The holiday lights are up and the snow is falling, which means it’s officially Christmas time in Kansas City. While we count down the days until December 25, we’ve been warming up in quaint cafés all over town. Recently we followed our noses into a charming bakery in Overland Park. It’s never a bad idea to frequent shops that smell like cinnamon rolls and coffee, right?
Where we went: Best Regards Bakery & Café in Overland Park
Located at 6759 W. 119th, Best Regards Bakery & Café is as cordial as it is delicious. The owners have been sending their regards—in the form of homemade goodies—to customers for more than 20 years. What’s their secret ingredient for success? Actually, they have three:
1. Every dish is made from scratch. Go ahead and search the place. You won’t find one bag or box mix in this shop.
2. Every recipe is an original one. Each item on the menu went through weeks and months of testing, so you better test each dish too.
3. Every ingredient matters. Using European butter, Madagascar bourbon vanilla and real Limoncello, these bakers mean business and go global in search of the best ingredients. Their artisanal bread is made of flour, water and salt—King Arthur flour, sea salt and double filtered water to be exact.
We had to sample this carefully crafted bread for ourselves, which is why we opted for the special of the day.
What we ate: The “It’s Very Gouda” grilled cheese
Although the cafe’s breakfast sandwiches are off the charts, Best Regards Bakery & Café is known for its famous grilled cheese sandwiches. Now we know why. First of all, good luck deciding on one because there are many grilled cheeses to choose from—52,015,376 different combinations, according to their calculations. But don’t stress, there are build-your-own grilled cheese worksheets available at the front counter for your convenience.
Our grilled cheese of choice, the grilled Gouda, is a sophisticated spin on the classic dish. Picture two slices of smoked Gouda between two slices of Rosemary Sourdough bread with an extra slice of Havarti cheese thrown in for good measure. Pair this gourmet creation with the 80-Acre Beer Cheese soup and you’ve got yourself the perfect lunch for a cold Kansas day.
And don’t forget, the best part of dining in a bakery is that there’s never a shortage of sweets. We went for, yep you guessed it, the melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon roll pictured above. The Gooey Butter Cake will have to wait until next time. So will the Tourbillon, which is a Best Regards & Café original creation (croissant meet cinnamon roll).
Holiday tip: It’s not too late to give the gift of cookies to your favorite person or family member. And this is no small present. These cookies are ¼ pound each and come in funky flavors like spiced apple pie, chocolate avalanche and ugly banana.
Have you ever sampled Best Regards Bakery & Café? What’s your favorite sandwich or treat? Tell us in the comments below, but first, please accept our “best regards” this holiday season. Sorry, we couldn’t resist!
