Pizza 51: 5060 Oak St

 Posted by at 1:25 pm
Aug 042008
 

Boy these people were smart. Owners Jason and Shannon Pryor have only been in business four years but, with new UMKC dorms opening up and a dearth of good food and drink options within walking distance, they seem like geniuses for opening up Pizza 51 at Oak and 51st.

This stretch of 51st street (between Oak and Brookside Boulevard) is the only commercial “district” that caters to a college clientele in the slightest. Kin Lin is a few doors down, as is a Subway and Muddy’s Coffee house. Main street has a few things to pique the interest of your average college student–Eggcetera (owner of the stupidest name in the metro, not counting hair salons), The Peanut, Minsky’s and of course Planet Sub, who recently tore down their entire building in order to build a brand new one right next to it. Dumbasses. There is also a CVS pharmacy at which college students can procure much needed Bush light, hair dye and birth control products.

Yet with the exception of Muddy’s, Pizza 51 is the joint that feels most like a college neighborhood hangout. A lot of students work there, and certainly a lot of them eat there too. I always see younger professorial types hanging out as well, drinking pitchers of boulevard until 8:30pm when their kids need to be put to bed. The space is a converted gas station, but very bright in the interior thanks to a wall of overhead doors facing Oak Street. Like many rehabs, it tends to get noisy when crowded, which is most weekend evenings. For lunch, it’s a much more casual affair.

This place is open 7 days a week at least until 10 p.m. (9 p.m. in Winter). And believe it or not, their pizza is good. I wouldn’t characterize it as gourmet, but it certainly is freshly prepared, has a nice crust and some high-quality toppings.

At most places, pizza is hard to do for lunch. First, you have to be sure that a place sells slices. If not, you have to wrangle a coworker or two into splitting a pizza with you. So you are either going to eat a slice that has been sitting under a heat lamp or you are going to wait a while for a fresh pie. Even Whole Foods, who offers really good slices, pre-bakes them and re-heats upon ordering. Not at Pizza 51.

Here’s the deal. You can get a slice here any time of day, with any toppings you want. How do they do it? Well Each slice is made to order of course. Slices start at $3 but they are huge, like as big as your head huge. They arrive on metal trays designed for entire pizzas. These slices are so big that they cross-cut them into rectangular sub-slices. You know those crappy pennants you get for free at sporting events? Now you got the idea.

So, think about these slices more like individual pizzas, even though they are decidedly triangular. Go ahead and spend a few bucks on toppings–you won’t be hungry. You can get 5 toppings on a slice for 5.51 which seems like a decent deal. They also have daily lunch specials which is usually a modest break on price for a particular slice and drink.

My only complaint is that the pizza tends to be slightly undercooked as a rule. Not in a disgusting, raw way, but the cheese is not sufficiently brown and the crust tends to be sloppy and limp, because it is a thinner crust than most. So when i go, I tend to order mine ‘well done’ and typically this solves the problem.\

They have other stuff on the menu–subs, calzones, and (ugh) wraps–but I don’t usually bother so ask someone else how they are. I know for a fact that the salads are typical pizza place affairs: iceberg lettuce, pre-made in a plastic container with shredded cheese and premade croutons as toppings. Add a healthy dollop of sysco salad dressing from a gallon jug and you’re in business. Or not.

Everything is ordered from the front counter and delivered to your table when it is ready. Pizza slices can take longer to come out to your table because they are not pre-baked, but you can get in and out of Pizza 51 in a half hour easily. The location of the counter is a little odd and can get cramped when there is a line. It would be nice if this place changed to table service for dinner, since most people are getting whole pies and drinks.

There is a decent concrete patio enclosed by a cast iron fence. It feels a little like a cage since you can only enter and exit through the restaurant. But it can seat as many or more people than the interior. With the newly established smoking ban in full effect, expect it to be moderately stinky at certain hours. If it stays this hot, you won’t want to be out there anyway.

So kudos for the solid business plan, available slices and tasty pizza. Not the most remarkable place in the world, but a welcome addition to the neighborhood and one that I tend to visit with some regularity. I also like that they creatively re-purposed an interesting existing structure. Hear that Planet Sub?

