K & M Bar-B-Q: 603 North Webster St. Spring Hill, KS

I know, this isn't Oklahoma Lunch Spots, and the farther reaches of rural Johnson County can damn well feel like our esteemed neighbor to the south, but K & M Bar-B-Q is probably worth mentioning as a destination lunch joint for folks in most of the metro area.



I have only made one recent visit and frankly am unlikely to make another any time soon. Even Gardner felt like a sizable jaunt from Spring Hill, and that's saying something. Normally I like to feel a restaurant out for 2,3 or 4 meals before taking the time to write a blog post, but I'll forego that here and offer a brief recap of my meal.

It was excellent. K & M offers some of the best burnt ends I've eaten in Kansas City, and the portion size was nothing to sneeze at either.





Burnt ends are typically only available on weekends as a dinner plate, but my visit luckily coincided with them being offered as a special, which included any side dish and drink for 7.80. Considering that burnt ends at LC's cost $8.95 for the sandwich alone (admittedly much larger), this is a great lunch deal.

Yes, these are real burnt ends and not random chunks of meat covered in sauce that some places try to pass off as KC's signature dish. The meat itself was fork-tender and the fat was properly rendered and not overabundant. I could have used a little more crunch on them but they did have a ton of prevalent bark that gave them a nice smokiness.

K & M has a nicely flavored sauce, a little less forward than a Gates or Bryant's, and somewhat thinner. As is typical of local BBQ joints, the spicy sauce is virtually identical to the regular sauce with the modest addition of (probably) hot sauce. This is a rather lazy way to create a hot BBQ sauce but I can't complain about the flavor.

The onion rings had the crackery coating which was actually nice accompaniment to the smoked meat. I can't say with any certainty that they weren't from a Sysco bag, but I sure as hell didn't mind.

The interior of K & M is decorated in a strong western motif with cowboy hats, steer horns and old-timey prints adorning the wood-paneled walls. While this place gets pretty darn busy during lunch, the interior is huge, featuring at least two distinct dining areas. It was hopping but not even close to full at the noon hour.



The service was excellent. I had my drink and food order taken quickly and food delivered within 5 minutes. They deliver the check to your table but take all payment at the front counter which significantly expedites things.

Who knows what circumstances might leads you to Spring Hill, Kansas in the future? While it seems doubtful for many folks who live in KC proper or the older suburbs, this is a manageable drive from southern Overland Park, Gardner or Olathe. Regardless, eating in small towns can be challenging if you are unfamiliar with the options. K & M may be one of the only places to eat in Spring Hill but from all indications it serves barbecue as well as they do anywhere else.

Danny Edwards BBQ: 2900 Southwest Blvd

Danny Edward's BBQ began life as a little shack in heart of downtown Kansas City, known for cranking out delicious barbecue to lunch breakers, mostly on a "to-go" basis due to its small capacity. It was also known as "Lil Jake's Eat it an' Beat it," a reference to Danny's nickname as a kid. Danny's father, Jake, was a well-regarded local purveyor of smoked meats in his own right for more than 40 years.



I moved here in 2006 when Lil Jake's/Danny Edward's was still very much alive downtown but increasingly dwarfed by the scope of construction at the new Power & Light District which, if you recall, made that part of downtown virtually un-navigable. Apparently, the area didn't have much to recommend it before the arrival of P&L, but by all accounts Lil Jake's was not part of the problem. Nonetheless it was inevitably forced to yield under the duress of eminent domain, for the "public good" of a tax-subsidized entertainment district. In with Famous Dave's, out with Danny Edward's, a tenant of more than a quarter century.

It is the greatest regret of my culinary life not to have eaten at Danny Edward's downtown location before it closed and moved to Southwest Boulevard. When I started this blog on January 1, 2007 I worked at the downtown library, a 10-minute walk from the little BBQ shack, but somehow I let the construction and the potential annoyance of a small, busy restaurant keep me away. Within a year it was gone, only later to reappear on the city's west side.

To their great credit, Kansas City barbecue enthusiasts proved more than willing to make the short car-ride out to the Boulevard and the new Danny Edwards has succeeded mightily in newer, larger, more modern digs. While the whole relocation story makes me a little sad, I'm nonetheless thrilled that this place not only does brisk business, but serves great barbecue on top of it.

Indeed the food at Danny Edwards is practically as good as the esteemed Oklahoma Joe's, without the attendant enthusiasm of people who deluge Twitter and Facebook with uninformed assertions about BBQ sandwiches with cheese on them (click at your own risk). And while I am not immune to the appeal of Joe's excellent barbecue, I can't recommend it in my capacity as a lunch blogger because the wait is simply too long during the noon hour.

