Kansas City gift guide: Readers’ favorite edible gifts from local shops & restaurants
Locally made gifts are available all around Kansas City— too many to list, even if we filled the whole newspaper. That’s why we asked readers to send in their favorite spots to shop for gifts in the metro and broke the results into four categories: food and drink, home goods, clothing and accessories and experiences. We’ll be posting these lists over the coming days: First up is the edible gifts.
This list is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to all the great food & drink spots in Kansas City. Instead, we’re highlighting spots recommended by our readers and colleagues that offer a small selection of the great edible options available in Kansas City.
André’s Confiserie Suisse
This Kansas City chocolatier has all the sweet gifts you need to show your love this holiday season. Its holiday specials include gingerbread treats, peppermint bark and a hot chocolate gift set complete with caramels, peppermint bark leaves and a mug for your cocoa. It also offers European specialties like spiced Pfeffernüsse cookies with a citrus glaze and Stollen, a dense sugar-coated rum cake studded with candied fruits and nuts.
If you can’t get enough chocolate (and who can?) check out other local favorites like Christopher Elbow, Laura’s Little Candy and Kansas City’s own Russell Stover for your sweet gifting needs.
The Black Pantry
This iconic Midtown shop at 325 E. 31st Street features products from Black-owned businesses in Kansas City and beyond. Its food products include jams, sauces and a growing selection of wine and spirits made by Black vintners and distillers. The business also anticipates launching a coffee line, called ‘Good Karma’, next year. The new initiative will partner with Marcell’s Coffee Roaster, a local Black-owned brand. You can also find Black Pantry wares at Made In KC Marketplace in Lee’s Summit.
City Market Coffee
Our coffee-loving readers recommended the Brewed Awakening blend from City Market Coffee, a roaster located in the northwest corner of the City Market shops. Visit the shop at 305 Main Street to grab a bag of your favorite blend and enjoy other offerings like smoothies, milkshakes and breakfast and lunch sandwiches.
Can’t get enough coffee? Readers also suggested gift cards or in-person trips to Gentry’s, Hi Hat, Hammerhand Coffee, Two Sugars and Black Dog Coffeehouse.
French Market
This upscale marketplace offers a variety of prepared French foods for the gourmand on the go. Stop in their location at 6943 Tomahawk Road in Prairie Village to browse a selection of cold salads, sandwiches, quiches and pastries as well as premade entrees like chicken bechamel crepes and beef bourguignon.
Jack Stack BBQ
Give the gift of Kansas City barbecue this year with Jack Stack’s readybarbecue packages. Whether you’re grabbing a bottle of their signature sauce for a local friend or mailing relatives a barbecue feast across the country, this local favorite allows you to deliver perfectly prepared meat and best selling sides to everyone on your list.
BBQ on your brain? You can also grab sauces, seasonings and even meats from local institutions like Arthur Bryant’s, Gates, Q39 and Joe’s Kansas City.
Kansas City Canning Co.
This wildly popular local business offers everything pickled, preserved and potable for the foodies in your life. Their cocktail ingredients include a Meyer lemon lavender shrub and a pickled Bloody Mary mix, available on its own or as part of the three-jar Bloody Mary kit. Pantry items include homemade pumpkin butter, chili crunch, clementine-thyme marmalade and onion jam among many other options. Shop online or find the goods at over 100 retailers in the Kansas City area alone.
McLain’s
You might know it from grabbing coffee or lunch, but McLain’s Bakery offers giftable holiday menu options as well, from assorted cookie boxes and pull-apart rolls to gingerbread decorating kits for the kids. Stop in to grab some tasty baked goods, or choose from the shop’s selection of locally made pantry items that never go stale. The bakery also sells gift cards that can be used at any of its four locations around Kansas City.
Messner Bee Farm
You can’t turn a corner in Kansas City without running into products from this popular local apiary. Alongside its classic liquid honey, the business also sells creamed honey— a spreadable treat available in flavors like Lemon Lavender, Cocoa Sea Salt and Cinnamon Vanilla Bean. Grab a mini sampler pack from their Etsy shop to try a variety: Then, you can invest in a full-sized jar of your recipient’s favorite flavor next year.
Topsy’s Popcorn
The oldest business on the Country Club Plaza, this iconic popcorn shop has become a local staple with locations around the Kansas City area. Choose from popcorn flavors like buttered, cinnamon, cheese, caramel and others and get it packaged in a decorative tin for easy gifting. Topsy’s also ships its popcorn around the U.S. and Canada.