Read more:

Pizza 51 on Urbanspoon

Yelp

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Jul 292008
 

I’ve been putting this review off for a couple of days because I’ve been thinking of a creative way to make fun of the name.


photo by Mike Haney

I got nothing.

Yeah, it’s actually a pretty good name isn’t it? I’m pretty sure they picked the name just because the domain name was available. It is fun to say “BIG BAM’S” – even fun to write it in my own inimitable hamhanded style. Kind of like CANCUN FIESTA FRESH! This one’s a little more dangerous since I’m overwhelmed with the urge to execute an unskilled but highly performative karate chop whenever I say it: BIG BAM’S!Moreover the items on the kids menu are called Li’l Bam’s burger and Li’l Bam’s chicken tenders. Preface anything with “Li’l” and it’s guaranteed to be cute.

Of course, if the name in any way refers to Emeril Lagasse, it immediately becomes the worst name of all time.


From the exterior, this place looks a little rough around the edges doesn’t it? The building and bones of the place are pretty low-brow, but they have done a great job sprucing up the place. Walls are painted a subdued purple, the drop ceiling is painted black to lessen the cheap, institutional feel it can lend. There is some artwork on the walls which, despite having no connection to burgers or KC, is better than nothing. The tables and booths are typical formica fast food furniture, but look clean and new and are (if memory serves) a pleasant orange. Yeah, a lot of color going on here no?

It’s a reasonably efficient operation. Order at a counter, your food is made to order, and someone brings it out to you. The menu is posted on the wall above the counter so ordering involves a lot of staring upwards and squinting. It would make more sense to make printed menus available at the counter and leave the staring for the people waiting in line.

On to the burgers. They remind me a little of the Burger Joint. I ordered the “Basic” because this seems like the true test of a place that claims to have great burgers. The Basic came with a single tomato slice, some flaccid leaf lettuce, sliced white onion, and a nice melted piece of American cheese. I have had the “All-American” a number of times and found it to be an excellent, classic burger, topped with American cheese, pickles and onions.

All-American and fries

The burger is cooked well, the beef is very flavorful, the bun is unremarkable but fine as are the toppings. Next time I can rectify the toppings situation–I ordered the Basic, did I expect a can o’ corn on top of my burger? They have several varieties of specialty burgers a few of which sound intriguing. For instance the “Cowboy Up” burger features ham, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce. Hmmmm, ham. A couple of their burgers come with sour cream as a condiment. I’m not sure how I feel about this but it can’t be worse than mayonnaise. There are some typical permutations like bacon & cheese, grilled onions, chili cheese (!) and sauteed mushrooms.

In addition to burgers, Big Bam’s does a lot with chicken. It’s nice that they don’t offer breaded and fried chicken exclusively–there are a few grilled options. Big Bam’s has a commitment to high quality ingredients–their beef is never frozen and food is made to order. So I wonder if they hand-bread their fried chicken items or pull them out of a paper Sysco bag? This is a serious question, and I intend to order chicken next time I’m there. Or better yet, someone else go there, spend your own money, then tell me how it is. Check out the menu, there is a lot to choose from.

I also had a small but inexpensive side of onion rings that were delicious and perfectly cooked. Doesn’t it drive you crazy when fries cost like 1.50 and onion rings cost 5 bucks? You know why? Because the restaurant is buying them frozen and there is a lot more processing and production that goes into a batter-dipped frozen onion than a bag-o-taters. Breading and onions are not expensive, so personally I find it a good sign that the rings at Big Bam’s are the same price as the fries! Kudos on the rings Big Bam’s!

I did enjoy myself at Big Bam’s and am convinced they do burgers and other things quite well. In terms of taste, this lunch spot is comparable to most of the other competent, humble little burger places in town. I think it could probably use the business more than wacko right wing Jesus-freaks Grandstand, and it is larger and nicer inside than Burger Joint. It’s all about a quick meal here, so I genuinely like the place and will return.

Read more:

Big Bam's Burgers on Urbanspoon

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a>

Jul 272008
 


I first heard about this place over at the fine local food blog Noodletown back in March. Columbus park is an interesting neighborhood, and I wish I spent more time there. It has characteristics of the River Market and Northeast/Independence Ave. areas that surround it, but physically it feels different–smaller, older, quieter.

