Food
The Best Grill Brushes to Tackle Greasy Drippings and Gunked-Up Grates
Design-wise, it nails that balance between functional and low-fuss. The minimalist curved handle is lightweight and comfortable to maneuver, making it a great option if you want something effective but less bulky than other brushes. It still comes with a built-in screr for tougher bits, plus thoughtful extras like a hanging loop for storage. And unlike most options, it includes five replacement heads right out of the box, along with a collsible water bucket, which makes the whole steam-cleaning setup feel a lot more turnkey.
Overall, the Meker brush is very impressive. And for the same price as the BBQ Daddy, you get extra heads and a dip bucket.
It doesn’t quite have the same heavy-duty oomph as the BBQ Daddy, especially when tackling seriously neglected grills. If you’re dealing with lots of buildup, you might find yourself wishing for a bit more scrubbing power. But as a daily driver, it works just as well.
Cuisinart Grill Renew Steam Cleaner Brush
Cuisinart
Grill Renew Steam Cleaner Brush
The Cuisinart Grill Renew Cleaner Brush is one of the more comfortable steam-style options we tested, thanks to a thoughtfully shed handle with a gentle curve and an extra leverage knob near the head. That added grip point actually makes a difference when you’re plying pressure, especially during longer scrubbing sessions. The detachable head is also a plus—it pops off easily and is dishwasher-safe, which helps keep things hygienic and extends the tool’s lifespan. In practice, it does a nice job lifting off surface-level messes and wiping away greasy residue and blackened drippings, especially right after cooking when buildup hasn’t fully set in.
That said, it worked best as a finishing tool rather than a deep-clean solution. The cloth pad itself is fairly stiff, which helps with scrubbing pressure but limits how much water it can hold, meaning we often needed a few extra passes to get the job done.
GRILLART Steam Wizard Grill Brush
The Grillart Steam Wizard stood out for its overall cleaning power and sturdy, straightforward design that feels built to handle serious grill grime. I liked the steel wool heads and built-in screr on the back for cracking hardened carbon and other crud. When it worked, it really worked, lifting stuck-on residue quickly and efficiently with steam. That said, the Velcro attachment system felt noticeably flimsy, and I had issues keeping the head securely in place during use.
Grillart Steam Wizard with Upgraded Head
Grillart
SteamWizard with Upgraded Head
The upgraded version of the Grillart Steam Wizard steps things up in terms of performance, delivering even more aggressive cleaning power that made quick work of built-up gunk. It sws the steel wool sponge for a foam head that makes cleaning a breeze, and that is dishwasher safe. However, the removable head mechanism takes some getting used to and isn’t the easiest to get back onto the tool (you have to really line it up and push). It’s expensive too, ringing in at almost $60.
GRILLART Bristle-Free Grill Brush and Screr
Grillart
Bristle-Free Grill Brush and Screr
We were looking forward to trying a bristle-free wire grill brush, but ultimately found that this cleaned just okay. It’s comfortable to hold, and has a plastic handle that screws together in two pieces, which could make storage and cleaning easier; however, it requires many more passes than a nylon or wire brush to clean, as well as scrubbing it vertically or using the screr to reach under the grates. Because the coiled helix was fairly tight, it might be harder to get between cast-iron grates that are closer together. We liked the hook-shed screr, which dug under grates to knock off hard-to-reach drippings.
Grill brushes we don’t recommend
This brush is nearly identical to the GRILLART Bristle-Free Grill Brush and Screr, but it has a wooden handle, so it isn’t dishwasher safe. It cleaned the grates okay, but again, it took more passes to get the grates fully clean.
OXO products are always well-made and thoughtfully designed—the chainmail brush head can be removed from the handle for easy cleaning—but this one just didn’t leave the grates as debris-free as the other brushes we tested. It was able to knock off big chunks, but not much more. The screr on top didn’t have deep enough divots to reach drippings under the grates. OXO touts the brush’s flexible silicone core that rests under the chainmail, but we found that the head’s curve meant only the highest point made contact with the grill. The top and tail didn’t hit at all, which felt like wasted surface area.
While the Grill Rescue functioned similarly to the Cuisinart model, two design choices landed it on our do-not-recommend list. There’s no hole in the handle for hanging, so we had to rest it (soaking wet) on the side of the grill when we were done, which made for extra cleanup. It also didn’t have a secondary knob to provide leverage while scrubbing, a feature we really liked on the Cuisinart.
Olivia Tarantino
This brush has the same helix structure as the other two we tested, but it lacked a top screr, so we couldn’t reach the drippings stuck beneath the grates.
If you’ve ever used a wooden screr, you know they’re good at exactly one thing—and barely that: knocking off big pieces of burnt-on food. This one couldn’t reach any drippings hanging from the bottom of the grates.
The only redeeming quality of this screr is its built-in bottle opener, but even that was hard to use thanks to its placement in the middle of an oversized, awkward piece of wood. The wood felt che and barely knocked off large pieces of food.
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Food
Will Restaurants Face a World Cup Tourism Bubble?
