JJ’s Restaurant is coming back. Owner Jimmy Frantze announced last week that he had signed a lease for a lobby-level space — more than 3,800 square feet — in the Plaza Vista Building, on the west edge of the Country Club Plaza, at 900 West 48th Place. The new JJ’s is slated to open this summer. It’s big restaurant news….
There is nothing black and white about Ernesto Peralta’s Blanc Burgers + Bottles, the upscale hamburger emporium he created in 2008 and has since attempted to reproduce, with mixed results. The restaurant’s latest incarnation, a return to its original Westport neighborhood, is as style-forward as ever, designed in chilly shades of gray accented with orange and black. It’s a fashionably…
Can Lyft last? Lyft launched here in Kansas City last week, and shit has been hella dramatic ever since. The local taxi lobby, led by Bill George, is not pleased about a ride-sharing service coming to town and not having to pay the same fees as taxis do. The city’s Regulated Industries Division sent Lyft a letter informing the company…
The Swahili word ubuntu has many meanings but is frequently translated as “humanity to others” or “a universal bond of sharing.” A one-month-old soul-food shop – it’s really not much more than a carryout window – at 4327 Troost, in the space formerly occupied by Royce’s Beauty School, is offering the spirit of hospitality as well as daily specials. The…
Back in 2012, when I was working as the real-estate reporter for the Kansas City Business Journal, I got a tip that Ikea was snooping around town looking for a location. I told my editor about it, and his eyes lit up. He said that “Ikea” was a common search term popping up on the newspaper’s online archive, which made him…
Regardless of how they performed a season ago the Dallas Cowboys are one of the premier teams in the NFL and are always at the forefront of the football universe. Thats just one of the stipulations that goes along with being “America’s Team.” The Dallas Cowboys are expected to make the playoffs every season under Jerry Jones, who is one…
Blanc Burgers + Bottles returns to its original neighborhood of Westport with its stylish food. Read Charles Ferruzza’s review here, and see photos by Pitch photographer Angela C. Bond.
The hearts of local music lovers were crushed last year when it was announced in October that garage-rock trio the Bloodbirds would be taking a somewhat unofficial hiatus (the band’s bassist, Anna St. Louis, was relocating to California) and performances would become less regular. Now, there seems to be a sliver of sunshine to add to the news: drummer Brooke Tuley has released…
First Midnight by Brooke Tuley
For the first time in a decade, the annual Polski Day festivities in Kansas City, Kansas – a celebration of the long Polish heritage of Strawberry Hill – will not showcase the accordion styling of the legendary Don Lipovac. The popular entertainer and recording artist died April 26. But the show – and the dinner – must go on. “Everyone…
Tonight at the Sprint Center, WWE will tape this Friday night’s edition of SmackDown – and broadcast Main Event live on the WWE Network. These are the final shows before this Sunday’s “special event” (formerly pay-per-view) Extreme Rules. And the card is already shaping up, starting with redheaded brawler Sheamus taking on creepy cult leader Bray Wyatt on Main Event. Advertised for…
Loop with the People’s Temple and Expo 70 RecordBar, Kansas City Monday, April 28 It has been more than two decades since the U.K. post-punk underground psych members of Loop performed as a single unit. Published interviews and articles would suggest that a reunion was out of the question just a couple of years ago. It’s even more surprising that…
The Hold Steady with Deer Tick The Granada, Lawrence Monday, April 28 The audience at the Granada last night came for a performance, but the double-act of Deer Tick and the Hold Steady never felt like one. From the beginning, Deer Tick was good – the genuine, wholehearted kind of good that hits its stride six songs into a set,…
Nearly three years after local restaurateur Spike Nguyen ignored naysayers (they criticized his choice of a debut location) and opened the first Kansas City franchise of the California-based Pho Hoa Noodle Soup chain, at 1447 Independence Avenue, he has officially severed ties with the Vietnamese-cuisine national chain. Nguyen says he will shut down the popular fast-casual Pho Hoa (it’s pronounced fuh wa) tomorrow…
In terms of local bands that are really hot right now, Bummer – a young three-piece from Olathe – is tip-of-the-tongue. It’s not just Bummer’s reputation for furious, ground-shaking live shows; it’s that, underneath the ominous, sludgy, fierce noise-rock the band dispenses, the guys – guitarist and lead singer Matt Perrin, bassist Mike Gustafson and drummer Thomas Williams – have mastered the…
It’s kind of refreshing, given the current climate of indie rock, to have a band that just doesn’t care who approves of what they do. See: the Black Lips, a band that would probably eat toenail clippings before it admitted to caring about popular opinion. After all, the Atlanta band has a history of putting on live shows that involve…
Joel Nichols’ hiatus from local television sets will end this summer as the popular weatherman joins KSHB Channel 41. Nichols abruptly left KMBC Channel 9 on the last day of 2013. A source told The Pitch at the time that his erstwhile employer was thinking about rejiggering Nichols’ role as the station’s morning weatherman, perhaps moving him to later time slots….
On the surface the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints are two fundamentally different teams, which they are, but upon further investigation it can be made that the two are actually very similar teams. The Chiefs are a team built on defense and running the ball and on the other hand the Saints are at the forefront of…
Arcade Fire at the Starlight Theatre on Saturday, April 26, 2014. All photos by April Fleming.
If you didn’t make it out of bed for this morning’s Kegs & Eggs performance by the Hold Steady at the Tank Room, you’re in luck. The Livestream of the stripped down set is already archived online; we’ve embedded the video after the jump. Here’s the set list: “Spinners,” “The Ambassador,” “Almost Everything,” “You Can Make Him Like You” and…
