Kansas Travel Blog

Chronicling changes to KansasTravel.org and Keith's exploration & photographing Kansas restaurants, attractions, museums, festivals and art. Contact him.
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Big Grill and More - Kansas City, Kansas
Thursday - March 1, 2018: My day job took me to downtown Kansas City, Missouri to the Greater Kansas City International Auto Show. In addition to photographing some of the Ford concept cars for use on Facebook, it was a chance to photograph the many classic automobiles and a couple of face cars which were on exhibit.

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.

 

Ford Circus Truck at the Kansas City Auto SHow 1915 Ford Circus Truck

Holy Family Catholic Church - Kansas City, Kansas Holy Family Catholic Church
 

Big Grill and More - Kansas City, Kansas Big Grill & More

 
Saturday - March 3, 2018: Linda joined me in making a second visit to Knubs Pub in Shawnee, Kansas. I was quite impressed with their pork tenderloin earlier in the week and was looking forward to sampling more of their menu. The fries were fairly good, but we were disappointed with the Shroom Attack Hamburger, onion rings, and seasoned panko dusted haddock. We didn't finish any of the meal, though we did enjoy watching the end of the West Virginia versus Texas men's basketball game on the TV in our booth.

 

Knubs Pub in Shawnee, Kansas TV in the booth at Knubs Pub
Monday - March 5, 2018: We finally made it to the new Rhythm & Booze Shawnee (South) on 75th Street in Shawnee. While it probably will not get a listing on Kansastravel.org, it is a place which we will definitely visit again.

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.

 

Rhythm and Booze - Shawnee, Kansas
Rhythm & Booze

burger at Rhythm and Booze
Plain Old Burger with fries & American cheese

Wall-e robot
Wall-e

Thursday - March 8, 2018: I was impressed enough by Rhythm & Booze in Shawnee on Monday, that I turned around a tried it again tonight. The "50 Ways to Cheese" (Un-Traditional grilled cheese sandwich made with yellow & white American cheese, cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese) had sounded particularly inviting and I ordered the $6.50 grilled cheese sandwich with a $2 up 1/4 pound hamburger patty.

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

 

50 Ways to Cheese at Rhythm and Booze Shawnee 50 Ways to Cheese
 
Saturday - March 10, 2018: Lyle and Mary joined us for lunch at the 4th Street Cafe in Edwardsville, Kansas. Kelly, the owner, said he has several more pages of menu which doesn't fit on that big board. It is a narrow restaurant in an old stone building next to the post office.

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.

 

4th Street Cafe - Edwardsville, Kansas 4th Street Caf
Sunday - March 18, 2018: Jesi joined us for lunch at Gangnam Korean Restaurant in Overland Park. I had only recently learned that this restaurant had gone into the space which for many years had Chung's Rainbow Restaurant, one of my favorite Korean restaurants in the Kansas City area. 

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.

 

Gangnam Korean Restaurant - Overland Park, Kansas Gangnam Korean Restaurant
 
 

Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park - Lenexa, Kansas The view from Rose's Pavilion

Thursday - March 22, 2018: I had been wanting to go to Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que in Olathe, ever since I learned that they were having a Burnt Ends Reuben sandwich lunch special on Thursdays through the month of March. Wow! This sandwich exceeded my expectations as much as the "50 Ways to Cheese" had let me down earlier in the month.

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.

 

Burnt Ends Reuben sandwich - Joe's Kansas City BBQ Burnt Ends Reuben sandwich with fries
Saturday - March 31, 2018: For lunch, we tried the fairly new, Caffetteria Modern Cafe & Marketplace in Prairie Village, Kansas. You order at a counter near the front of the store. The menu isn't very long, but it is a bit complex, with selections and combining items, which resulted in many people standing huddled together trying to decide what they want.

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.

 

Caffetteria Modern Cafe - Prairie Village, KansasCaffetteria Modern Cafe
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