Welcome to Open Tab, a weekly roundup of news, gossip, and stories that have stayed open in my tabs all week. Last week we covered some controversial tipping trends.
I’ve truly become jaded and immune to bizarre brand collaborations over the past few years. A Grillo’s Pickles-flavored PBR? Snooze. Tabasco x Absolut Vodka? Whatever. Kylie Jenner partnering with Lockheed Martin? Well to be fair, that one I made up.
But I admit that I raised an eyebrow at the incoming Popeyes partnership with the Surf Lodge, the nightclub and restaurant in Montauk. I’ve never been to Surf Lodge (and likely never will, for what it’s worth), but my impression was that the West Village-types that attended weren’t looking for a tower of chicken tenders to compliment their club-going experience. Who knows? I’ve been wrong before. (Once or twice).
In other news, Manhattans have been dubbed boy martinis, though I will say I have never felt less masculine than when I’m bashfully fishing the cherry out of the bottom of my Manhattan.
Also this week: The tourism industry braced for staggering World Cup crowds—but they may not be coming. And, should you bring your kids to Hooters? The answer feels obvious, but some parents are doing it anyway. Also, stadium food is wilder than ever, and we’re taking a look back at a story that’s getting its well-deserved flowers.
There was a lot of hype in the tourism industry around this year’s FIFA World Cup which would take place in major cities across North America. Hotels jacked up their prices—some by more than 300%—and restaurants across the country prepared by partnering with spirits brands, planning drinks specials, and generally girding their loins for the mass of fans they expected. For these restaurants, World Cup crowds could be big revenue generators. In New Jersey, for example, the event is estimated to bring in more than $3 billion in direct economic impact.
But so far, those expectations don’t seem like they’ll be met. In major cities, hotel bookings haven’t seen a huge spike, according to The Athletic. That means less tourists, which could mean smaller crowds at local restaurants and bars that were counting on the crowds’ revenue. Experts are saying the tourism slump is likely due to the pricey deposits needed for tourist visas as well as extra expensive airfare.
I’m not a person who can claim the lived experience of having ever gone to a Hooters. In fact, the closest location to me is in East Brunswick, New Jersey, which is a farther commute than I’m willing to make for wings. But I feel that I can say with certainty that if I was eating at a Hooters next to, I don’t know, an entire Little League team or whatever, I would feel weird about that.
But according to a report from the New York Times, attracting kids (and their families) to dine at Hooters is part of the restaurant’s new strategy. After a complicated bankruptcy scenario, the original Hooter’s founders are back in charge. Their strategy this time around? Make Hooters a family-friendly, casual dining experience. There’s something weird about inviting young kids into a restaurant where the gimmick is that the service staff are mostly scantily-clad women, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Write in with your ideas.
Some people attend baseball games for the love of sports. Others, like yours truly, go to baseball stadiums for the food. (Ahem, I’ve recently learned of something called hotdog fries.)
Food
Where to Eat, Stay, and Play in Kansas City for Jazz, Barbecue, and the World Cup
Many of the city’s best restaurants are clustered near the artsy Crossroads neighborhood. For a date night or a light splurge, there’s The Town Company, which showcases Missouri ingredients in a menu making heavy use of a wood-fired hearth. Just a few blocks away, there’s Anjin, a small Midwestern izakaya with a deep sake list and a deceptively casual menu of Janese sandos and snacks. And Anjin’s sister restaurant, The Antler Room, plies the same exacting techniques to a more formal service setting, with a broader palette of global flavors.
If you’re after historic architecture and maximally vibey interiors, plan at least one meal in the historic West Bottoms neighborhood, once home to the city’s stockyards. The Golden Ox is a faithfully restored historic steakhouse where you can get your fill of locally raised beef, frosty martinis, and creamy dessert drinks.
Kansas City remains a great cocktail town, with cutting-edge menus even where tourists might not expect them. Extend the night at the adjoining Stockyards Brewing Co., which shares the restaurant’s cattleman theme, or pop across the street to The Campground for a modern cocktail in a moody, intimate room. Mean Mule, a local distillery specializing in agave spirits, offers some of the most daring cocktails in the city right now, with a sprinkling of savory options inspired by ranch dressing or French onion soup (don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!). A short Uber or Lyft from downtown, in Shawnee, Kansas, are two James Beard–nominated sister bars, Drastic Measures and Wild Child. Drastic is the elder sibling, with a mature feel and a thoroughly dialed-in menu of well balanced and proachable drinks. Wild Child is a little more manic—in the best way—with bigger swings, weirder glassware, and a more prominent spirit-free menu.
Dive bar seekers will feel at home in Chez Charlie, which offers great darts, a creaky old jukebox, and a clientele that skews younger and more counterculture. Old heads tend to post up next door at Fitz’s Blarney Stone, a townie bar with che drinks and seasoned regulars.
Watching the World Cup in Kansas City
Kansas City will host six matches at Arrowhead Stadium’s (known as Kansas City Stadium for the World Cup) GEHA Field. Soccer fans interested in seeing the games live can purchase World Cup 2026 tickets at FIFA’s official ticketing portal, authorized hospitality providers such as Pitchside, and secondary sites like SeatGeek and VividSeats. The matches play throughout June and July with dates set for June 16, 20, 25, 2, a Round of 32 match on July 3, and a quarterfinal on July 11.
