A Kansas City Japanese izakaya restaurant and recent James Beard finalist was recognized by second national publication as one of the best restaurants of the year. .
The New York Times included Anjin on its list of 50 best restaurants across the country, released on Tuesday. The picks on the list were not ranked. A team of 16 reporters traveled around the country, eating anywhere from a small-town in Wisconsin to downtown Manhattan, according to the article.
Areas like California and the District of Columbia had several eateries on the list, but Anjin was Missouri’s only restaurant included. Kansas did not make the list.
“Some are just weeks old, already great but very much still becoming themselves. Others are decades old, and perfectly seasoned,” the article said. “We try to experience them the same way you do. We brave the reservation apps, we stand in the lines, we walk in unannounced. We pay for all of our food, and we don’t accept freebies.”
Anjin, which opened in 2025 at 1708 Oak St, was the only KC restaurant this year to be named a James Beard finalist. With just 20 seats, the restaurant is inspired by the intimacy and communal nature of Japanese bars. Its menu changes seasonally and includes food like yakitori (Japanese skewers), a tempura-fried soft shell crab sandwich and seared summer eel.
Anjin’s bar program offers cocktails that use Japanese ingredients like a togarashi negroni and a highball with green tea-infused Toki whiskey. Beer, wine, sake and mocktails also are available.
Chawanmushi, a dish featuring Missouri catfish, black olive oil, trout roe, chives, and fried heirloom corn, at Anjin, a 20-seat Japanese Izakayas-style restaurant, on Monday, March 16, 2026, in Kansas City.
The intimate restaurant was also recently included in Bon Appétit Magazine’s list of 19 restaurants across the country that represent what is most exciting about dining in the U.S.
The KC restaurant from the husband-and-wife team of Nick Goellner and Leslie Newsame Goeller and business partner Drew Little lost the James Beard Award in the Best New Restaurant category to Lei, a restaurant in New York. Anjin faced fierce competition from nine new restaurants in top-notch food cities like Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and even a restaurant in KC’s neighboring St. Louis.
This year wasn’t the Goellners’ first time in the James Beard spotlight. Nick Goellner was nominated for Best Chef: Midwest three times — in 2019, 2020 and 2023 — for his work at The Antler Room, which the couple also owns.
Dining and Cooking