• Enjoy Kansas City cuisine with a side of Kansas City jazz at Chaz on the Plaza, The Raphael Hotel's signature restaurant and lounge. It's a unique destination restaurant that embodies the culture, history, and spirit of Kansas City. Menus feature a distinctive brand of modern, regional American cuisine and change seasonally to celebrate heartland bounty. The jazz brunches on weekends are a highlight, but Chaz on the Plaza's lounge also showcases live music nightly.

• Taste Kansas City barbecue—slow-smoked over a wood fire, rubbed with spices, served with a tomato-based sauce—at any one of a hundred restaurants in the city. Kansas City is known for burnt ends, which are the trimmings from the end of a brisket that have a crispy, smoky crust and tender interior.

• Satisfy your sweet tooth with a hand-dipped piece of chocolate. Russell Stover, one of the most recognizable candy companies in the country, calls Kansas City home. The sweets manufacturer still produces small batches of its delightful confections.