Historically Italian and increasingly populated by Vietnamese, Columbus Park is delineated by highways on three sides and the river on the fourth. This makes for some interesting navigation for those unfamiliar with the streets. Like the River Market, the streets are laid out according to the position of the river and not true north/south like downtown proper. That means it’s old, people. It’s home to several good restaurants as well, notably Vietnam Cafe, La Salla’s and Garozzo’s.

As Charles Ferruzza pointed out in his excellent piece about Happy Gillis, this building has a long history of being a comfortable neighborhood meeting and gathering place. The best part about Happy Gillis is that it maintains its connection to the neighborhood. The owners did not swoop in, totally revamp the place and produce food in an environment that appealed to people who don’t live there. That’s also why it’s called a “hangout.”

They left the sign from the original Gillis Sundries market out front, something a lot of restaurant owners wouldn’t do. To boot, the menu has a few homages to the ethnic character of Columbus Park–notably a Bánh mì and a few classic Italian sandwiches.

The food is very good, not spectacular. Sandwiches and salads are freshly prepared with high quality ingredients. I feel fairly confident that all varieties are tasty, probably some a little more than others. It’s a good sign that I have confidence in this place only having visited once. You can just tell they know what they are doing. My Italian sandwich floored me with the pure power of a good salami and some killer homemade giardiniera but I didn’t care for the ciabatta-type bread it came on. An Italian sandwich craves Italian bread, people.

Soups are the bread and butter here. The owners have operated a home soup delivery service for a few years and apparently have done well enough to open the storefront to complement their trade. Personally I can’t get excited about soup, particularly on a 95 degree day which have been all too common lately. My lovely lunching companion did however offer me a taste of a cold corn vichyssoise (wow, did I spell that right on first try?), served with a dollop of fresh pesto. Sounds great, but I found it underwhelming. As my companion pointed out, there’s no reason to puree corn in the middle of summer. Plus, I don’t want to drink my lunch anyway (unless we’re talking alcohol).

The atmosphere here is charming and the service is friendly and attentive. I don’t have anything bad to say about the decor or the vibe or the staff. Really laid-back.

I’m not sure this is a destination-spot, but it’s a really good option for those who live or work nearby. Or stop by after the oppressive crush of the City Market on a Saturday, it’s a good place to decompress.

More about Happy Gillis:

Happy Gillis Café & Hangout on Urbanspoon

Check out photos of this charming space on flickr.

Goofy Girl gives her take and gets the Bánh mì.

Everything else you need to know is on Yelp

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Jul 232008
 

Well, the tamales here blow the lid off any I’ve had anywhere else in Kansas City. It’s clear just from driving through this small stretch of Kansas City, Kansas that this is the area to go for the real deal.

I’ve always known that, but I just never got off my ass and went to KCK explicitly to eat Mexican food. This will change as of today.

An esteemed colleague of mine introduced me to Ninfa’s under the assumption that everyone knew about the place and their fantastic homemade flour tortillas.

“Where?” I asked, “Ninja’s? Who eats flour tortillas at a Mexican place?”

This widespread ignorance among my coworkers and me was soon rectified with a departmental outing to Ninfa’s under the tutelage of this wise, wise man.

Ninfa’s is small and simply decorated. Bright orange walls, large ceramic tile, a semi-open kitchen at one end and some decent-sized windows looking on to the street create a homey atmosphere that offsets the small size and relative cacophony of the dining area.

I hesitate to call Ninfa’s a “dive” because the word is vaguely insulting unless

1. You are referring to a bar, in which case it is a badge of honor.
2. It’s really, undeniably true.

“Dive” is not a word to be thrown around lightly. Some jackass on Yelp or somewhere referred to Oklahoma Joe’s as a dive. Right…the gas station thing, I get it. You know they have Subways and Pizza Huts and other places in gas stations nowadays too? Ever been to, I don’t know, a REST AREA? Seriously OK Joe’s looks like a Mall food court with really delicious food and a lot of white people.

