Anjin

Anjin is an intimate, 20-seat Japanese izakaya at 1708 Oak St in Kansas City’s East Crossroads, opened in 2025 as the second restaurant from the team behind The Antler Room — KC-native chef Nick Goellner, wine director Leslie Newsam Goellner, and Antler Room bar manager Drew Little. Built around a U-shaped counter that wraps an open kitchen, Anjin serves handcrafted small plates and grilled skewers alongside a curated list of sake, shochu, and Japanese beer. In its first year it was named a 2026 James Beard “Best New Restaurant” finalist.

Description

Anjin is a small, owner-operated Japanese restaurant at 1708 Oak St in the East Crossroads of Kansas City, Missouri. It is styled as an izakaya — a casual Japanese drinking establishment where handcrafted dishes are served in an intimate setting — and the room is anchored by a roughly 20-seat U-shaped, counter-height bar that wraps around an open kitchen.¹²

The menu rotates and is ingredient-focused, leaning on grilled skewers (such as chicken thigh with shiso, tsukune, and ventricle with pickled ume), a pork-collar tonkatsu sandwich on shokupan, raw and tataki preparations (hiramasa, melon tataki), composed salads, and seasonal specials, with a pandan soft-serve dessert.² The beverage program centers on a curated selection of sake, shochu, and Japanese beer.¹

The name “Anjin” means “pilot” in Japanese; per Axios, it is a tribute to chef Nick Goellner’s grandfather, who married in Japan after World War II.² Anjin is open Thursday through Sunday and Monday evenings (closed Tuesday–Wednesday), with reservations taken via Tock.¹

Ownership and history

Anjin is independently owned and owner-operated. There is no corporate parent. It is the second restaurant from the team behind The Antler Room, the acclaimed Longfellow/Crossroads-adjacent fine-dining restaurant the same group opened in 2016.³

The ownership group comprises Nick Goellner (chef-owner), a Kansas City native and multiple-time James Beard “Best Chef: Midwest” honoree; Leslie Newsam Goellner (co-owner and wine director), Nick’s wife and a longtime hospitality professional; and Drew Little, The Antler Room’s bar manager, who is a co-owner of Anjin.³²

The Goellners first announced the concept as a Japanese-inspired “cool neighborhood restaurant,” initially hoping to open by spring 2025.³ The restaurant opened in 2025 — reported as a July 2025 opening, with press coverage of the open space appearing that September.⁴² Anjin arrived as part of a wave of new Japanese dining in the metro alongside Akoya Omakase.⁴ In its first year, Anjin was named a finalist for “Best New Restaurant” in the 2026 James Beard Awards.⁵

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-17 · Source: Anjin official menu page, corroborated by Axios KC and The Infatuation · URL(s): https://www.anjinkc.com/menus · https://www.axios.com/local/kansas-city/2025/09/08/anjin-izakaya-kansas-city · https://www.theinfatuation.com/kansas-city/reviews/anjin · Confidence: High

Anjin runs a compact, rotating izakaya menu — a short list of small/raw plates, a trio of grilled skewers, and a couple of larger plates, finished with house soft-serve. Items and seasonal specials change frequently; prices below are as listed on the official menu page at last verification.⁶

Signatures

• Skewers (3) — a rotating trio of Barham Farm chicken skewers: chicken skin (umami salt), chicken heart (Tokyo onion), and tsukune (green onions); the open-counter robata/yakitori work is the heart of the room. $15⁶²
• Fried pork-collar sandwich — house shokupan (Japanese milk bread) with miso egg salad and pickles; widely cited as one of KC’s top sandwiches. (Rotating larger plate; not always on the printed menu.)²⁷
• Soft serve — house-made, rotating seasonal flavors (e.g. houjicha/brown sugar, citrus/ginger/cherry; matcha and ginger-pear noted in press), often topped with Pocky and Hello Panda. $12⁶⁷

Small & raw plates

• Fjord steelhead trout crudo — grilled fava bean, edamame, tosazu, rhubarb, shiso, fiddlehead fern, lotus root, tempura nori chips. $23⁶
• Beet salad — koji-tofu purée, seaweed-spiced walnuts, miso dressing, tangerine, watermelon radish, puffed rice, chrysanthemum, grated cured egg yolk. $18⁶⁷
• Farmer greens salad — ginger dressing, fried shokupan, braised burdock, pickled green strawberries, cashew furikake, kizami nori. $17⁶
• Kakiage tempura — black tiger prawn, sweet potato, enoki, butternut squash, leeks, red pickled ginger, green shiso, tentsuyu dipping sauce. $19⁶

