A tour and tasting works up an appetite. One of the questions we hear most often at the tasting bar is simple: "Where should we eat while we're in town?" For a place the size of Marquette, the answer is easy — and it's right down the block. Pair your visit to our distillery with a meal at Kitchen 64, and you've got the makings of a genuinely good day in central Kansas.
Make a Day of It in Downtown Marquette
Marquette rewards people who slow down. Downtown is a compact, walkable stretch of century-old storefronts on N Washington Street, and three of the town's best reasons to visit sit within a short walk of one another: our distillery in the historic COOP building at 105 N. Washington, the Kansas Motorcycle Museum, and Kitchen 64 at 114 N Washington. Park once, and you can taste ten handcrafted spirits, tour a nationally known motorcycle collection, and sit down to a scratch-made dinner without ever getting back in the car.
Start with a guided tour and tasting at Smoky Valley Distillery — $10 per person, Thursday through Saturday by appointment. You'll walk the full grain-to-glass process and taste everything from our Premium Vodka to a Kernza Whiskey made from a perennial grain almost no one else in the world distills. Then walk down the block for dinner.
Dinner at Kitchen 64
Kitchen 64 is exactly the kind of place a small Kansas town does best: family-run, unpretentious, and serious about the food. Their whole approach is homestyle American comfort cooking, made from scratch, with a small menu that changes with the seasons. As they put it, "every meal feels like Sunday dinner" — and that's the feeling you get.
Because the kitchen rotates its offerings, the specifics shift week to week, but regulars come back for dishes like pulled pork sandwiches, ribs, a standout BLT pasta salad, and house-made desserts, usually alongside a daily dinner special. The best move is to check their current menu before you go, since what's on today may not be on next weekend.
It's the natural complement to a distillery visit. We spend our days chasing flavor from grain to glass; Kitchen 64 does the same thing with a plate. Good ingredients, made by hand, in a town that takes its craft seriously.
Timing Your Visit
The two schedules line up well. Our distillery is open Thursday through Saturday, and Kitchen 64 is generally open Friday through Sunday — so Friday and Saturday are the sweet spot for doing both in one trip. Hours can shift with the seasons at any small, seasonal kitchen, so it's always worth confirming the current schedule on their website before you head out.
A typical afternoon looks like this:
- Book an early-afternoon tour at the distillery — reserve your spot here
- Explore downtown — the Kansas Motorcycle Museum and Marquette's historic murals are a short walk away
- Dinner at Kitchen 64 — scratch-made comfort food to close out the day
Stay the Weekend
If you'd rather not rush, make it an overnight. Preston House — our lodging, available on AirBnB — sleeps eleven and sits within walking distance of both the distillery and Kitchen 64. It's the only overnight accommodation attached to a Kansas distillery, which makes it a natural home base for a group that wants to taste, eat, and explore without worrying about the drive home. Spend the day downtown, and you're a short stroll from everything.
Want the full picture of what else there is to see and do nearby — Mushroom Rock State Park, Kanopolis Lake, Lindsborg, and more? Our guide to things to do in Marquette, Kansas lays it all out.
Plan Your Marquette Day
- Book a tour — $10/person, Thursday–Saturday by appointment
- Grab dinner at Kitchen 64 — homestyle comfort food, made from scratch
- Reserve Preston House — sleeps 11, walking distance to downtown
Marquette is small, but a day here fills up fast. Come for the spirits, stay for the food, and leave understanding why we love this quiet corner of the Smoky Hills. We'll see you at the tasting bar — and save room for dessert at Kitchen 64.