Don’t cook on Christmas, make a reservation
I’m not from Kansas City and have no relatives here, so I was invited — during my first few years here — by well-intentioned friends and co-workers to spend Christmas Day with them. It was a gracious gesture from lovely people, but I never had a very good time because, well, I can hardly tolerate my own family, so why would I want to spend the day with a strange family, sometimes even more dysfunctional than mine? That’s not a holiday; it’s a reality show.
So I now refuse all invitations and usually spend Christmas Day eating in a restaurant, often with other family-phobic friends. The problem, sometimes, is finding a restaurant that’s open on Christmas. That’s why Fat City has compiled a list of choices to consider. It’s not a definitive list by any means, but it covers a wide range of options: from egg foo yong to waffles. Many of the nicer restaurants on the list suggest making advance reservations, while others don’t mind if you just walk in.
Now I grew up believing that there was a Santa Claus and that all Chinese restaurants were open on Christmas Day. Today, I know that both legends are false.
But wait a minute, there are quite a number of local Chinese restaurants planning to be open December 25, including the venerable Princess Garden (8906 Wornall, 816-444-3709), which will be serving from its extensive menu of Chinese-American classics (and one of the most dazzling exotic cocktail selections in the city) from noon to 8 p.m. Reservations are taken only for parties of six or more.
