When Bread & Butter Concepts CEO Alan Gaylin first opened Stock Hill in 2016, his goal was not only to be the best steakhouse in Kansas City, but the best in the Midwest. The following year, Thrillist crowned Stock Hill one of the best in America, putting the restaurant on its Best Steakhouses in America list where it has stayed year after year.
Yet, quality steaks and seafood are not the only thing for which Stock Hill is known. Its bar, which recently rebranded to “The Lounge at Stock Hill,” has always delivered the same high level of ambience, service, drinks, and food as the restaurant itself.
With ceilings that soar 25 feet in the air, guests will find the circular bar sophisticatedly sexy as there’s room for 34 to sit in the round. The old Hollywood glamour of that bar has drawn people in for years to enjoy a cocktail for happy hour or for a nightcap after an evening out.
With the new rebrand, the space is still stunning. Both the food offerings from the executive chef, Jacob Hilbert, and drinks from the exceptional bar team have been updated to suit a diner who wants more than a handful of nuts or casual snack at the bar. You should consider it your golden opportunity to treat yourself to the same quality steak and seafood offered in the restaurant at a fraction of the price.
Although Stock Hill is known as a luxurious a la carte steakhouse with caviar, wagyu beef, and lobster on the dinner menu, the new bar menu can be a way to enjoy the same quality ingredients as more affordable, everyday, culinary luxury. A pricey $125 wagyu steak on the dinner menu is a splurge for sure, but you can find the same beef on the bar menu in the form of wagyu beef bites served with a spicy bulgogi glaze, cabbage slaw, and chive pancakes for only $22, and while you can find a decadent whole-baked rock lobster on the dinner menu for $69, you can sample the same sweet meat tucked inside their buttery lobster roll on their bar menu for only $28.
This leveling up of the food menu at the bar demands a solid cocktail program that excels in serving the classics. Martini, anyone? Additionally, there is a seasonal cocktail menu full of fall fruit and winter flavors with cocktails such as Smoking Hill 2.0, which tastes like an old fashioned, but with a hickory-smoke bubble hovering over the surface. For a perfect nonalcoholic drink, “Not a Breakfast Shot” sips like a silky, fall-flavored treat in a glass.
If agave spirits are more your thing, two years ago Husayn Sultani, a bartender at Stock Hill, decided to create a drink that highlighted both mezcal and tequila in the same cocktail, mixing them with warming spices and tropical citrus notes. The result was Casa de Valores, a drink that is still asked for by name on the Stock Hill lounge menu, but now you can make at home. The spiced sherry syrup the drink calls for would also be delicious over pancakes or ice cream and will keep in the fridge.
Casa de Valores
- 1.5 ounces Del Maguey ‘Vida’ Mezcal
- .5 ounce Luna Azul Anejo
- .5 ounce spiced sherry syrup*
- dash Bittermans Tiki bitters
- dash Bittermans Peach bitters
Fill a shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Stir quickly for about 20-30 seconds. Grab a rocks glass, add one large cube, such as a cube from Fountain City Ice, or small cubes if that’s all you have, and strain over ice. Garnish with an orange peel you have flamed with a lighter.
*Spiced Sherry Syrup
- 16 ounces Alvear Amontillado Medium-Dry Sherry
- 1 pound granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
- 4 whole allspice berries
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
Add sherry and all spices to a pan and bring to a light boil. Add sugar and stir until sugar has dissolved. Cool mixture and strain to remove the spices. Keep in the fridge.