food Network and is known for great service, comforting dishes, and sustainable practices. Appetizers include pan fried dumplings, chicken lettuce wraps, and chili pepper wontons.
The restaurant is also known for its handmade noodle dishes with Chinese style pot roast, Cantonese roast duck, and braised pork. Blue Koi has many vegetarian options too including braised tofu noodles, vegetable noodle soup, steam veggie dumplings, and crispy tofu. The restaurant’s drink selection features a variety of bubble teas, loose leaf teas, and cocktails.
2. The Breakfast Spot
$ | (913) 257-5774 | WEBSITE
The Breakfast Spot is a popular place for families to have brunch and lunch. Known for its top-notch service and reasonable prices, this restaurant has a wide variety of options. Menu items include breakfast favorites like egg dishes, pancakes, French toast, and waffles.
The Breakfast Spot offers a range of items including cinnamon roll biscuits and fruity chimichangas. Lunch items feature soups, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. The Breakfast Spot has popular daily specials including kids eat free on Mondays and all-you-can-eat pancakes on Thursdays.
3. Red Door Woodfired Grill
$$ | (913) 227-4959 | WEBSITE
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Red Door Woodfired Grill is a casual, family-friendly American restaurant serving food cooked on a wood-fired grill. They are also known for their expansive cocktail menu featuring mango mojitos, lavender lemonades, and small batch mules.
The food is all made from scratch and includes everything from burgers to fried chicken, to wings, to enchiladas. Appetizer options feature sheetpan nachos, pretzel bites, loaded hummus, and prime rib eggrolls.
Their diverse menu also offers fresh baked desserts like warm beignets and skillet bourbon pecan pie. Red Door serves brunch on weekends and offers a happy hour every weekday from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
4. Hereford House
$$$ | (913) 327-0800 | WEBSITE
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Hereford House is a locally owned steakhouse that’s been in the Kansas City area since the 1950s. They offer six types of steaks as well as traditional entrees including beef short rib, country fried chicken, prime rib, and stuffed trout.
Their menu includes sides like baked potato, parmesan broccoli, pimento mac & cheese, and asparagus. If you’re looking for a to-go option for the family, Hereford House offers curbside family meals like grilled meatloaf, country fried chicken, and baked potatoes.
5. Rye
$$$ | (913) 642-5800 | WEBSITE
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Rye serves farm-to-table American food with a midwestern flair. This restaurant is known for its fried chicken served with homemade pickles and ham gravy.
The menu also offers steaks, salmon, trout, salads, soups, and a plethora of appetizers. House-made desserts include lemon meringue pie, blueberry streusel pie, and homemade ice cream. To add to the community feel, Rye hosts classes including seasonal cookie decorating and pie baking.
6. Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que
$$ | (913) 338-5151 | WEBSITE
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Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que is well-known in the area. The restaurant features pulled pork, turkey, ham, brisket, ribs, chicken, and sausage. More unique menu items include smoked chicken gumbo and a variety of sandwiches.
Joe’s offers many salads and sides as well such as beans, coleslaw, dirty rice, fries, and vegetables. They are also known for their award-winning barbeque sauces. The atmosphere of the Joe’s Leawood location is casual and classic for Kansas City barbeque dining.
7. Bamboo Penny’s
$$ | (913) 232-7695 | WEBSITE
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Bamboo Penny’s is a local Thai restaurant that offers traditional Thai dishes with a modern twist. The ambiance is trendy and dishes are classic such as pad thai, fresh rolls, curries, tom yum soup, and more. In addition to tradition Thai menu items, this restaurant also offers a variety of desserts and cocktails.
Desserts include chocolate rangoon, mango sticky rice, and fried bananas with ice cream. In addition to its indoor and outdoor dining options, Bamboo Penny’s has a rooftop lounge open on weekend evenings from 4:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. serving both food and drinks.