Anyway, Ninfa’s is shacky but delightful. The menu is pretty large, but not the usual multipage tome you see at other Mexican places of dubious quality. This place is all about their homemade tortillas. Before your meal, a container of freshly made flour tortillas are brought to the table. Apparently that is what the bright blue bottle of squeezable Parkay is on the table for. This makes sense; in Chicago Mexican street vendors would put margarine on corn they sold from carts. That or mayonnaise (I think I just vomited a little, sorry).

These tortillas bear little resemblance to the dry, flaky discs that come in the Old El Paso package at the Price Chopper. Ninfa’s tortillas are moist, a little chewy and warm. I like the margarine option well enough, but a squirt or two of their salsa seems to be the better option.

A lot of menu items at Ninfa’s are fried. This isn’t unusual for Kansas City, but here it’s a much different affair. The meats are tender, flavorful and well-seasoned. Most of the food appears to be on the greasy side, but don’t let that stop you from ordering up a fried corn taco plate or whatever grabs your fancy. I opted for tamales spread, which was covered with cheese and stewed pork.

It was porktacular in the best possible way.

The flavor was not subtle but also not pedestrian in any way. You can tell a lot of care went into the preparation of these delights. Do yourself a favor and get a dozen to-go sometime, a bargain at $14.

The rice was odd–very short grain, and mixed with a tomato-y sauce. This gave it a somewhat mushy texture but I didn’t mind the flavor. I do prefer a simply, nuttier Mexican rice.

The service is great, Ninfa’s has the appearance of being a family-run business though I don’t know if it actually is. To add to the home-spun mystique, there is a truly charming, friendly and vaguely unintelligible older woman (Abuela Ninfa?) who seats people, gets drink refills, wipes down tables, cracks jokes; Basically she makes the place work. Our waitress was a 14-ish year old girl who, despite her age was nonetheless quite adept.

Apart from a couple places on Southwest Boulevard, this is my first foray into Mexican food in KCK proper. It won;t be my last. Ninfa’s is truly unique for cranking out those really good fresh tortillas everyday. It really raises the quality and fun of the food and the experience.

Read more:

Ninfa's Tortillas & Taqueria on Urbanspoon

Yelp

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Jul 182008
 


It’s getting to the point where I am seriously considering finding an apartment somewhere along this delectable strip of Merriam Lane. Fortunately, I think I’ve been to nearly every restaurant this humble culinary hotspot has to offer.

The latest installment was brought to my attention by lunch enthusiast and blog commenter Hazrdus last week. I’d noticed the cute little diner establishment on previous trips but kept forgetting about it because my mind was on the restaurant at hand. Thanks to Mr. Hazrdus however, I made a trip and thoroughly enjoyed it.

As the name promises, The Burger Joint features delectable hamburgers at a good price with few frills. You can get a single or a double, cheese or no cheese, bacon or whatever you want (as long as it’s not a vegetable).

I ordered a single (3.50), since I’m trying to preserve my dainty figure. Also I saw a double coming out of the kitchen as i sat down, and there was no way that thing was going anywhere near my colon.

Anyhow, the single turned out to be quite substantial, easily 1/2 lb or more. The patty was about 3/4 inch thick, that magical dreamspace between thick and thin. It was also perfectly flat. I do not like “humps” in my burgers or burgers the size and shape of tennis balls. It leads to a condiment/toppings problem that I just cannot abide.

Bad toppings situation

The menu at the burger joint promises that they use only black angus, Iowa beef that is never frozen. In seeming confirmation of this I saw a cook in the back forming patties from a fresh 20lb log of delicious beef wrapped in clear plastic. No Sysco frozen patties here folks.

The burger tastes very good. I don’t think they season their meat at all which I appreciate. A simple application of iceberg lettuce (not shredded!) American (hail freedom!) cheese, and a thick slab of white onion (a la Winstead’s) rounds out the affair very nicely.

The onion rings were passable, well cooked but obviously not handmade. I wouldn’t really expect them to be handmade but they have the darker, crustier breading and not the light, yeasty type of batter (like beer batter) that I far prefer.

