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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Thursday
- February 1, 2024: I really liked the burger and onion rings at Cronin's
Bar & Grill in Lenexa, Kansas last month and I'm ready to add them
to our Kansas Best Burger List,
but before doing that need to try out a couple more things. The bar stools
were mostly full this lunch time, but there were also people at several
tables and I sat at an opion table near the pool tables. The bartender
(Andrea) was doubling as the only server and did and excellent job.
The
basic burger was great. Even the bun was good and toasted. The 1/3 pound
burger is $9.50 with a side. I like to add my choice of cheese and grilled
onions for 50 cents each. The fresh cut fries I selected were good as well.
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Burger & hand cut fries |
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Saturday
- February 3, 2024:We drove to Kansas City, Kansas to have lunch at
Ms R's Cafe, but although it said nothing about closing on their Facebook
page, they were closed.
Coming
up with a neraby alternate restaurant, we drove a little over a mile away
to Mad Jack's Fresh
Fish, which has been run by the current owner, John Reed, since 1987.
We
last dined here in February 2020 and were surprised to learn that they
removed their tables during Covid and they never returned. Not that the
little booths they had were very comfortable, but there is no outside seating
and the parking lot is not very pleasent. We decided to go ahead and eat
in our car, but this change will probably mean that I will return less
often.
We
had fried oysters, fried catfish, hush puppies, French fries and potato
wedges. Our food came with sliced white bread. The oysters, catfish and
hush puppes were all great. The potato wedges were adequate, but the fries
were limp sub standard. The only good thing to say about them is that a
small order was only $1.99.
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Ms R's Cafe
Mad Jack's Fresh Fish |
Sunday
- February 3, 2024: We had dinner at Louie's Wine Dive and Kitchen
in Overland Park, Kansas. It is part of a tiny chain, with the other two
locations being in Clayton, Missouri and Des Moines, Iowa.
The
entrance is a little odd, in that you walk in at the back of the hostess
stand and where the live music (singer with guitar) is located. We were
seated at a booth at the edge of the bar space. The bar was loud, but the
type of noise didn't make it difficult to have conversation.
There
was 15 minutes remaining for Happy Hour and I ordered a Barrel Aged Old
Fashioned for $8 instead of the usual $13. Described as cognac, rye whiskey,
champagne syrup, and bitters, it was sweet and I very much enjoyed it.
I have sampled cocktails at a number of nicer restaurants in the past few
months and this was my favorite.
I
feel like the price points on food are quite reasonable for a nicer restaurant.
We ordered fish & chips for $20 and Filet Deburgo with whipped yukon
gold potatoes, roasted broccolini, and deburgo sauce for $33. I researched
the sauce in advance and learned that Steak de Burgo originated in Des
Moines in the 1950s and is a butter or cream based sauce with garlic and
herbs. This was butter based, quite garlicky and very nice. We aren't usually
broccolini fans, but this was roasted more than some and the stem was more
tender.
The
fried cod was good if not standout. The fries were well cooked but very
salty. I like salt, but suspect that many people would be happier ordering
these unsalted.
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Louie's Wine Dive
Old Fashioned |
Friday
- February 9, 2024: The Kansas
Children's Discovery Center in Topeka, Kansas is only open to adults
accompanied by a child 16 or younger, and children accompanied by a parent
or guardian over 16, but in 2013, we received special permission to visit
the center without children to review it for this website.
Today
we had the pleasure of taking out two year old granddaughter to visit the
Discovery Center. The first area she wanted to go into was restricted to
prewalkers, but that was the only part of the interior of the center we
didn't visit. There are also outdoor exhibits, which are more designed
for older children and we didn't go to that area today.
Although
there were several areas she visited more than once, her favorite appeared
to be the Ramp Racing. While she didn't design her own magnetic raceway,
she loved getting small cars from the bottom and setting them on the raceway.
Lunch
was nearby at Herman's Meat & Smokehouse. There were out of the smoked
half chicken I was looking forward to, so we had pork ribs, pulled pork
and chicken wings. They were out of cobbler as well.
