Inside America's budget-friendly, BBQ-obsessed World Cup city

Independent

2 days ago

My first time seeing Kansas City 's streetcar roll by was a little like watching Doc Brown's DeLorean from Back to the Future suddenly appearing in 1955. The American Midwest, with its wide, valley-like streets and cartoonishly huge cars, feels like no home for such a jarringly European sight.
But Kansas City isn't like most Midwest cities. Not only has this sleek tram been trundling through downtown KC (as locals call it) for almost 10 years, its 2.2-mile track is in the process of being extended (almost doubling in length) and – best of all – riding is completely free of charge. Sure, it's not the New York subway, but this is also no white elephant. And while it won't put Kansas City on the map in the same way Taylor Swift's appearances at Kansas City Chiefs NFL games have, it's a sign of a surprisingly progressive city on the rise and one that will be hosting six matches at the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Straddling the state line between Missouri and Kansas, the city was a vital trading post and frontier crossroads on the mighty Missouri River when it was founded in the 1830s. A century later, the city developed an anarchic reputation under mob boss Tom Pendergast as prohibition gripped the US and its smoke-filled jazz clubs and brooding speakeasies attracted celebrities, politicians, misfits and deviants.
Today, KC is a sprawling metropolis of 500,000, with its stocky skyline a hodgepodge of featureless glass towers and gorgeous Art Deco skyscrapers under a dome of great Midwest sky. Bright blue mornings at my riverside hotel are often pierced by the distant horn of incoming freight trains. It's a nostalgic sound, like the howl of a lost America as it thunders past languid cornfields and lonely telephone lines. The grandiose Union Station, completed in 1914, welcomed its last passenger train in the late 1980s and has since been converted into an airy gathering space with a science museum, cinema, restaurant and other attractions.
But this repurposed station is just one of many reasons for visitors to attend games in budget-friendly Kansas City, away from the eyewatering prices found in other notoriously expensive host cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles. My own personal fascination with this city starts with the flame, however.
'BBQ may not be the road to world peace, but it's a start,' once said the iconic food and travel raconteur Anthony Bourdain. And in this city, it's over hearty slabs of beef brisket, tender burnt ends and glistening pork ribs where people bond. The Kansas City metro area has over 100 BBQ joints, so if there's one place to be a little looser with the wallet, it's at one of these distinctly American restaurants.
Opened back in 1908, the OG is Arthur Bryant's in the historic 18th and Vine neighbourhood. Like all good BBQ joints, I can smell the smoke-charred aromas as I cross the street, and inside there's a reassuringly long line to the counter. The same succulent ribs I eventually savour a little later on had also been enjoyed in the past by the likes of presidents Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter, such is the fame of Arthur Bryant's. But as legendary as this place is, it's independent modern spots like Chef J BBQ, Q39 and Slaps BBQ that have truly mastered the craft. And since life is short, make sure to order the most gut-busting, indulgent platter on the menu for a true taste of KC.
In fact, so intensely does this city worship at the altar of the flame that in April 2025 it opened the world's first Museum of BBQ (entry $10). Located in the sprawling Crown Center near the National WWI Museum and Memorial (entry $19.50), it's a playful meander through BBQ's regions, wood, sauces, people and every other flavour component imaginable.
Later that evening in downtown KC, I head over to another local culinary institution. Town Topic Hamburgers' no-nonsense, wallet-friendly burgers are the antithesis of the messy, sky-high sandwiches often found at trendy food trucks in the UK for upwards of £12. A standard hamburger here will set you back just $5.35, but I choose the $9.25 double cheeseburger. It's a greasy but tightly packed nirvana of beef patties, melted cheese, onions and mushrooms which, crucially, can be held in just one hand (something of a lost art these days).
Back at 18th and Vine, this neighbourhood was once Kansas City's jazz mecca, where the art form flourished in the 1930s and 40s and where local virtuosos like Charlie Parker got their break. Once a Beale or Bourbon St of the Midwest, the area fell into dilapidation but still holds onto its distinct character and is home to the colourful American Jazz Museum (entry $10). Next door is the Blue Room jazz club, with quality acts at the weekend and free jam sessions on Monday nights. A five-minute stroll south on Vine St, you'll find Vine St Brewing Co, which is truly breathing new life into the area – as Missouri's first Black-owned brewery, their distinct blend of craft beer, bold art and hip hop is a joy to experience.
There's talk of a streetcar line to 18th and Vine one day, but for now the focus is on extension from KC's burgeoning riverfront district all the way down to the University of Missouri-Kansas City at the southern end of downtown, where the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art form a free-of-entry double act. Along with the Kansas City Art Institute, they'll make up the 'Arterie', an art-themed walk between all of the galleries starting at the Art Museum's streetcar stop.
At the Missouri riverfront, the streetcar extension is already paying dividends in a once-neglected area, with my slick new Origin Hotel and the waterside beer garden of Two Birds One Stone making for a breezy atmosphere as the milky orange sun dips beneath the river every evening. A stone's throw away is CPKC Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League and the first stadium purpose-built exclusively for a professional women's soccer team. And in downtown, the soon-to-open The Dub will be the city's first bar devoted entirely to women's sports.
Soccer isn't the only sport in town here. When the World Cup is on at Arrowhead Stadium, tickets for neighbouring Kansas City Royals baseball games can often be found for as little as $20.
And even if you're not enthralled by the action on the field, the cavernous stadium is also home to an outpost of arguably the most celebrated of all KC's BBQ restaurants - Joe's Kansas City BBQ. The flame can't be avoided in this city, so order in Joe's famous Z-Man Sandwich, embrace it, devour it and thank me later.
Getting there
There are no direct flights between the UK and Kansas City. Instead, connect to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) via Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) or Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Flight time from both of these is under two hours and numerous flights operate on American Airlines.
Opened in 2024, the smart 118-room Origin Hotel faces the Missouri River and its on-site restaurant Show Pony dishes up farm-to-table American fare. With the streetcar station opening soon, the hotel's great waterfront location is enhanced further by the hotel offering free bikes for cycling along the Riverfront Heritage Trail.