Kansas City Breweries

Boulevard Brewing Company

Boulevard has been making good beer for Kansas City since long before the craft beer boom. It all started when John McDonald took a barrel of his original Pale Ale down the street to a local Mexican restaurant. People loved it and the rest is history. Today, Boulevard has national reach and can even be found overseas (we got a taste of home in Amsterdam with a Boulevard Single Wide IPA). Since being acquired by Duval Moortgat, Boulevard has expanded it's offering while maintaining its quality and local feel. The brewery itself has fantastic tours, a spacious beer hall and a fantastic gift shop.

Casual Animal Brewing Company

Casual Animal was among the first wave of small microbreweries to open in the area. The beer is good but where this place really shines is its atmosphere. They’ve managed to create an outdoor feel within their mostly indoor space. The tap room is always lively but never too crazy. As a bonus, you might run into a few friendly dogs while sipping your beer.

Torn Label Brewing Company

Somewhat off the beaten path, Torn Label is located on the far east side of the Crossroads. The taproom itself is fairly basic and they have a solid patio for nice days. The attraction here is the quality of the beer and more recently, the food. We both agree that Torn Label has our favorite local beer. The most likely local beer to be found in our fridge at home on any given day is their Alpha Pale Ale. When visiting, make sure you come at least a little hungry and try some of the best tacos in town from the Tacos Valentina ghost kitchen within the brewery.

Strange Days Brewing Company

North about a mile from the Crossroads in the River Market is Strange Days brewing. This place has great beer but really differentiates itself from other breweries by creating an awesome atmosphere to watch soccer. The vibes here are decidedly retro for those of you waxing nostalgic about the 1990’s.

Brewery Emperial

Brewery Emperial has some great beers to choose from but we have found the beers here to be slightly more hit and miss for some palates. Don’t worry, they have some good cocktails if their beer isn’t quite your speed. Where this brewery surpasses all others is with its expansive patio and unique food options. The location in the heart of the Crossroads makes it an excellent spot to soak in the action on a First Friday or before a show at Grinders KC.

Friction Beer Company

With the introduction of Friction Beer Company, the small heart of downtown Shawnee, KS continues to be a perplexingly good spot for brewery and bar hopping. Friction is the third brewery to open up within the few block footprint of downtown Shawnee. The breweries coupled with two of our all-time favorite cocktails bars make Shawnee a place every person looking for the good libations can enjoy.

Cinder Block Brewery

If you venture a little further north across the river from downtown, you’ll end up in North Kansas City. NKC is an underrated part of the city with several breweries, restaurants and cool shops. Cinder Block is a brewery with terrific beer that you can find in liquor stores city wide. The brewery has a spacious indoor and outdoor space with plenty of seating and games. The Block IPA is excellent.