If you’re simply looking for a place to post up and watch some World Cup matches with a pint in hand, your best bet is to head downtown. Johnny’s Tavern and No Other Pub in the Power & Light entertainment district cater to soccer fans, with friendly staff and a mosaic of screens. For a more intimate environment, check out The Dub, which has a focus on women’s sports, or travel south to Gael’s, an LGBTQ+ friendly sports bar and grill.
Food
The 10 Best Restaurants in Kansas City, Beyond BBQ
1019 E 63rd St, Kansas City, MO
Baba knows how to play the hits. This casual Palestinian-American deli turns out richly spiced shawarma sandwiches, velvety hummus, and tender falafel studded with sumac onions. But don’t overlook the refrigerator case, which is packed daily with both familiar and experimental dips that marry Palestinian flavors and a Midwestern zeal for dairy. Seating is limited, but tables turn over quickly, and it’s worth waiting to grab one in this lively, colorful room. On weekends, an adjoining bakery serves a rotating selection of desserts (recently, pistachio rose cinnamon rolls and qatayef).
7319 N Oak Trafficway, Gladstone, MO
901 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS
In an ideal world with limitless stomach space, you’d make multiple stops on the Kansas City, Kansas Taco Trail. But if you only get one, it might as well be El Pollo Rey. Here, you only have to make one choice: Do you want grilled chicken or hot wings? Even that choice is optional; you probably want both. The chicken here is Sinaloa-style—citrus-marinated and charred on a wood-fired grill—and served with soft corn tortillas, pickled onions, and a cold blender salsa. The hot wings are tossed in a prickly, vinegar-forward hot sauce and come with just as many warm tortillas. El Pollo Rey isn’t the only Sinaloa-style chicken spot on the Taco Trail, but it’s the only one that still cooks everything over hickory, a touch that neatly ties it to the city’s home barbecue tradition.
Food
The 19 Best Potato Salad Recipes for Any Flavor of Cookout
There’s simply no way to crown a single best potato salad recipe. Some belong next to a platter of sliced grilled porterhouse, others alongside stovetop burgers, hot dogs, and a cooler packed with beer. Some potato salad recipes are creamy and classic, built to anchor the side dishes at a summer cookout. Others skip the mayo entirely in favor of sharp mustard, fresh herbs, chile heat, or punchy vinaigrettes. No matter the vibe, potato salads always show up for the function.
So whether you’re hosting a backyard cookout, packing a picnic, or figuring out dinner when it’s too hot to turn on the oven, here are 19 of our favorite potato salad recipes. We’ve got smashed potatoes loaded with bacon and sour cream, a potato salad with spicy Caesar dressing, another that channels the flavors of an everything bagel (yes, with lox), and even one topped with crunchy potato chips. Frankly, potatoes have range.
Food
HelloFresh Is the Meal Kit for People Who Are Bored of Predictable Meal Kits
Until recently, I didn’t understand the point of meal kits. The services I’d tried leaned on the same tired recipes of sloppy joes, bland chicken breast, and boring pasta. After trying HelloFresh, I can finally say I get it.
Of all the meal kits I’ve tried, HelloFresh stands out for one reason: Its menu reads more like a restaurant’s than a meal kit service’s. You’ll find dishes like za’atar-crusted Halloumi cheese, moo shu pork bowls, and Peruvian chili-soy steak stir-fry, with over 100 rotating options and more customization than any other service I’ve tried.
Whether you rarely set foot in the kitchen or cook elaborate meals on weekends, HelloFresh takes the stress out of the most tedious parts of cooking. Figuring out what to make, down the right ingredients, and avoiding the inevitable half-used bunch of cilantro rotting in your crisper drawer are all someone else’s problem now.
I spent a week cooking with HelloFresh for my husband and me. Here’s what won me over, and what didn’t.
Watch us put HelloFresh’s cook times to the test
The HelloFresh ordering experience
Ordering meals from HelloFresh was easy. You’ll start by selecting your serving size (up to six people), how many meals you want per week, and a dietary plan: Meat and Veggies, Veggies, Family-Friendly, Fit and Wholesome, Under 20 Minutes, or Pescatarian. I opted for the two-person serving size and the three-meal-per-week plan for my husband and me. Prices start at $57 for two meals for two people per week.
From there, you’ll choose your meals from HelloFresh’s extensive menu. There are over 100 delicious-sounding rotating options, from coconut shrimp and cabbage curry to bavette steak with creamy truffle polenta, all filtered by your dietary preferences. Nutrition- and prep-related callouts like Fiber Smart, Easy Prep and Clean, and Vegan are marked under each meal to speed up your selection process, and you can browse up to five weeks of menus in advance since options rotate weekly. Each listing also includes ingredient amounts, cook time, nutritional info, allergens, and the full recipe. For those short on time, HelloFresh also offers a selection of heat-and-eat Ready Made Meals.