The vibe at this place is very friendly and very blue collar (for lack of a better term). There were a number of “working men” with big appetites (and bellies to match) downing those doubles. The woman who takes the orders is great. She makes sure that you enjoy your food and refills your drink before you leave the place. Incidentally she used to help run the Skillet Licker which got the Ferruzza treatment in this week’s Pitch. The owner who does the cooking chatted idly with me for a few minutes as well. He told me about apartment buildings he owns in downtown KCK, where he was on 9/11, and the beautiful women at a Wiccan bar in Strawberry Hill. Unfortunately he has yet to be invited to one of their Wiccan naked-dancing Solstice parties.

It’s an all around good time at the Burger Joint. The place only has 3-4 tables and a small lunch counter. While more or less full, I could still get a chair at the height of lunch hour. It’s a great place for a lone diner which (sob) I am most of the time because people actually talk to you.

The Burger Joint also has daily specials (being Friday it was a fish sandwich), Philly cheesesteaks, burritos and a few other weird items.

yes I did say burritos.

They serve breakfast as well. There is a small menu featuring eggs, omelets, french toast and the like.

This is a perfect place to hit up for a burger almost as good as Grandstand, with a little less hassle, a few more mustaches and a little more hospitality.

Read more:

Burger Joint on Urbanspoon

Yelp

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Bella Napoli: 6229 Brookside Blvd.

 Posted by at 7:27 pm
Jul 142008
 

Bella Napoli is a nice little Italian market and deli located near the black hole of death also known as Brookside Boulevard and 63rd Street. Like most places in Brookside, Bella Napoli is very good, but not nearly as good as everyone tells you. But that’s just overcompensation for the Midwestern inferiority complex (“no, I swear! Waldo pizza is better than anyplace else in the entire world!”)

Bella Napoli proper is the center storefront in a row of three allied business. On the north side is an attached pizza and pasta place, with table service and a faux finish inside which gives the impression that, rather than painted drywall, you are looking at 300 year old Italian stucco. It’s called ‘La Cucini di Mama’ or something that I assume means “Mama’s Kitchen.” Is that anything like “Mama’s Family?” I love it when restaurant owners try to immortalize their mothers with half-baked business ventures. In memory of my mother I’m gonna open a restaurant featuring fried spam, corned beef hash out of a can, and syrup made of brown sugar melted in butter.

On the south side of Bella Napoli is an attached espresso bar and a few tables.

The market and deli is obviously the oldest of these three establishments, and obviously the most interesting. There is a small but nice selection of foodstuffs and beverages for sale, as well as at least 6 varieties of olives in wooden barrels, and a mouth-watering assortment of Italian meats and cheeses behind the counter.

They offer seven kinds of sandwiches. I’m not gonna list them, go look at the damn website (I’d link directly to the menu but all those fools who build restaurant websites don’t realize that they foil me by building every damn thing in flash. Really. Sure, building a site where you can’t copy and paste text or link to any subpage is a great idea. Go look at the site–any reason it should be all Flash? Just wonderin’).

These are the best kind of Italian sandwiches. A small portion of highly seasoned meat, some fresh cheese, olive oil, maybe some roasted peppers or giardinera. Contrary to popular belief an Italian sub should not be piled high with three inches of salami (joke? anyone?), much less ham or mustard or *gag* mayonnaise. Bella Napoli does a nice job with the sandwiches, these fresh mozzarella is perfect, the olive oil is good, and the meats are high quality. I enjoyed a sub with prosciutto, fresh mozz, roasted red peppers and fresh basil.

My only quibble is the bread, which lacks the definitive crust that I’ve come to expect from good Italians. Italian bread should hurt the roof of your mouth a little when you bite into it. The bread at Cupini’s is better, but their sandwiches–while also good–are a tad less authentic than Bella Napoli.

You don’t really need side dishes with your sandwich, but chips are available. Drinks can be procured at the register. Sandwiches cost between 6 and 7 dollars so you’ll get out for less than 10 bucks all told. As for seating there are half a dozen tables scattered throughout the place and a few outside.

In terms of a quick lunch, I’m not sure you can do much better in Brookside than Bella Napoli.

Read more:

Bella Napoli on Urbanspoon

Yelp

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El Pulgarcito: 5921 Merriam Dr.

 Posted by at 6:52 pm
Jun 272008
 

Exterior

First of all, a big shout out to reader JH, who suggested I try this place out a month or two back. I truly appreciate all the great suggestions I get, and just wish that I could hit them all in a reasonable time frame. The life of an insatiable glutton is never complete.

