The South Lawn of the National World War I Museum & Memorial will turn into a fan-favorite draft experience during the NFL Draft – and that’s where all the food will be. Twenty different Kansas City restaurants and food vendors have been selected—by the NFL itself following the application process—to have their food sold on the premises. Among these are Q39, Rye, and Bloom Baking Company. Click here and scroll down to see all 20. “We love what we do, it’s that simple,” said Philip Thompson, Executive Chef at Q39. “We love barbecues, and we love having barbecues in Kansas City. 00 So for us, we want to be there to show the best of what Kansas City does to the thousands of people all over the world, all over the country, coming to Kansas City.” It took weeks of planning to get to this point. And they all say they’re not sure how it will turn out – most of them have never served a crowd of 300,000 people over the course of a few days. Companies have been told to budget for 1,000 to 1,200 meals, but they’ve also been told that the number can fluctuate wildly. Q39 doesn’t change the menu much – roast pork and brisket will be what they offer. They are sit down meals. Co-owner Megan Gerelts said they had to adjust their menu to make it easier to carry around, because there’s nowhere to sit. And instead of her famous pies, she’ll be serving cobblers—because pies are much more labor-intensive. “I think our employees really want to do that,” Gerelts told KMBC. “Personally, my husband and I are like, ‘Oh my God, this will happen next week.'” The cookies are still going into the oven at Bloom Baking Co. in River Market. Owner Sarah Darby says she’ll be serving more of those — and sandwiches on the South Lawn Thursday. “It’s a tremendous amount of work, but my staff is really excited,” she said. She shared that many of her employees work odd hours—even recruiting family members—to keep up. “We’re running a few extra shifts, asking some benefits for storage capacity and stuff,” Darby added. On this, every restaurant agreed, the hardest part is not making the food. The hardest part is making sure the food gets there. “The logistics are a little bit mind-boggling,” said Thompson, who will have two smokers in front of his Q39 tent. “The only thing we’re probably genuinely concerned about is just the schemes for getting everything in and out, and parking,” echoes Gerrelts of Rye. But every restaurateur also says that this opportunity is worth the extra effort. “This may be the only opportunity to do that in our lifetime, and we’ve figured out why not.” All of these restaurants have two locations, which they say help with logistics — the one closest to the Draft site prepares food for the draft-try crowd, while the other will handle any other large orders. However, everyone says they plan to be overwhelmed by the city’s large crowds in order to enlist. Most restaurants in Kansas City strongly recommend customers make reservations during draft weekend (April 27-30).
The South Lawn of the National World War I Museum and Memorial will turn into a fan-favorite draft experience during the NFL Draft—and that’s where all the food will be.
Twenty different restaurants and food vendors in Kansas City – chosen after the NFL itself application process – They will sell their food on the premises.
Among those Q 39And MaizeAnd Bloom Baking Company. Click here and scroll down to see all 20.
“We love what we do, it’s that simple,” said Philip Thompson, the company’s chef. Q 39. “We love barbecues, and we love having barbecues in Kansas City. 00 So for us, we want to be there to show the best of what Kansas City does to the thousands of people all over the world, all over the country, coming to Kansas City.”
It took weeks of planning to get to this point. And they all say they’re not sure how it will turn out – most of them have never served a crowd of 300,000 people over the course of a few days. Companies have been told to budget for 1,000 to 1,200 meals, but they have also been told that the number can fluctuate wildly.
Q39 doesn’t change its menu often – roast pork and brisket will be what it offers.
Rye Restaurant Known for sit down meals. Co-owner Megan Gerelts said they had to adjust their menu to make it easier to carry around, because there’s nowhere to sit. And instead of the famous pancakes, she will serve cobblers – because pancakes are much more laborious.
“I think our employees really want to do that,” Gerlitz told KMBC. “Personally, my husband and I are like, ‘Oh my God, this is happening next week. “
Cookies are still in the oven Bloom Baking Company in the river market. Owner Sarah Darby says she’ll be serving more of those — and sandwiches — on the South Lawn on Thursday.
“It’s an overwhelming amount of work,” she said, “but my employees are really excited.” She shared that many of her employees work odd hours—even recruiting family members—to keep up the pace. Darby added: “We’re running some extra shifts, asking for some benefits for storage capacity and stuff.
On this, every restaurant agreed, the hardest part is not making the food. The hardest part is making sure the food gets there. “The logistics are a bit mind-boggling,” said Thompson, who will have two smokers standing in front of the Q39 tent.
“The only thing we’re probably genuinely concerned about is just the schemes to get everything in and out, and parked,” echoed Gerlts of Ray.
But every restaurateur also says that this opportunity is worth the extra effort. “This may be the only opportunity to do that in our lifetime, and we’ve figured out why not.”
All of these restaurants have two locations, which they say helps with logistics — one closest to the Draft location will prepare food for the Draft Experience crowd, while the other will handle any other large orders. However, everyone says they plan to be overwhelmed by the city’s large crowds in order to enlist.
Most restaurants in Kansas City strongly recommend customers make reservations during draft weekend (April 27-30).
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