8. Bogey’s Windy City Pub
$$ | (913) 491-4664 | WEBSITE
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Bogey’s Windy City Pub brings Chicago-style menu options to Leawood. The restaurant plays sport games on large TV screens throughout the day and evenings, making it a laid-back atmosphere. Menu items include a wide variety of Chicago-style sandwiches and hot dogs.
They are also well-known for decadent desserts like their apple funnel cake fries and black forest lava cake. Bogey’s has popular daily specials including build your own chicken sandwiches, meatloaf sandwiches, and taco day.
9. Bristol Seafood Grill
$$$ | (913) 663-5777 | WEBSITE
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Bristol Seafood Grill is known to serve high-quality fresh seafood in an upscale environment. Their menu features jumbo lump crab cakes, maple plank roasted salmon, panko fried shrimp and lobster mac & cheese.
They also serve non-seafood options like steak and chicken. Bristol is not only known for its food, but also its expansive wine and cocktail selection. Handmade desserts include apple croustade, carrot cake, chocolate lava cake, and a trio of ice cream flavors.
10. Cactus Grill
$$ | (913) 345-9933 | WEBSITE
Cactus Grill is a tex-mex restaurant serving classic dishes in a modern setting. They are well-known for their margaritas including a jalapeno-infused margarita. Their menu includes quesadillas, fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, and tacos.
They also have soups, salads, sandwiches, and a variety of starters. Appetizers such as southwest egg rolls, cactus wings, and queso dip, are among the more popular options. The restaurant also serves brunch on Sundays featuring chorizo tacos, habanero kissed frittatas, and jalapeno biscuits and gravy.
11. Outta The Blue
$ | (913) 217-8220 | WEBSITE
Outta The Blue Cafe has a coastal-themed ambiance and a menu with a wide variety of local coffee blends, cocktails, teas, juices, and small bites. Snacks available include fresh pastries, protein balls, chia seed pudding, and fruit salad.
Outta The Blue is decorated with surf boards, palm trees, and wicker chairs making this a trendy spot to relax with your favorite drink. The menu also offers plenty of vegan options.
12. Ika Grill
$$ | (913) 469-8899 | WEBSITE
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Ika Grill is a family-owned and operated Asian and sushi restaurant that’s been well-known in the Kansas City area for over 30 years. This restaurant offers over 50 different types of sushi including both classic rolls and specialty rolls. Ika Grill’s menu also features handmade noodle dishes, soups, and other entrees such as short ribs, teriyaki salmon, and peking squid.
13. Plate
$$$ | (913) 730-7545 | WEBSITE
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Plate is an upscale Italian restaurant known for its handmade pasta dishes. This restaurant is known for its excellent service. The menu includes many Italian classics like carbonara, gnocchi, and fresh garlic bread. For those not interested in Italian food, Plate offers pork chops, steak, chicken, and several a la carte sides. Plate also serves fine Italian wine and cocktails.
14. The Roasterie
$ | (913) 428-8270 | WEBSITE
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The Roasterie is a Kansas City area staple when it comes to coffee spots. Their menu features coffee blends sourced from around the world as well as other drinks such as smoothies, teas, Italian sodas, and more. They also offer a wide variety of fresh pastries in addition to more substantial foods like breakfast burritos, chicken and veggie wraps, sandwiches, and yogurt parfaits.
15. Meat Mitch Barbeque
$$ | (913) 363-6328 | WEBSITE
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Meat Mitch was created by award-winning pitmaster Mitch Benjamin. This BBQ joint is known for its unique sauces and rubs. The menu features a variety of meats including brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, turkey, and sausage. You can’t have barbeque without the sides which feature mac and cheese, fries, potato salad, fried pickles, and more.
In summary, Leawood offers a wide range of diverse dining options. Whether you’re seeking a casual meal or a fancy date night, Leawood has it all. These are the best 15 restaurants in Leawood, but there are even more to choose from depending on your taste.
Hayden has been a digital director for years. He has five years of experience editing and writing about food, restaurant, and recipe review content. At Birch Restaurant, he’s in charge of scouting, showing up unannounced in different restaurants, and writing a thorough food guide!
