City Barrel Brewing | Kansas City, MO
Beer Trip: City Barrel Brewing in Kansas City, Missouri
Situated on one end of Kansas City’s Crossroads district sits City Barrel Brewing Company. This place has a completely different feel than all of the other breweries in the area and is a must-stop when visiting.
The Brewery
You can’t miss City Barrel walking up from the street, as they have a nice streetside patio set up, complete with umbrellas to shade you from the afternoon sun. Walking inside the building (either by the door or the large garage door that was open!) you will find a long, narrow space that is actually quite large and houses tons of tables. The place feels more like a restaurant than that of a traditional brewery, including tableside service and awesome food smells lingering throughout.
Great patio area!
Tons of tables inside with natural light pooling in from the large open garage door
The bar is tucked towards the back of the place just behind their in-house photo booth. While we were there, we even discovered their gem of a rooftop patio! While it isn’t huge, there aren’t many places in the Crossroads that can boast a rooftop space. With it facing the east, this would be the perfect place to spend an evening.
Spacious half-moon patio on top of the building - a truly unique space!
Views of the street from the rooftop patio
The Beer
City Barrel has more beer choices than 90% of the breweries in Kansas City, with 18 different drafts. Of their lineup, six brews are flagships that are distributed all around town, and the other twelve are various seasonals and brewery exclusives. During our visit, it certainly seemed like IPAs were the brewer’s go-to, as they had ten different ones to choose from (including New Englands, Imperial, red, and even a triple). The remainder of the menu included multiple sours, lagers, a wheat, stout, and pilsner.
While this was our first time visiting the brewery, we were very familiar with the beer here. In our opinion, City Barrel has some of the best-tasting brews in the city. The Rad AF is a New England-style IPA and is definitely their most well-known beer, offering a great juicy citrus flavor that perfectly coats your mouth. This one actually took home a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival! During our visit, the top beer of the day belonged to the Raspberry Lime Sherbet Sour. This one was very light with only faint hints of berry and tartness, making it quite refreshing for the warm day.
Food, Merch, & More
Fancy AF fries were absolutely divine
We aren’t sure if City Barrel is better known for its beer or for its food, as they have a fantastic upscale menu. Most of their options are fairly common items such as salads, burgers, tacos, and wings, but what sets them apart is how these items are prepared. As an example, their main burger is made with 21-day aged beer, their tacos include pork belly or fried oyster mushrooms. We visited during the middle of the afternoon and opted for their Fancy AF Fries - which we’d highly recommend! If you’re not a fan of beer, City Barrel also has typical restaurant offerings of tea and soft drinks, as well as an entire bar menu with wine and spirits.
City Barrel has a small merchandise section located right in the middle of the building with displays including t-shirts, hats, glassware, and a full cooler of to-go beer.
Merchandise area with glassware, clothing, and to-go beers
Their own photo booth - a unique feature!
More restaurant-style seating