Larger plates

• Tempura soft-shell crab sandwich — house shokupan, butter lettuce, red onion, tobanjan mayo, salmon/trout roe, pickles. $32⁶
• Seared summer eel — rice, chili tomatoes, pickles, eel dashi, pickled ruby mustard greens. $36⁶

Beverages

• Sake — curated program; 3 × 2 oz flight ($15), individual pours (~$11), and a ~16-bottle list ($16–$110).⁶¹
• Shochu / soju, Japanese beer, cocktails & low-ABV — e.g. Orion and rice-pilsner/lager pours; shochu-/soju-forward cocktails (Togarashi Negroni, Anjin Manhattan); shiso-sudachi lime mocktail.⁶¹

Note: Anjin’s menu rotates seasonally and by service; specific plates and pricing reflect the official menu page at last verification and may change.

Links

• Website: https://www.anjinkc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anjinkc/
• Phone: (816) 603-2228¹

See also

• the-antler-room
• crossroads-arts-district
• Registry

Sources

• Status verified active 2026-06-23 via Anjin official site (accessed 2026-06-23). Site shows “NOW OPEN!” with no closure notice; confirms 1708 Oak St, KC, MO 64108; phone (816) 603-2228; hours Thu–Sun 5:30–11 PM, Mon 5:30 PM–12 AM; Tock reservations.

Footnotes

1. Anjin (official site), homepage. https://www.anjinkc.com/ — izakaya concept; address (1708 Oak St, KC, MO 64108); phone (816.603.2228); hours; sake/shochu/Japanese-beer program; Tock reservations. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

2. Axios Kansas City, “KC’s new izakaya Anjin serves up intimacy — and just 20 seats” (Sept. 8, 2025). https://www.axios.com/local/kansas-city/2025/09/08/anjin-izakaya-kansas-city — owners (Nick Goellner, Leslie Goellner, Drew Little); 20-seat U-shaped counter / open kitchen; East Crossroads; menu details; name meaning (“pilot”) and grandfather tribute; Antler Room relationship. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Kansas City Magazine, “Owners Of The Antler Room Are Opening Anjin: A Japanese-Inspired ‘Cool Neighborhood Restaurant.’” https://kansascitymag.com/owners-of-the-antler-room-are-opening-anjin-a-japanese-inspired-cool-neighborhood-restaurant/ — confirms Anjin is the Goellners’ second concept; Drew Little co-owner; izakaya inspiration; initial spring-2025 target. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Kansas City Magazine, “With the opening of Akoya Omakase and Anjin, Kansas City’s Japanese dining scene is raw, refined and heating up the metro.” https://kansascitymag.com/with-the-opening-of-akoya-omakase-and-anjin-kansas-citys-japanese-dining-scene-is-raw-refined-and-heating-up-the-metro/ — 2025 opening context; KC Japanese-dining wave. ↩ ↩²

5. KCUR, “Kansas City’s Anjin named Best New Restaurant finalist in 2026 James Beard Awards” (Mar. 31, 2026). https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2026-03-31/kansas-citys-anjin-named-best-new-restaurant-finalist-in-2026-james-beard-awards — 2026 James Beard “Best New Restaurant” finalist; active status. ↩

6. Anjin (official site), “Menus” (accessed June 17, 2026). https://www.anjinkc.com/menus — asserts: current menu items and prices — skewers (3) $15; trout crudo $23; beet salad $18; farmer greens salad $17; kakiage tempura $19; soft-shell crab sandwich $32; seared summer eel $36; soft serve $12; sake flight $15 / pours ~$11 / bottle list $16–$110; shochu/soju, Japanese beer, cocktails, mocktails. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

7. The Infatuation, “Anjin” (Crossroads, Kansas City) review. https://www.theinfatuation.com/kansas-city/reviews/anjin — asserts: signature/standout items — fried pork-collar sandwich on milk bread (“top sandwich tier”); whipped-tofu/beet salad with persimmon; eggplant & snap pea; rotating soft serve (matcha, ginger pear) topped with Pocky and Hello Panda; marinated chicken-heart skewers. ↩ ↩² ↩³