Merriam Drive is turning into the best restaurant road on the wrong side of 39th street, what with Grandstand Burgers, Coyoacan, Woodyard BBQ, and now El Pulgarcito, which could be my favorite of the lot.

I haven’t done any research on the place, I didn’t check Yelp or Chowhound or other websites of dubious value to get a sense of what to expect. I have only been to one other Salvadoran restaurant before (now closed) and was pretty impressed at the combination of earthy, spicy, and tangy flavors.

Salvadoran food is analogous to Mexican cuisine, and even features some of the same names: tacos, tamales, burritos, etc. But it ain’t Mexican food, certainly not the type we have come to expect in Kansas City. For one Salvadoran dishes make judicious use of cheese, not the overabundance much Tex-Mex fare has made us accustomed to. Many items incorporate a simple combination of starch (tortilla, dough, bread), meat and spice.

Again, don’t forget I’m no expert on Salvadoran food, these are just my impressions. Is there a Salvadoran in the house?!

With that in mind I’ll go on to say that the pupusa is probably the hallmark of Salvadoran cuisine. El Pulgarcito has a damn good pupusa. It’s basically a flat dough pocket filled with your delicious choice of meat or cheese or whatever. On each table, the restaurant places a large canister of spicy cole-slaw type stuff, known as curtido. Unlike cole slaw, this mixture is vinegary and a little spicy with no sweet undertones.

Curtido

Combined with some mysterious red sauce in a squirt bottle, this was the perfect match for a rich, earthy pupusa (did I just write “rich, earthy pupusa”? ew, yes I did). The pork inside was some seriously delicious stuff, with a deep red color and shredded finely. Ahhh, God it was good.

Pupusas

Pupusas

I also ordered a pork tamale, which had excellent flavor but I found the consistency of the masa to be a tad gritty and not firm enough. Basically it was a little mushy. Did I eat the whole thing? you bet your ass I did.

Tamal

Rice and beans were both great–homemade and well seasoned. The rice was a tad overcooked, but it had probably been sitting in a pot for a while so I’ll give them a break on this one.

What about the atmosphere you ask?

Interior

Well, it’s charming, not because they try to be charming, but it’s just a humble, divey, honest little place. It has windows and booths on three sides with a counter in the center of the room. The whole joint is run by one waitress and one cook. The waitress is very good at her job, much more talkative with Spanish-speaking customers but I think this is just a language comfort thing. I was in and out in less than 1/2 hour. When I left about 1:30, the smallish restaurant was mostly full.

As for clientele, it varies widely inasmuch as a room full of latinos can vary widely. There was a hard-looking guy with a bimbette having a hangover brunch, a young dad and his 3 kids, a single businessman on his lunch break, a middle aged well dressed woman, some guys with repair shop uniforms…you get the idea.

I wish a had a newspaper or something to read while I was there but it was really no big deal. Hell of a lot better than having a television there. Actually, the lack of a TV vastly improves my impression of the place now that I think about it. I’m not a TV nazi, but 99% of the time, if someone else picks the channel, I lose.

Anyhow, El Pulgarcito gets the DLC stamp of approval, for what that’s worth. There is a lot more on the menu that I need to try, namely the whole fried fish I saw coming out of the kitchen to several tables. I overheard a conversation in Spanish between a guy who ate this fish and the waitress. Now, I don’t understand much Spanish but I’m pretty sure he was saying, “I’d like to put that delicious fish all over my private parts.” Yeah it looked and smelled quite spectacular. I’m not big on soup but there were several varieties on the menu and the soup looked homemade, authentic and smelled great.

Oh by the way, prices are good, but not as cheap as your typical Mexican joint. I spent $10 with tip. Of course that included a delicious tamarind drink so you cheapskates can stick with water.

Read more:

Yelp

El Pulgarcito on Urbanspoon

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Jun 172008
 

This is the same outfit as the Jerusalem Cafe in the heart of Westport and a newer place on 39th Street, but is located down the road apiece toward State Line Road.Jerusalem Bakery is like the Cafe’s older, cooler sister. Maybe a little uglier and less friendly, but the payoff is more satisfying. Rather than a typical restaurant, this place combines a very nice Mediterranean buffet with a retail operation, selling fresh baked goods, foodstuffs by the pound and grocery items. It’s a great place to pick up a pint of hummus or some olives for sure, but the buffet is what keeps me coming back.

