If shopping is your passion you will be delighted with the new Town Center Plaza shopping area and enchanted with The Country Club Plaza. The Plaza was the first suburban shopping center in the United States. Since its beginnings in the 1920's it has been a center for elegance and fine dining. During the Christmas season its unique Mediterranean architecture, bell towers and tiled roofs are all completely outlined with Christmas lights.

Town Center Plaza is the newest jewel in KC's shopping crown. It is a single level center with parking near the entrance of each shop and includes a wide variety of shops bordered on the perimeter by an increasing number of fine restaurants.

Other major shopping centers within easy access on the Kansas side are Oak Park Mall, Metcalf South, Rosanna Square, Ward Parkway, Corinth Square, Hawthorne Plaza Prairie Village Shopping Center, and the new Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.

By slipping just across the state line into Missouri there are the older centers of Westport, Brookside (has a great annual art fair in the fall), Crown Center (in the Crown Center Hotel) and the Waldo shopping district. If you're an antique lover you'll find major centers in Brookside, Waldo and along State Line Road between Westport Road and 45th Streets.

Have a taste for a Kansas City steak? The Golden Ox down by the old stockyards, the Hereford House (which also has a Johnson County location at Town Center,) Ruth Chris' Steakhouse on the Plaza and Jess & Jim's near the state line in Martin City serve fabulous Kansas City steaks. The Savoy Grill downtown, a Kansas City landmark, specializes in prime rib, Maine lobster and seafood.

Kansas City, of course, spells Bar-B-Q, with over 90 local barbecue businesses. The renowned Arthur Bryant's near downtown, Gates Barbecue and KC Masterpiece with several metro locations, Hayward's in Johnson County and the Smoke Stack in Martin City are some of the best know. Learn all about the origins of KC barbecue here.

The best in fine dining can be found at The American Restaurant and Peppercorn Duck Club in Crown Center , and on the Country Club Plaza, Plaza III and Raphael to name only a few.

Restaurants of every kind are represented in Johnson County communities on the Kansas side and with the continual growth and expansion, especially along 119th Street, new ones are constantly opening. Many favorites are located around the new Town Center Plaza and include: Yia Yia's Euro bistro; Cactus Grill (Mexican/southwest); The Bristol (seafood); Yahooz; Houlihan's and La Dolce Vita. Read reviews of KC restaurants here.