I'm also much more excited about eating at a place with the Edwards pedigree. Danny's father was slinging 'cue on the right side of the state line five decades before Joe's set up shop in a KCK gas station.

The hand-cut fries at Edwards are similar to those at Joe's, right down to the salty and unnecessary seasoning powder applied at the end. You can request them without seasoning and I recommend doing just that. Better yet, forego the fries entirely in favor of some of the best onion rings in town.



The brisket is hard to ignore. Once you enjoy the thick-cut, tender chucks of smoky beef, you'll be hard-pressed to order anything else. Sure, I prefer a thinner slice such as that at Gates or LC's and the Edwards' brisket has all the marks of having been steamed in foil to achieve extra softness. But any complaints I have are purely related to personal preference rather than any failing on the restaurant's part. The flavor and texture are truly sublime.





Edwards does a nice job with their burnt ends too. Their predilection for buttery, grilled kaiser buns adds an element of decadent richness, but certainly doesn't hurt anything. Edwards has excellent baked beans with understated sweetness and good bean flavor accentuated by many tender chunks of pork. Their sweet potato fries aren't bad either.





I've eaten here a number of times but have yet to try the ribs, which look excellent. But I can vouch for the beef, pulled pork and ham. What I can say is that Danny Edwards has the best, friendliest service of any BBQ joint in town. This is a table service place and you will never want for a a refill, to-go box or check when you need it. These people are pros and they will get you out in a hurry if that's what you want. While places like Gates pay lip service to friendliness with their calculated "How may I help you" training regimen, Danny Edwards is service in action. Pay a visit and see if you don't agree.

Danny Edwards is used to regulars and it is possible to order before your seat is warm. Get your check at the table and pay at the counter, where, more often than not, the restaurant's namesake and his wife are running the show. Don't let the modern building fool you, this is old school Kansas City barbecue at its best.

Danny Edwards Boulevard BBQ
2900 Southwest Blvd
Mon-Sat 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Stonewall Pizza: 10244 Pflumm Road

To most folks outside of Kansas City, the Stonewall Inn refers to the landmark New York City nightclub that saw a 1969 riot by its gay patrons during a police raid. The Stonewall riot is often heralded as the event that put gay rights into the public consciousness. Out in Lenexa, Kansas, The Stonewall Inn refers to a supremely old school restaurant serving up traditional homestyle American cooking without flash or pretension. I imagine homosexuality plays very little part in what they are serving up and its name is just a happy accident.



While I have not eaten at the Stonewall's main restaurant, a smaller old home sits just south of the original restaurant at Pflumm and 103rd and houses Stonewall Pizza. This is a smaller, more affordable joint with a limited menu. While the big restaurant is open for lunch, Stonewall Pizza makes a little more sense for a quick midday bite so that's what I'll focus on here.

I have been to Stonewall Pizza many times over the course of three years, having first been introduced to it by local blogger Goofy Girl. As I said, it lacks pretension but I've found that the pizza is really quite good.







You order at a counter just inside the front door. The menu offers slices, whole pies and a few sandwiches. The best bet for lunch is the special: a 3-topping slice, side salad and fountain drink for $6.48. I have opted for the two-slice lunch but found it to be too much food and slightly too expensive, approaching 10 bucks with drink. As each slice is made to order, it can take 10 minutes or so to get your food.

These are large slices with a fairly thin crust that remains delightfully crispy on the bottom and edges. While slightly more rustic in appearance, the pizza slices at Stonewall remind me of those at D'Bronx, and are a little bit cheaper.

The salads are typical unremarkable pizza parlour offerings with iceberg and romaine lettuce, a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese and a couple of pepperoni slices. I've never understood why pizza places love putting odd pizza toppings on salads. It's not like they don't have a a whole slew of fresh vegetables on hand, so why put pepperoni and cheese on the salad? Yet another truism for you: shredded cheese never belongs on a salad.



Stonewall Pizza is not a restaurant for people who like to keep to themselves. You see, this is perhaps the friendliest place I have ever eaten. It's friendly to a fault. If you want to show up, order food and mind your own business, you may be disappointed since the staff will talk to you continuously throughout your stay. Not a minute into my last visit, I knew the name of the woman at the counter and the name of the owner who was sitting at one of the tables in the empty dining area. Throughout the meal, each staff person referred to me by my first name, frequently checking up on me to make sure everything was okay and making small talk. One woman even asked me if it was alright to change the music, which played from a portable stereo by the front window.