The
counter service was slow. We ordered the food for dine in, but received
it packed to go, which was less convenient. The fries were my favorite
part of the meal and also my grand daughter's favorite. The wings were
ordered buffalo style, but other than the smoked wings being sauced, there
was buffalo sauce to dip them in and no blue cheese dressing.
Herman's
is also a deli and I bought sweet horseradish pickles, ham salad and Polish
sausages to take home.
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My granddaughter loved Ramp Racing as her great grandfather watches
Chicken wings |
Saturday
- February 10, 2024: Cafe Brazil in Lenexa, Kansas has been on our
radar for several years and we finally made it there for lunch today. The
Brazilian restaurant is located in an unusual location, inside the Brazil
Academy, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School.
There
is a fairly nice cafe, though after you order at the counter, you will
need to decide if you want your table to have a view and sound of the training
in the martial arts.
We
tried chicken escondidinho, beef escondidinho, and cheese bread. The escondidinho
is like a shepherd's pie. They took longer than I expected, The beef escondidinho
took about 25 minutes. The chicken came out a couple of minutes later.
The cheese bread appetizer didn't come out until we were nearly finished
with our main dishes.
This
was a nice change of pace.
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Cafe Brazil
chicken & beef escondidinhos |
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Tuesday
- February 13, 2024: I took advantage of being nearby to revisit Gates
Bar-B-Q in Leawood, Kansas, one of 6 locations of old Kansas City, Missouri
BBQ chain. There is also one in Kansas City, Kansas.
Shortly
after entering, I was greeted by one of the people behind the counter shouting
out, "Hi, may I help you." Today I went with a smoked half chicken and
fries ($11.99 & $5.25). It may have been the smallest half chicken
I have received at any area restaurant. It is listed as anentree, but includes
noting but the chicken.
The
smoked chicken had good flavor, but was a little tough. It is was covered
with a lot of sauce, perhaps a good thing since there is no sauce on the
table. The large thick fries were meaty.
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Half chicken & fries |
Monday
- February 26, 2024: I continued to update our Kansas
City BBQ Restaurant Guide with lunch at LC's
Bar-B-Q in Kansas City, Missouri. L.C. Richardson died in February
2021 at the age of 86. The restaurant was little changed when I revisited
a few months later, but it had been close to 3 years since I was last there.
I'm happy to say that thanks to his granddaughter, Tausha Hammett, the
food and service are still much the same, though like most restaurants,
the prices have gone up substantially in the past few years.
Arriving
a little after noon, there was only one person in line ahead of me to order
and several tables of the 8 or 9 tables were vacant. I ordered a short
end and fries for $20.50. I asked for the ribs dry, as my past experience
is that they are otherwise drenched in sauce. The meat was strongly flavored
from the smoking, looking almost too cooked. I would not call them tender,
but they were not too tough to enjoy.
The
sauce is thin, sweet and slightly vinegary. It has a fairly strong flavor
and I think that is necessary to balance the flavor of the meat.
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LC's Bar-B-Q |
Thursday
- February 29, 2024: I found myself near Lee's Summit, Missouri so
I had lunch at Filling Station BBQ. I ate there once about 20 years ago.
The
restaurant is in a good looking old Texaco station, a really cool looking
building with about 9 tables inside.
I
had the $22.99 chicken & ribs combination dinner. It comes with the
choice of two sides and I went with beans and French fries.
The
Combo included three ribs and a dark chicken quarter. The ribs were tender
and smokey, but not strongly so. They had a rich flavor from rub and there
was no need for sauce. The chicken was smoked similar, but with a little
more heat in the rub. The pieces were rather small.
The
beans were sweet and smokey with lots of pork. The fries were made from
frozen, limp and not a treat.
There
are four sauces. All of them are thin and very sweet.
The
service was friendly and helpful. I will be adding this restaurant to our
Kansas
City BBQ Restaurant Guide.
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Filling Station BBQ
Dining room |
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