“The thing all writers do best,” Alan Dean Foster once wrote, “is find ways to avoid writing.” At the last minute, the Fountain City Superlatives for 2025 are finally here. As I look back on the year that was, and ahead to the year that will be, it is important to remember that this yearly feature is about recognizing places that are NEW TO ME. The places listed are not necessarily brand new or the very best in KC for their given category. Instead, they were just the best thing I tried in 2025 that I had not tried prior.