I don't have a lump of coal for a heart, so I appreciate the hands-on treatment at Stonewall Pizza, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.



The interior is small and a little wonky but it's an interesting space to have lunch. There is a back dining room that is typically closed or empty and a sizable patio out front that is nice in warmer climes.

All in all, Stonewall Pizza is a decent spot to put on the lunch rotation if you live or work in that part of Johnson County. It took me a while to warm up to the place but the good crust occasionally calls my name, which put it over the top for me. Stiff competition from Pizza Man which sits right next door may make this a less appealing option. But since Pizza Man recently started pre-making Chicago Dogs and Italian Beefs for lunch service, you may want to give Stonewall Pizza a try one of these days.

Stonewall Pizza
10244 Pflumm Road Lenexa, Kan. [Map it >]

Arthur Bryant's Barbeque: 1727 Brooklyn Ave.

Here it is, the granddaddy of them all.


View Larger Map

It's been a while since I stopped by Kansas City's most illustrious BBQ joint for lunch. I have found Bryant's to be a little inconsistent which tempers my enthusiasm for their smoked meats. Sometimes they dish out a less than stellar meal, but when Bryant's is good, it's better than anyone else in town.

Unlike Oklahoma Joe's and Gates, the original Bryant's location has a natural ambience, one that hasn't been calculated and cultivated.



Plenty of celebrity photos hang crookedly from the south wall, which doesn't serve to class the place up so much as give folks something to look at while they wait in line. Yes, during lunch there is often a line to the door, but it moves quite quickly. The size of the lunch crowd pales in comparison to Oklahoma Joe's.

Like Joe's, Bryant's is destination barbecue for many, but still has the hallmarks of a neighborhood joint. It is close enough to downtown to attract business people and also situated close enough to light industry to attract a blue collar crowd. Just a stone's throw from 18th and Vine, it's a popular lunch spot to combine with a trip to the Jazz or Negro Leagues museums. As a result, Arthur Bryant's is perhaps the most racially integrated restaurant in Kansas City. At any given time, the restaurant is half-filled with people from out of town as well.



I have never particularly enjoyed the ordering experience at AB's. As the line moves to the front of the counter, you can pick up a plate and silverware. One of the hangdog gentlemen behind the window will take your order, and the plate as well if he feels like it. Sometimes he will decline the round plate in favor of a longer platter kept behind the counter. Lest you think it's ok to skip the plate, know that the employee may chastise you for not having one to give.



Nonetheless, the process works pretty well, despite theoccasional screw-up with your order . This is not nearly the problem that it is at Gates. The folks at the end of the counter will take your money and serve you drinks. Be sure to get plenty of beer for your whole meal because it's a hassle getting back up there again for more drinks.

Bring your appetite because the portions are huge. For $8.35, you can get a sandwich the size of Jesus. For $9.95 you can get some terrific fries with your sandwich. Unfortunately you may also get some disappointing fries; they are the most inconsistent item on the menu. Sometimes they are undercooked, sometimes cold, sometimes mind-blowingly perfect.

A "combo" costs $9.35, and allows you to sample two meats. This results in a larger order than normal since they basically add half a sandwich to a full size sandwich.





Order the beef, I think it's the best in town. It is quite smoky and considerably juicier than other versions. The ribs are a darn near perfect texture, not fatty and supremely flavorful. I'm not a huge fan of the pulled pork which they serve finely shredded and mixed with sauce. The burnt ends are roughly hacked and also mixed with sauce. I don't think they are the finest in town (LC's gets that distinction) but I wouldn't turn my back on them because the beef is just that good. Bryant's is one of the few places to offer sliced pork, which I have greatly enjoyed in the past. Not having eaten in recently, I recommend it with only the slightest hesitation.

Bryant's original sauce is perhaps the strangest barbecue sauce I have ever tasted, and many folks will tell you that they do not care for it. Absolutely bitter, thin and riddled with spices, it is certainly a surprise if you are expecting KC's typical sweet stuff. I find that the original sauce tastes best on ribs. Bryant's also offers "rich and spicy" and "sweet heat" varieties which are both great.

Arthur Bryant's was the first restaurant I visited in Kansas City. I was expecting a tourist trap, and instead found an honest, humble gem of a place, deserving of all the accolades it has received. This place is proof that tourist attractions are darn near impossible to manufacture. Readers of this blog occasionally ask me what my favorite barbecue restaurant in KC is, and I usually have a diplomatic response along the lines of "well, it depends." But now, I can comfortably and whole-heartedly endorse Bryant's as my favorite of them all. While not without its problems, their meats are just head and shoulders above the rest.

