TOURING YOUR TOWN OWN

Correct

Oddly Correct — A coffee shop located at 4141 Troost Ave.

I STARTED MY day off with what he called the best coffee shop in the city — Oddly Correct, Located on Troost Avenue. The inside had a rustic and modern feel, with their signature octopus tentacles on everything from the walls to the counters.

I asked the barista what she recommended off their limited menu and ended up going with their best-selling bourbon vanilla latte and an oat milk vanilla latte. I also opted to get it to-go which comes in a reusable Mason jar complete with a loveable Oddly Correct koozie for a $1 deposit. While you can return these items and get your dollar back, I kept mine to use for my daily cold brews.

The vanilla latte was your run-of-the-mill coffee. It was simply espresso, oat milk and vanilla syrup mixed together. While I could tell they used a higher quality espresso than a chain coffee shop, it wasn’t anything worth the extra 10-minute drive compared to my usual Starbucks run.

On the other hand, the bourbon vanilla latte was the latte of my caffeine-addicted dreams.

The drink is made with Mexican vanilla, cane sugar and Kentucky bourbon with the alcohol cooked out. I drank the coffee fast enough that I could feel my heart rate productively raise. I could almost feel my homework getting done faster. The vanilla and sugar balanced the sharp espresso, and the hints of bourbon didn’t overpower the vanilla or espresso like I had expected. I’d make the drive for this any day.

While I don’t know if I would say it’s the best — mainly because Hitides Coffee will always have my heart — the bourbon vanilla latte made its way to one of my top picks for coffee in the city. I will definitely be adding Oddly Correct next to Kelce on my list of love about KC.

MY FRIENDS AND I are constantly sending each other TikToks about dumb things we relate to, recipes we wanna try or the newest trend we just have to join in on. While I’ve learned to half tune out these videos, the latest one my friend sent me starting with “How I would spend 72 hours in what I think is America’s most underrated city — Kansas City,” made me turn my full attention to my phone.

The video by Caleb Thil on his page @calebthil currently has over

LC ’S

Bar-B-Q two million views and wasn’t filled with the basic Jack Stack Barbeque or Union Station recommendations. So, I decided to try out the viral video’s recommendations in hopes it could give me some more pride in my hometown and more things to love about KC besides Travis Kelce.

LC’s Bar-B-Q — A restaurant located at 5800 Blue Pkwy

A DAY IN Kansas City wouldn’t be complete without the city’s claim to fame — BBQ. A place I had shockingly never heard of is what the TikTok claimed to be best — LC’s Bar-B-Q.

Located on Blue Parkway, the unpretentious building with windows covered in security bars didn’t make this restaurant love at first sight. But once I got up to the order counter I immediately felt welcomed by the overly-sweet staff and classic oldschool BBQ restaurant vibes. Once the worker was done having me turn around so everyone could see the back of the crewneck she couldn’t

Chingu — a Korean-American restaurant located at 4117 Pennsylvania Ave.

TO END MY day in KC, I headed to Chingu — a new Korean American restaurant in Westport the TikTok recommended for dinner.

While I was excited to try the restaurant, I went more to enjoy the Westport atmosphere. Being next to places like Arizona Trading Co.

— my #1 pick for thrifting — Mills Record Company and The Bunker makes this a quintessential place for a night out.

After thrifting yet another oversized tee and sorting through the newest vinyls, I was ready to head to Chingu. They started me off with their complimentary BanChan — a set of four smaller side dishes served with rice in Korean cuisine. The atmosphere of the restaurant immediately gave me high hopes for my upcoming food, with a pink neon sign of a tiger and bird behind the bar, dimmed lighting and a bright multi-colored mural on the wall filled with designs of classic Korean food. stop complimenting, I ordered a ham sandwich with fries.

I ordered Mandu Bokkeum to share, or pork dumplings and veggies stir fried in a gochujanggarlic sauce. While the veggies had the perfect amount of flavor and were cooked well, my expectations were quickly brought down after trying the dumplings. They lacked flavor and the pork filling was dry and bland.

While I always love a night out in Westport, Chingu didn’t boost my pride for my city.

They don’t trim their meat, so the ham was fattier than what you would get at Joe’s or Jack Stack’s. While I tend to steer away from untrimmed meat, LC’s managed to cook theirs the perfect way. The meat was not as tough as most other restaurants and the sauce felt as though it had more paprika and brown sugar than others I’ve tried, giving it a sweet and smoky kick you can’t find anywhere else.

I can easily agree that LC’s is the best BBQ in Kansas City and worth every amount of hype it got in the TikTok.

story by libby marsh