On the way back, I passed through Kansas City, Kansas to checkout a restaurant in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood which I haven't visited before, but as I passed Holy Family Catholic Church, I decided to stop and see if it was unlocked. I had photographed the exterior in the past, but it has always been locked.

Voices could be heard as I got to the locked doors and I knocked & held up the camera, asking if I could take some photos of the 1908 Slovenian Parish. A nice lady from the church office showed me through the sanctuary and shared some of the church history.

Continuing up the street, I had lunch at Big Grill & More, a diner & BBQ in the neat old brick building which once housed the Skillet Licker Cafe, After carefully looking at the menu on signs behind the counter, I ordered a 3 meat mixed plate with fries for $13.75.

I thought that BBQ would be fast and there was only one order ahead of mine, but it ended up taking nearly 20 minutes before my food was brought out to my table. The order was completely wrong, but I needed to get back to my office accepted the beef, turkey and coleslaw. I had ordered beef, pork, sausage and French fries.

The two meats they brought wasted fairly good and the sweet slaw might have been all right if that had been what I was in the mood for. Overall, it seemed like little food for $13.75.

I don't think I will try them again. There are too many good BBQ restaurants in the area.

Holy Family Catholic Church
 

Big Grill & More

This location has had many restaurants and we fear this is another that may not last, both previous reviews and our own observation is that they are not getting enough business.

The pricing was quite reasonable, with half price appetizers until 7PM and good daily specials like today's $5 half pound burger with fresh cut fries for only $5 There are a number of other sides at the same price point, including asparagus. Well drinks were only $2.50 until 7PM.

The burger was more well done than the medium which I ordered, but was still above average. The seasoned fresh cut fries, potato skins and chicken quesadillas were are very good. I particularly liked the tortillas, which were crispy, but tender and had a good flavor. It seemed like a lot of food for only $12.75 (including a 75 cent charge for grilled onions).

The setting is interesting, with three robots scattered around the bar & grill and darts, pool, air hockey, table games and a large Jenga set.

Plain Old Burger with fries & American cheese

Wall-e

I was really prepared to love this sandwich, but there was surprisingly little cheese and it fell flat.

Blackboards line one wall of the dining room, covered with the menu. Kelly, the owner, said he has several more pages of menu which doesn't fit on that big board. This restaurant gets high points for atmosphere and medium high points for the food. We had fried catfish, fried & grilled pork tenderloin and a mushroom Swiss burger. All came with fresh cut fries.

The Gun Mandoo (fried dumplings) and  Dolsot bibimbap (rice topped with beef, egg, assorted vegetables, and sesame oil in a hot stone pot with a side of spicy mixing sauce) were both good, but the Ojinguh bokkum (stir fried squid and vegetables in spicy sauce) wasn't very flavorful. Our favorite dish was the Haemool pajun (Korean pancake with assorted seafood and vegetables), a dish I was previously unfamiliar with, but which will probably be my first choice the next time I go there.

After a nice supper at Ignite Wood Fire Grill in Lenexa, we stopped Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park on 87th Street Parkway, where we took a few trips around Rose's Pond and investigated the large new pavilion which is on a rise above the pond.

This new pavilion is larger than any two previous shelters previously in the park, with room for seating for about 200, though the space will probably be filled with picnic tables and have less seating.

The view from Rose's Pavilion

Joe's did a nice job on this sandwich all the way around. It is a generous serving with one side for $10.39. The rye is just right, with enough rye flavor to be an element of the sandwich, but not so much rye taste that it overpowers the sandwich. The corned beef burnt ends were what really made the sandwich and what makes the sandwich too labor intensive for them to do it all the time.

Too bad! I would really like to return for one of these once or twice a month.

We selected salmon and chicken salad sandwich, which were brought to our table after about 15 minutes. The $8 broiled salmon looked to be about 5 ounces, it came with nothing but a sauce on the side. The $9 chicken salad sandwich was more generous. It comes with pickled vegetables, but I upgraded to fresh cut fries for $2. The fries were the best part of the meal. The chicken salad was a bit overpowered by the large thick slices of bread.