Gates Bar-B-Q: 1325 East Emanuel Cleaver Blvd.

I'll tread lightly here; God knows I don't want to stir up the legions of opinionated white guys who staunchly argue about barbecue in various public forums around town. Regardless, Gates seems to have a lot of lovers and haters. I think people genuinely appreciate how long it has been around and how much Ollie Gates does in the community, but like so much else in Kansas City the place doesn't hold up under harsh scrutiny.



Like most barbecue joints, Gates does some things better than others. People swear by the burnt ends and they are widely considered a close second to LC's in terms of taste. I found the burnt ends to be incredibly disappointing. I don't think they were cooked properly because the taste of raw fat globules permeated the sandwich, rather than the delightful rendered fat flavor of LC's burnt ends. With the recent news that LC's has been shut down by the health department, we can only hope it comes back even better than before, sans rodents.





Compare the admittedly crappy photos above to these uploaded on flickr two years ago. It's not even close. A lack of consistency plagues both Gates and Bryant's in recent years, which may account for the meteoric rise in esteem for Oklahoma Joe's and Jack Stack, which are extremely reliable.

I am a huge fan of the beef at Gates. Again, I think that LC's has the slight edge here but it's still tender, smoky and full of rich beefy goodness. It is well-accompanied by that glorious Gates original barbecue sauce. Like many of the world's best food, Gates beef brisket tastes even better cold the next day. That's why I often get the large sandwich, which is pretty tough for most folks to put away in one sitting.



At lunch, Gates offers a pretty good deal: a small-ish sandwich on a bun with fries for something like $6.50. You just order the meat of your choice "on bun" and the fries are assumed. You can also get it on loaf bread if you want, you will just have to utter the preposterous order "beef on bun on bread." The sandwich is an appropriate size for lunch though I found the sliced pork too dry. I heartily recommend Arthur Bryant's for all of your sliced pork needs.



People love Gates' fries. They actually have pleasing crunch and a decent potato flavor but are a little too processed tasting for my palate. A big plate of fries will also cost you something like $3.75 which seems a little steep.

I think Gates' sauce is the best in town, an assertion I'm relatively confident in, despite the fact that I have not been to every single BBQ joint in the metro. They have something like 4 different kinds but I like the original the best. Most of them taste very similar in my humble opinion. An employee working the dining rooms recommended the sweet and mild sauce for french fries.

I also like the ribs a great deal, though I haven't had them in a couple years. They don't overcook their ribs like many places in town do. The meat does not fall of the bone in stringy clumps which I, for one, appreciate. Like bacon, ribs should not be cooked to death.

This particular Gates location is the newest I believe, and is kind of a flagship location due to its proximity to the business headquarters across the intersection. I'll never fully understand the aesthetic of the Gates brand. The man with the cane depicted on Gates' signs calls to mind some sort of turn of the century dandy, or Louis Armstrong's "Struttin' with some Barbecue."

This location is laid out like an old-timey train station which sounds cool in theory but is kind of offputting. Rather than one large dining area, it is split into two small-ish, dark rooms with little fancy entrance doors and old photos on the wall.





While attractive enough a space, it sort of looks like someone's well-heeled grandmother decorated it. The center of the train station is a little island fashioned after a ticket window. It is perpetually un-staffed but it is theoretically where one obtains cocktails. But I have never seen anyone having mixed drinks at Gates.

The ordering process is a disaster. Shrieks of "Hi may I help you?" are ostensibly an invitation for you to place your order verbally but there is no guarantee that anyone is actually listening. Indeed they holler it out whether they are facing you or not, often in the middle of a conversation with another diner. It doesn't really matter, because by the time you get to the end of the line to pay, they won't remember what you ordered anyway.



I have been here a lot, and never once has my food been waiting for me at the register. Not once. The ladies behind the line who all are trained to adopt the creepy affectation of referring to each other as "Miss Jones" or " Miss Fredericks" or whatever, are constantly chattering among themselves and the worn down looking guys in back who actually assemble the food. If I was a betting man, I'd wager most of Gates service problems relate to the cooks not paying any goddamn attention, but that's just a theory. As you wait to pay, another woman asks you if you want "drinks, sides, fries or pies." I think this is the lowest person on the employee totem pole but they are usually the most efficient.