This is one of the few buffets that just looks good at first glance. Believe me it’s difficult to make vats of meat, rice, sauces and casseroles look even remotely appetizing. The steamtable is not a vessel conducive to fine presentation. But they do a good job here. Options typically include gyro meat, bone-in chicken, falafel, rice, hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, tabouleh, moussaka, as well as some other things that either rotate, or I’m forgetting.

The moussaka is excellent, there’s just no getting around that. I also had something that I think was called “Jerusalem Meatloaf” which was very delicious. It was basically a meat roll with a texture very similar to good Italian meatballs. Light, lots of breadcrumbs and seasonings, probably includes veal or other meat besides beef. It was covered in a nice chunky tomato based sauce. The falafel is also good here, but not as tasty as fresh out of the fryer.


The buffet of course is a serve yourself affair, and you pay down at the end of the line. It costs 9 bucks for all you can eat with drink and 5.99 per pound for take out. I think those prices are right. There are several tables both inside and outside at which to eat. The atmosphere isn’t great but at least they don’t try overly hard. This is just a very solid and dependable Middle Eastern place.

Now, many of you have probably seen or visited “Golden Wraps.” This silly-named establishment is located at the far end of the Jerusalem Bakery but has a separate entrance and it’s own little kitchen. This is where you can get a falafel fresh out of the fryer or a kebab, gyro or whatever. I assume that the owners are the same, but my opinion of Golden Wraps is totally opposite that of the Bakery/Buffet. Of course I’ve never technically eaten at Golden Wraps, but I just don’t like the name and the sign. I’m perfectly willing to change my mind. But when I come to this location, I can’t see passing up this delicious buffet.

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KC Grill & Kabob: 8611 Hauser Ct.

 Posted by at 8:20 pm
Jun 162008
 

KC Grill & Kabob is a nice little Middle Eastern lunch spot situated in the back of a shopping center off 87th Parkway in Lenexa. Despite its unassuming locale, it manages to create a friendly, bustling ambiance with a small sea of tables, some fresh plants in the window and a small buffet at the back of the place. On nice days, the door is propped open allowing a nice breeze to filter through. There are also a couple tables outside on the sidewalk. Inside there were two TVs quietly showing a DVD called “Belly Dancing Divas.” This certainly set the mood, but I found the mild titillation somewhat distracting.

It seems to be a buffet-only affair at lunchtime. Buffets are weird because you walk in and aren’t sure whether to hit to food line, sit down and wait, wait to be seated…whatever. These are details that irk insecure Midwestern diners. There is only one waitress working the place, and she seems to be hustling quite a bit even though there are no orders to take, and no food to deliver. But between seating people, taking drink orders, refilling glasses and busing tables she keeps busy. This is not really an issue until you need your check.

But I’m happy to report that the food here is generally quite good within certain boundaries. Basically, it’s good to experiment with the authentic items on the buffet, which most of them are. Some of the staples of Middles Eastern food are lacking (no hummus?) but there are some interesting things with names that I’ve forgotten, like an interesting lentil and tomato dish, some kind of sauce reminiscent of tzatsiki, and a small, flat, vegetable patty that tastes like an Indian pakorah.

I thought I overheard from the owner that this place reflects an Afghan perspective on middle Eastern food, but I have since learned that it is Persian. The first time I visited, a big round table was occupied by some native Iraqis who expressed great pleasure in the food. The owner tends to wander around the place, joking with people, checking up on whether they like the food. So you tend to overhear lots of things. Since I had not dined there before, the owner instructed the waitress to show me the buffet and explain what all the items were. A nice touch, but a tad awkward. The owner is quite a character, though. He was constantly making jokes I only half understood, and constantly talks to the assortment of regulars that eat there. The restaurant business attracts very colorful people. That’s my way of saying that you’d have to be crazy to open a restaurant, much less a Persian place in a Lenexa strip mall.

