City: Kansas City, MO

Category: Nightlife

Description: When hipsters in Kansas City mention “the corner,” this is what they mean: an entire neighborhood of bars a few blocks from Crown Center (the KCTV5 Tower is an excellent landmark). It all started with the Velvet Dog (400 East 31st St., 816-753-9999), Kansas City’s original martini lounge. The retro decor, terrific jukebox, and bocce ball court out back make it one of those great neighborhood bars your dad may have visited long ago. Play pool indoors or out while you chow down on such typical bar fare as chicken fingers and deviled eggs. Across the street, the Mint (334 East 31st St., 816-561-2640) is where a young, often gay, crowd dances to a DJ. Private events like fashion shows pack the place to the rafters. On breezy summer nights, the young business crowd spills out of the patios and tiki bar at Sol Cantina (408 East 31st St., 816-931-8080), where happy hour starts just after siesta time—3 to 7 p.m., with reverse happy hour from 10 p.m. to midnight. Keep the margaritas coming, por favor. For sustenance, there are the famous fish tacos, bruschetta, paninis, and other tasty grub. A pool table, a dozen TVs, pizza, stromboli, and friendly owners. What more could you want? That’s the setup at Tower Tavern (401 East 31st St.), which stays open until 1:30 every night. Here’s where you’ll see locals chatting at the bar after work or on weekends when flip-flops are the footwear of choice. The Drop (409 East 31st St., 816-756-DROP, www.thedropbar.com) has morphed from a bar with great bruschettas to a great restaurant that also serves well-made drinks. The key is Eddie Crane’s vision of what a cool neighborhood bistro should be: friendly and welcoming with comfort food. The addition of chef Kelli Daniels put it on the foodie’s list for lunch and dinner with duck confit over cranberry risotto and diver scallops with mustard bread pudding. Meanwhile, Eddie developed adult versions of Jell-o shots in flavors like lemon drop and mojito. At $12 for three, they are as potent as they are fun. And where else can you get warm cookies with an ice cold glass of milk?