At lunch it is not unusual to spend 10 or 15 minutes in line. You will spend that time experiencing a rich mixture of mild annoyance, uneasiness and excitement, but you won't be bored. Just make sure you get what you ordered. If they screw something up, they will get it right and run it out to your table.

A lot of people mistake the service shenanigans as unfriendliness or rudeness.Nothing could be farther from the truth. When interacting with individual employees at Gates I have found them uniformly helpful, open and even funny. If they seem exasperated, just remember that you don't have to work in that crazy house of a kitchen. Chill out and wait for your barbecue.

Now it's time for you all to disagree with me.

Spin Neapolitan Pizza: 4950 Main

Spin has operated three metropolitan locations for several years now, but they only recently moved into the urban core with the development of the shops and living quarters along Oak and Main that cater to UMKC students. This fourth location fills out the little burgeoning restaurant area south of the Plaza, strangely complemented by a few other Italian/Pizza joints like Minksy's, Il Centro, Pizza 51, and Accurso's which moved into the new strip mall away from its homey (demolished) location a block or so south.



Interestingly enough, Spin appears to be competing well with these other pizza places in the area. They all have a slightly different niche after all. Spin is decidedly more upscale than Minksy's or Pizza 51, specializing in wood fired, hand tossed gourmet pizzas with interesting flavor combinations and a crisp, urbane atmosphere. It couldn't differ more from the low-brow comfort of Minsky's wooden booths and plastic beer mugs. There is no Taco Pizza at Spin.

For lunch, there is really one option, the so-called "Pizza Mia" which gets you one of their signature pies in 6-inch form along with any side salad or cup of soup (8.25). Personally pizza and soup seems like a mighty curious combination so I have always opted for pizza and salad which is a mighty fine pairing.

The service workflow is weird. You walk in and place your order with one of the eager young cashiers who take your money and give you a wooden number placard. Upon sitting down, a server brings out a glass of water and the beverage you ordered. If you ordered a beer, he will even pour it for you.



After a few moments, an entirely different server will bring your food. He will introduce himself, give you his name, ask if there is anything else you need. Hell, he will even clean up your empty plates after you finish. So basically, Spin is a full service restaurant except that you don't order from the waiter. But the waiter does everything else. You know what this means: give the goddamn waiter a tip.

The staff has clearly been trained to be uber-professional and chatty, not my favorite service aesthetic. But these folks are pretty much all college students and they do a nice job, despite being told to pucker up and kiss ass profusely.

The pizzas are mighty fine but not earth shattering despite what enthusiastic yuppies will tell you on Yelp and Urbanspoon. The crust is a little dense and doesn't cook well enough into the center to create a crunchy surface for the sauce and toppings. The toppings are certainly of good quality although I found the chicken sausage to be entirely too smoky and firm, kind of like a hickory farms summer sausage.



Salads are uniformly delightful and topped with high-quality ingredients if somewhat overdressed with pungent dressings. I haven't tried the soup or paninis, but I expect that they are similarly well-prepared and accompanied by forgivable flaws.

The space is clean and classy, featuring a cool false ceiling of wooden beams over the bar and a neat cinder block appliqué on the west wall.



Spin gets pretty darn busy at the height of lunch hour, but the ordering system makes the process run pretty smoothly: no waiting for drink orders to be filled at the counter. There is plenty of seating at the bar or long tables for the solo diner.

All in all I have to say I'm pleased with Spin. It spits out uniformly good food that may not challenge your taste buds, but rarely disappoints. You can get a decently priced beer or bottle of wine with your meal, making it a viable option for that lesser but necessary meal, dinner, as well.

El Camino Real: 903 N 7th St (KCK)

This is going to be short, because El Camino Real has received no small amount of praise and attention recently from the likes of Charles Ferruzza in the Pitch and the Gina Kauffman Walt Bodine show and from Meesha who, in my opinion offers the definitive analysis, complete with video. Read Meesha's post for the substance, I'm just filling in some gaps.

I went there and sampled four kinds of tacos along with their rice and beans. The tacos were uniformly excellent. The meat benefits from being thrown back on the grill before serving where it develops glorious little crusty bits. The tortillas are small and corny yet soft and pliant. Each taco comes with two tortillas as they almost always do in proper Mexican spots. El Camino Real really piles on the meat too, more so than I thought they would for the $1.50 price tag.



Everything here is a tad greasy, even the tortillas. But it's a good kind of greasy.

It is all the essence of simplicity. Dining in you will receive bowls of chopped white onions, cilantro and limes for your tacos. The pico de gallo is fresh, dry and lively with spice. The thinner, chile-based sauce likewise carries some heat and is very good drizzled on a carne asada taco.



