Kansas City Underground

Find Swordfish Tom’s below the bustling Crossroads Arts District, offering an ever-rotating menu of handcrafted drinks in a historic setting.

In the East Bottoms, step into the glow of The Hey! Hey! Club—a suave destination for cocktails and live music tucked beneath the ground floor of J. Rieger & Co.—then stick around for a look at the hidden-away history of the neighborhood through a historical exhibit inside the distillery.

The world’s first and only underground paintball arena is found right in the metro thanks to Jaegers Subsurface Paintball, located in Kansas City’s cavernous SubTropolis.

Put your problem-solving skills to the test at several area escape rooms, including Breakout KC and Escape Room Kansas City, both known for high-stakes, puzzling good times.

Jam sessions run into the early hours of the morning at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, a jazz club that’s been hopping in the 18^th & Vine Historic Jazz District since 1917.

Tours at Holladay Distillery, the oldest still-standing distillery west of the Mississippi, include a stop in an ancient cave—a hand-dug space constructed in the mid-1800s where limestone water was first used to make the company’s bourbon.

Explore an actual stop on the Underground Railroad at the Quindaro Ruins, an active archaeological site listed on the National Register of Historic Places.