K.C. brothers, I need a bit of assistance.  We are on a 30th anniversary trip, and stopping to see a concert next week at Arvest.  Any unusual concerns?  Good food places?   As a veteran traveler, I can deal with the usual urban whatever, but local advice is never to be beaten.

Careful.  The K.C. crew has been known to steer people to Buffalo Wild Wings.  That seems to be their idea of a good place to eat.

I was just at "Arvest Theater" last weekend. It's really called The Midland, and it's a good venue. Nobody calls it Arvest except people paid to do so.

Where are you staying, and about how long are you here?

Kansas City isn't a good place to roll around uninformed/unprepared. You can go from high end, seven figure housing to slums just by crossing a street. I'd make an "avoid the hood" overlay, but it'd be very complicated.

The area around the Midland and P&L can get pretty crazy at night. There are street criminals downtown, but realistically, drunks are probably the bigger threat around there at night.

For food, the big deal around here is barbecue. It's a hotly debated subject, but most places are good. I'd suggest Oklahoma Joe's and Fiorella's Jackstack as starting points. OK Joe's is solid, and it's more casual. The Jackstack is more of a finer dining environment, but it's not crazy expensive. I'm pretty fond of their lamb ribs, but the local menu item is burnt ends. They're much better than it sounds.

If you want something more homestyle, Stroud's is pretty solid.

Midland it is; thanks for the feedback.  I work in downtown STL, and more time than I'd like in downtown Baghdad, so I understand "urban landscape".  We're just driving through for a day.

I've been to Royals games on a few occasions, but Independence is not downtown K.C., so I was concerned about this area maybe being a combat zone.  Sounds from your description simply a party/entertainment zone, like Central West End in St. Louis:  lots of nice, lots of scumbags one block away.

I do have many old co-workers from K.C. who were forced to move to STL 25 years ago, and they would get in very animated arguments over BBQ.  Oklahoma Joe's was best by one, Arthur Bryant's (pulled pork) by another, and yet another touted Gates ("May I hep yoo") for ribs.

Bassgasm, Can I pick your brain on some places to eat around Crown Center?

I've made a few wrong turns and ended up in some dicey spots close to there and would appreciate some input to keep me out of trouble and well fed.

There's a Jackstack and an Austrian restaurant in the freight house just to the north.

Manny's Mexican on Southwest is decent, and if you don't mind hipsters, Grinders on 18th makes one hell of a Philly.