The rice didn't impress me--a little too tomatoey and sweet, reminiscent of boxed rice. The refried beans were somewhat smokey, a flavor I haven't encountered in beans before. A chipotle pepper perhaps?



Each item costs 1.99 so save yourself the effort and just get more tacos.



Vegetarians rejoice! That hot little number on the left is a rajas taco. It's a cheese filled poblano in a creamy sauce with onions, similar to a chile relleno. Though your tortilla will grace the meat-laden surface of the grill, there is otherwise no animal flesh in sight.

This is a no frills place with a basic dining room, one waitress and two cooks. They run the place pretty efficiently and everyone is quite friendly.

I know Kansas City, Kansas can seem like end of the earth if you live in Johnson County or South KC. Or even if you live a mile away. But this place really is worth the trip. Located near 7th Avenue Parkway and Minnesota, it's not that far, only 5 minutes from downtown. Get off I-70 at Minnesota and circle the block since you can't turn left on 7th. It's right there.

Swagger: 8431 Wornall Rd

Swagger has inhabited a nondescript little storefront on South Wornall Road for about a year but I had no idea it was there until it started to get a little media coverage around town. Swagger sits at the northernmost end of the strip mall across from Price Chopper that houses Mike's liquors. The narrow stretch of asphalt between the entrance and Wornall appears designed for parking, but it's used as a frontage road, sidewalk and idling area all at once. Since it's a little awkward, you may opt to cruise down the alley and park in back. Swagger has a well marked rear entrance (insert joke here).

Let's get one thing straight: Swagger is a bar. I popped in early one afternoon to find a typical crowd of middle aged singles and good-natured drunks. There was a small group playing pool and a few folks nursing post lunch beers at the bar. Despite the warmth and brightness of the day, it was dark inside. A video jukebox played tired tributes to classic rock artists like Eric Clapton and Three Dog Night. At any given time, half the bar is out back smoking cigarettes.

With that caveat out of the way let's get another thing straight: Swagger is much more than a bar. It features 42 beers on tap, seven of them boulevard beers including the lovely Tank 7. Check out the whole list here.

The menu is really something to behold. I'm gaining weight just thinking about it. It appeals to bright and bold flavor palates with higher concept versions of burgers, chicken sandwiches, wings and barbecue staples. It's the kind of food that appeals to a grittier, down to earth crowd with adventurous sensibilities. Take the Dead Texan:

Two texas toast grilled cheese sandwiches with a 1/3 lb burger, 1 egg, 3 bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, jalepenos and peppercorn mayo in between

This is fine dining for bikers and metalheads and they do it well. The ingredients are high quality and treated with care. For instance they cut their own steaks, hand-bread their onion rings and use only freshly ground beef for their burgers. I wanted to try their hand cut and pounded pork tenderloin when I visited but they were out of it that day. So I opted for the Suribachi burger, a concept so absurd that I had to try it.

The process goes thusly: First they take a sizable angus beef patty and cook it. Then they dip it in tempura batter and deep fry it. It is then placed on a bun topped with pepperjack chese, spicy Asian mustard, wasabi cole slaw and hot chili sauce. It looks a little something like this:



The photo doesn't do justice to the size of the thing. Everyone at the bar gasped when it came out, joking that I'd never be able to get my mouth around the thing. I made a valiant effort with the eyes of the bar upon me and succeeded in getting a respectable bite of the burger.

And it was fantastic. I would have liked the beef to have been more rare--this would have catapulted it into the pantheon of fabulous local sandwiches--but the overall effect was tremendous, and quite unlike a typical burger. The tempura batter is an absolutely inspired choice. It was super crispy and light, adding an explosively salty crunch that knocked my socks off. Yes it was spicy, but not as much as I could have handled. The wasabi cut through more than the other ingredients but I really like the cole slaw as a topping.

The onion rings were simply perfect. I ate them all.

Other places masquerade as dive bars in order to promote some popular idea about their menu (the Foundry). Either that or it's an owner's lame attempt to recapture the excitement of a misspent youth now that he has a wife and kids. Swagger is the real deal. I don't think they care that the core clientele (for the time being anyway) is made up of bud light swilling bar patrons. They are really doing their own thing when conventional wisdom would have them completely change the tenor of the business from its days as a simple neighborhood bar.