I’m happy to report that KC Grill & Kabob attracts a very nice lunch crowd and I’m not worried for its immediate future. Basically I like the place because the buffet makes it fast, it has a local owner who’s kind of a nutter, and some of the food is very good. I did have a couple of disappointing things on one visit. One chicken dish was basically cooked with cheap BBQ sauce and another with something reminiscent of Frank’s Red hot. It was probably Frank’s Red hot.

My advice? Stick with the kabobs and rice dishes (of which there are several). The cabbage rice in particular is excellent, something I’ve never had before. They always have grilled tomatoes, too which are a nice accompaniment to cooked meats. The Baba ghanoush is quite tasty, too but the pita (if that’s what it is) is thin and kind of cracker-like.

If it looks authentic, eat it. If it looks like BBQ chicken, don’t.

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Jun 022008
 

After parking, walking up and inside the Woodyard BBQ I was ready to declare it the King of all Kansas City Lunch Spots. I had heard about this place for a long time, but only recently figured out what the actual name was and where it was located. Well, it turns out to be right down Merriam Lane a bit from Grandstand in that interesting semi-industrial area where Wyandotte and Johnson Counties run together.

Basically the Woodyard is a humble barbecue operation run out of the bottom floor of a semi-dilapidated house on the South side of Merriam Lane. The place doubles as a literal woodyard, and the parking lot is basically a big gravel pit surrounded by piles of various kinds of chopped wood. The owner waved at us as we drove in. People were parked every which way, redneck style.

As we walked up the steps to a good sized wooden deck we were greeted by the owner who was fiddling around with some wood or something. We were also greeted by a gigantic brick smoker, puffing out great clouds of deliciosity right there next to the seating, which is on the deck. There is a small room with a counter through the front door. That’s where the ordering and condimenting happens. There is a cooler where you can grab the beverage of your choice and a small selection of cheap domestic beers (and corona) available cheaply. My meal came with my choice of drink, and apparently, that includes beer. Gotta love that. The prices are excellent, two of us got out for less than $18 and the portions are large.

The staff brings out your food to you on the deck or wherever you happen to be. The lady at the counter told us we could wander around, hang out, sit wherever and they would find us. There is a separate large pavilion with seating a stone’s throw away from the deck proper, complete with a roof and ceiling fans but it was empty at the time I visited. The Woodyard could throw a serious party with a lot of people if they were so inclined.

Woodyard patio

So there we were, with our car parked awkwardly in a gravel lot, drinking budweiser from a can, sitting on a deck watching a dude who looks like an ex-con flip ribs on the smoker. In other words, it’s a lot like how I spend the rest of my free time. No really, it was like going to a friends summer BBQ, or more like the summer BBQ of someone who you don’t really know that well. There was a even a set of horseshoes sitting on top of the trash can–I was tempted to set up shop there all afternoon.

On to the food:

Let’s get this out of the way first. Woodyard is NOT the best barbecue in Kansas City. It just ain’t. I’ve read and heard glowing things about it all over the place but the truth is that it does not compare favorably to Oklahoma Joe’s, Bryant’s, Jack Stack or (insert your fave bbq place here). But the food is prepared well and the experience is thoroughly enjoyable.

Burnt Ends

Beans were very good but almost certainly dressed up canned beans. The potato salad was run of the mill. The cole slaw was average. The pulled pork, however, was extremely interesting. It lacked the bite that hickory smoked woods give to meat, and was most likely cooked with some sort of fruit wood. But it had an amazing, buttery consistency and very good flavor. The ribs were similarly smoked but a little fatty for my taste. I think they could have used another hour on the smoker, because the texture of the meat was a little too…real. not that I didn’t eat them all. I liked the brisket but it was shaved so thin that it dried out quickly. Plus, I just like a thicker slice of beef, akin to that at Bryants or LC’s.

But I have to say, these are some of the most friendly and easygoing people I have ever encountered in a lunch spot. And the atmosphere is quite compelling. This is a very special place to have in KC and would be really fun to hang out at for a long while with friends. But as a lunch spot? I don’t know if it works. It seems like a place much better savored over a long time than quickly before your 1:30 meeting. It’s a destination place, and everyone should try it.

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