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The Paella Mix is Carlos Saura’s Spanish restaurant in Kansas City’s City Market / River Market district — opened September 2025. Saura grew up in Seville, Spain, where paella is a way of life. Paella, tapas, sangria. The only dedicated Spanish paella restaurant in KC.

Description

The Paella Mix is Carlos Saura’s love letter to Seville — a City Market restaurant dedicated to the Spanish tradition of gathering around a pan of paella. Saura grew up in Seville, in southwestern Spain, where paella was not a restaurant dish but a way of life: family and friends would cook a pan in whatever space they found, the ritual of the meal as important as the food itself. After training in kitchens across Europe and eventually choosing Kansas City as his home base, Saura opened The Paella Mix in September 2025 at 25 E. Third Street in the historic River Market. The menu centers on traditional paella in multiple styles, tapas, sandwiches, and Spanish-inspired sweets — with sangria to tie it together. Lunch runs daily from 11am to 4pm; dinner service is Thursday and Friday evenings. The Paella Mix is the only dedicated Spanish paella restaurant in the Kansas City metro.

Tier classification

Tier 2 — Seville-born, KC-dedicated immigrant chef. Carlos Saura was born and raised in Seville, Spain — not KC-born/raised.1 He trained globally and chose Kansas City as his homebase, opening The Paella Mix in September 2025. He is an immigrant entrepreneur who has committed to building his primary restaurant business in KC. Tier 2 confirmed: immigrant-owned, KC-dedicated operator, opened 2025.

Last verified: 2026-07-14 · Source: The Paella Mix official website menu · URL(s): https://thepaellamix.com/menu · Confidence: High (official site, itemized with prices)

The Paella Mix serves traditional Spanish paella, tapas, Spanish sandwiches (bocadillos), chef’s specials, and desserts, with sangria and Spanish cocktails.2

La Paella

  • Paella Valenciana — traditional style with chicken, pork, red pepper and rosemary ($16)2
  • Paella de Mariscos — seafood paella with shrimp, clam and calamari ($18)2
  • Paella Negra — for 4 people; 30-minute prep time ($120, serves 4)2
  • Chorizo a la Sidra — Spanish sausage cooked in olive oil and Spanish cider ($12)2
  • Patatas Bravas — crispy potatoes topped with mildly spicy brava sauce and alioli ($9)2
  • Calamares Fritos — lightly fried calamari with alioli sauce ($11)2

Tapas

  • Tapa (Squid Ink) — squid ink with prawn, octopus, scallops and squid in white wine2
  • Gambas al Ajillo — shrimp in olive oil, garlic and cayenne pepper ($10)2
  • Ensaladilla Rusa — tender chunks of tuna, potatoes, sweet peas, carrots and Spanish pickles ($11)2

Bocadillos (Sandwiches)

  • Jamón y Queso — ham and cheese with tomato dressing ($18)2
  • Pollo Verde — grilled chicken, cilantro sauce, red onions and lime ($16)2
  • The Chistorra Mix — thin cured pork sausages, grilled and served with red onions, tomatoes and mixed greens ($20)2

Chef’s Special

  • Tosta de Morcilla — Spanish morcilla sausage with sweet caramelized apples on crusty bread, pine nuts and fries ($21)2
  • Anchoas — smoked red and green bell peppers topped with Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil on crusty bread and fries ($19)2
  • Mejillones a la Marinera — fisherman-style mussels in a marinara sauce ($18)2
  • Almejas al Vino — clams in white wine, garlic, olive oil and cayenne pepper ($17)2
  • Parrillada Española — Braveheart boneless ribeye, 4 pcs chorizo, 4 pcs morcilla on a bed of potato wedges with a side of salsa brava and dijon mustard ($250, serves 4)2

Dessert

  • Tarta de Queso — Basque burnt cheesecake ($9)2
  • Crema Catalana — crispy Catalan cream ($8)2

Cocktails & Sangria

  • Red Sangria ($13)2
  • White Sangria ($13)2
  • Agua de Valencia ($15)2
  • Rebujito ($16)2
  • Pacharán Spritz ($17)2
  • Vermouth Dry ($15)2
  • Vermouth Rojo ($15)2

Beer

  • Estrella Damm Lager ($7)2
  • Estrella Daura Lager — gluten-free Spanish lager ($7)2

Non-Alcoholic

  • Iced Tea2
  • Lemonade2
  • Orange Juice2
  • Soda2
  • Sparkling Water2
  • Water2

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Startland News — “Why a globally-trained Spanish chef is building his new homebase from City Market” (July 2025) — https://startlandnews.com/2025/07/city-market-paella-mix/ — Confirms: Carlos Saura (Seville, Spain–born); grew up eating paella as a cultural institution; globally trained; chose Kansas City as homebase; paella, tapas, sangria; “the soul of Spain”; only dedicated Spanish paella restaurant in KC metro. ↩

  2. The Paella Mix — official menu, https://thepaellamix.com/menu (accessed 2026-07-14). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31 ↩32 ↩33 ↩34 ↩35

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On the record — ks.city/registry/the-paella-mix · record updated 2026-07-17