I'm not sure if they have table service (though I would assume so) since I sat at the bar, but I'm sure you won't experience the typical hostess/server/bartender division of labor. As a result, I'm not sure it's a great place to take granny to Sunday dinner but it is a good option for those looking for an excellent meal and a few drinks any night of the week.

St. Louis Pizza Time! Johnny C's: 11200 W 75th St and George's Pizza: 8435 W 95th St.

As if the world really needed another style of pizza, I started to hear about the St. Louis variety upon moving to Missouri three years ago. I don't get really excited about specific pizza styles, probably because of my experience with the Chicago deep-dish stuff. Seriously, I think it's rather gross, like an overpriced cheese brick. And it's not even as prevalent as Chicagoans and television shows would lead you to believe; the vast majority of neighborhood pizza places serve really lame, standard fare. In fact, I would venture to say that Chicago overall is a lousy pizza town.

Anyhow, who knew St. Louis had its own style? And that it is so incredibly weird? People who read this blog probably know more about St. Louis pizza than I do, but for those who don't, here's an overview:

It has a thin, crackery crust, sparse use of sauce, and is topped with something called provel cheese--a creamy, processed mixture of provolone, swiss, and cheddar, kind of like a white velveeta. It is often cut into squares rather than triangles.



One of the most loyal and helpful commenters to this blog is JH, and he (I'm assuming it's a "he") recommended Georges Pizza to me not once, but twice. I dutifully visited a couple months back and ordered the lunch special with his recommended mix of provel and mozzarella. It's a nice deal at $6.95. The special came with a tepid little salad accompanied by these weird homemade croutons.



What is it about pizza parlour salads? Do they not understand fresh vegetables?



Seriously, it's like these places try to make the salad as much like a pizza as possible. This one, as you can see, has cheese, pepperoni and black olives.

George's is interesting because it is owned and operated entirely by Asians. And the place has a locomotive theme. Train memorabilia decorates the joint and a track runs along the perimeter of the ceiling, though I saw no little train car up there.



I was not crazy about Georges pizza to be honest. I can't find the photo I took at the time but it was a 10" little pie with lots of cheese and a few chunks of sausage. The dry, thin crust reminded me of those cheap Totino's frozen pizzas that cost $1.09 at Price Chopper. The sauce was essentially nonexistent and the provel was mildly off-putting. It smells odd and has a sharp undertone to its flavor. Like JH, I liked the sausage quite a bit, but there was so little of it on the pizza that it didn't really make up for the overall weirdness. In all fairness, JH did indicate that the larger pies were better.

But sorry JH, I put off writing about this place because you like it so much and hesitate to piss you off. However it turns out that there's probably nothing wrong with George's, I just don't like St. Louis pizza that much.



You see I paid a little visit to Johnny C's recently, which is another St. Louis pizza parlour at 75th and Nieman. I did this at the urging of local blogger and food lover Goofy Girl. Indeed, she was the first to really explain St. Louis pizza to me comprehensively. Johny C's seemed like the kind of place that, love it or leave it, I had to try.



Johnny C's is a classic pizza parlour in a lot of ways, with a bar, pool table, video games and those traditional hanging lamps you used to see at old pizza huts.



Their lunch special involves your choice of two of the following: a pizza slice, salad, half sandwich, toasted ravioli or garlic bread (there may be other choices I'm forgetting). I opted for the slice and a salad to make a proper comparison to George's. I got the full provel treatment, and it was pretty strange.



The odor of this cheese is just a little intense for me, and I'm no shrinking violet. The salad was almost exactly like Georges: shredded cheese, a pale tomato wedge and a couple pepperoni slices. It was topped with a couple of odd, dusty crackers.



Service at both George's and Johnny C's was excellent. At both places you order from the counter and wait for your food at a table. Value is likewise very good: you can't beat a $5 lunch special which is what you get at Johnny C's but George's gives you more food for the money since there is a whole little pie. The ambiance at both places is pretty unique and cool, far exceeding that of chain pizza restaurants around the metro.

In general I preferred the pizza at Johnny C's, mostly because of the crust which tasted more substantial and homemade than George's. Both had excellent Italian sausage. I think both places warrant repeat visits, but I probably won't get the full-on St. Louis pizza experience next time. Indeed Johnny C's advertised an Italian beef lunch special that I'm eager to try. You all know how much I love Italian beef.

I probably should have done more research on the St. Louis pizza phenomenon but it was hard to muster the motivation. I just don't like it that much. I'd love to hear from you all about your opinion of St. Louis style pizza and your favorite places to get it.

UPDATE: I located the George's pizza photo. Here is is.

