When the 2026 FIFA World Cup lands in Kansas City this summer, tens of thousands of visitors are going to ask the same question: where does this city actually go at night?
The Kansas City Star already tracked down the answer. Reporter Rashad Alexander spoke with Jamel Thompson, known locally as The Royal Chief, a Kansas City rapper, DJ, and event curator who has been shaping the city’s nightlife scene for years through his monthly On Wax series and beyond. His advice to World Cup visitors was straightforward: stop looking for what to do and start looking for the people who are curating it. Then he gave them a list.
Percheron rooftop bar at Crossroads Hotel was on it.
That is not a small thing. Thompson knows this city’s nights better than most, and when a local tastemaker points an international audience toward a specific spot, it means something. Percheron earns that kind of mention. Open seasonally on the rooftop of the former 1911 Pabst Brewing Company depot, Percheron sits above the Crossroads Arts District with skyline views and the kind of unhurried energy that makes an hour feel like the right amount of time and three hours feel even better. Get there around 4 p.m. on a summer evening and claim a table before the city catches up.
For World Cup visitors staying at Crossroads Hotel, Percheron is already steps away. For everyone else, it is a reason to make your way to 2101 Central Street.
Kansas City’s nightlife is not boring. You just have to know where to go. Now you do.
Read the full Kansas City Star piece | Book your stay at Crossroads Hotel
Originally reported by Rashad Alexander for the Kansas City Star, June 2026.