Two Amigos: 10321 W 75th St

No one can easily remember the name of this place or exactly where it is located, probably because it seems so generic. I mean "Two Amigos?" That's not the most catchy name.



Moreover the restaurant is situated in an old Taco Bell building, not exactly the connection you would want potential customers to make, even though the building is kind of cool. Two Amigos also features this less than progressive logo of two lazy Mexicans sleeping under a tree a la Speedy Gonzales cartoons.



For these reasons Two Amigos has been hidden in plain sight for a couple years.

Have you ever been to the Red Balloon, perhaps the greatest karaoke bar in the Kansas City metropolitan area? Sometimes on the weekends, it gets quite crowded and the parking lot fills up. But it's not a big deal since there is a parking lot just next door. You just have to step up a little embankment and boom, you are right at the bar. That parking lot next door? That's Two Amigos. I had parked there several times before realizing that this was the Mexican place people had mentioned to me.

As you can see this place advertises "Real Mexican food," and having visited a couple times, I think they deliver the goods.

Walk right in and take a gander at the huge menu above the counter. Everything is there: classics like enchiladas, tacos and burritos, hearty soups like menudo and posole, full entree plates, seafood cocktails, three kinds of tamales and a refrigerator full of jarritos, half-liter bottles of Coca-Cola and several kinds of Mexican beer. The menu board runs the length of the counter; items are punctuated with taped-on pieces of paper or handwritten translations. Some items are highlighted with signs taped up by the register.



I have had a bunch of tacos here which allowed me to try a lot of their meats. I sampled the carnitas, carne asada, lengua (tongue), cabeza (cow head meat), fish and the chicken. Only the lengua rubbed me the wrong way (hehe), mostly because of its spongy texture, but that's just my personal preferences at work. The cabeza was much as I expected, hearty, fatty and delicious with a pot-roast like consistency. The fish tacos do not receive the cabbage slaw treatment that they do at other places. In other words they are prepared much like the other tacos with onions, cilantro and a touch of shredded iceberg lettuce, the latter topping being the only differentiation between the fish tacos and other kinds.

The tamales are very simply prepared as, I would argue, they should be. I prefer them handed to me in a corn husk unadorned by any superfluous sauces, cheeses or toppings.



With judicious use of a good salsa, this tamale is just about perfect the way it is. These did not disappoint, though the filling was a little on the dry side.

What puts Two Amigos head and shoulders above other Mexican establishments are their salsas. They offer five kinds: blazing hot habanero, a hot salsa verde (green tomatillo), a medium-spicy red salsa made from guajillo chiles, a medium tomato-chipotle salsa and a thin, pureed avocado sauce. But of course quality always trumps quantity and Two Amigos sauces represent both.



My favorite is the red chile salsa but I found that the avocado stuff really rounded out the fish tacos nicely. Their huaraches are excellent as well, though a little smaller than I've seen elsewhere. They are only available as a platter: 2 huaraches, rice and beans for $11, which is a tad pricey for Mexican, but probably fair.



There is also a little condiment station with iced cucumber slices, whole radishes, limes and roasted jalapenos. After a bite of a habanero salsa-adorned taco, I immediately understood the appeal of the cold cucumber.

There is a huge Quick Trip next door to Two Amigos, so it must get quite a bit of exposure and traffic. Unfortunately it never seems to be very busy. For instance I found it somewhat depressing to see two guys cutting across the Two Amigos parking lot carrying QT sandwiches and bags of Doritos. I just can't fathom making that choice.



The interior is almost unchanged from its days as a Taco Bell. I'm pretty sure that the booths, the counter, the trash areas and even the orange cafeteria trays are left over from that period. It's funny to realize how much smaller fast food restaurants used to be. A couple of old televisions are mounted in each corner, usually only one is turned on, playing Spanish language programming loud enough for the owner to hear at the counter.

They even still operate the drive-through, made evident by a couple of yard signs in front of the building. One time I actually saw the owner wearing a headset over her black knitted hairnet.

The prices here are fair, and comparable to other similar restaurants. Plan on spending six or seven bucks, and more if you want to sample a lot of items. And bottled soda will set you back more than fountain pop. Tacos are all about 1.85 each, and the combination plates are in the neighborhood of $7.50, depending on what you get.



For the cost conscious, the burritos cost $4.95 and approach infant-like proportions.



So I encourage everyone to check out Two Amigos. If you aren't sure what to order, try something new. They will happily put together any combination you desire. I for one will be visiting Two Amigos with regularity from now on. There is just too much on the menu that I have to try.