Most Popular
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The Shawnee Mission East class of '08 loves its gay homecoming king
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The War on La Familia
Familia Loca wanted revenge on a rival KCK gang. Instead, they spilled the blood of a 2-year-old girl.
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Can't get a Catholic exorcism in Kansas City? James Vivian is here to help
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Missouri biologist Frederick vom Saal and his team exposed the dangers of bisphenol A — and earned the wrath of the plastic industry.
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A soccer mom looks back on a life of loving Bon Jovi
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Missouri State Rep. Jeff Grisamore uses the death of his infant daughter to ask for campaign cash (11)
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The War on La Familia (9)
Familia Loca wanted revenge on a rival KCK gang. Instead, they spilled the blood of a 2-year-old girl.
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The Shawnee Mission East class of '08 loves its gay homecoming king (6)
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A white woman wins a lawsuit after elected officials reveal that they're sensitive to racial diversity (5)
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Holsey Turner, aka Hozey-T, is Kansas City's newest unknown rapper on the rise (5)
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Boudreaux's Louisiana Seafood & Steaks tries for Mardi Gras but drops too many crab balls
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At Happy Gillis Café & Hangout, a neighborhood gathering place returns to form
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At Paradise India, one intuitively knows to just start eating
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With its superb food, Lawrence's Genovese reclaims a notorious Italian name
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Rumors of restaurant closings and openings make for a game of telephone
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KU Prof Appears on Jon 'Rock Chalk' Stewart's Daily Show
09:56AM 05/09/08 -
Daily Briefs: Gross, Hillary! PLUS: Diagnosis: Self-Murder
09:26AM 05/09/08 -
Cyclists Gear Up for a Week of Festivities on KC Streets
07:13AM 05/09/08 -
Sweet-sounding Grupo Control at Crown Center
08:37AM 05/09/08 -
The Magnificent TMD: This Is Me, Reviewed
08:30AM 05/09/08 -
All the Shows Fit to Print
08:30AM 05/09/08
What we are writing about
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Recent Articles By Charles Ferruzza
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The Peachtree doesn't just serve soul food — it conjures spirits, too
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Rumors of restaurant closings and openings make for a game of telephone
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With its superb food, Lawrence's Genovese reclaims a notorious Italian name
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At Paradise India, one intuitively knows to just start eating
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Finally, the time has come for a bite of the deep-fried weenie
National Features
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Broward-Palm Beach New Times
Things That Go Bump on the Flight
Something went horribly wrong on American Airlines Flight 48--and we've got the pictures to prove it.
By Ed Newton -
Seattle Weekly
Being Gary Busey
Everybody thinks Jeff Swanson is somebody famous. And he does nothing to dissuade them of the notion.
By Aimee Curl -
Cleveland Scene
The Artful Dodger
Women loved Zachary Coleman. And he loved their money.
By Lisa Rab
I have a friend who lives in California and comes to visit once a year. She's fond of Kansas City's iconic restaurants (Stroud's, Arthur Bryant's, Plaza III), but she's particularly thrilled if we can squeeze in a visit to the 12-year-old Peachtree Buffet (6800 Eastwood Trafficway) for what she calls a "soul-food extravaganza."
The buffet was created by James and Vera Willis, owners of the new Peachtree Restaurant in Lee's Summit (see review). The place quickly built a loyal following of fans hungry for generous portions of home-style cooking — including fried chicken, baked chicken, beef ribs, cornmeal-crusted catfish, fluffy yeast rolls and arguably the best bread pudding in the city. It's already outlasted most of its rivals, including the beloved Three Friends Bar-B-Q at 2461 Prospect, which had offered a weekend buffet on the second floor of the building.
But another soul-food buffet deserves some serious praise here: Papa Lew's Buffet. It's been at 2128 East 12th Street for four years but was started by the late Lewis Lyman Sr. at 18th and Vine in 1982 — long before this historic neighborhood got a makeover, two museums and, for a time, the original Peachtree Restaurant.
The buffet at Papa Lew's is smaller and less elaborate than at the Peachtree, but the staff and customers are warm and friendly, and the food is wonderful. The restaurant opens at 8 a.m. for breakfast (both buffet and menu offerings), but so far I've only stuffed myself at lunch, on great fried chicken and extraordinary chicken and dumplings. The menu changes daily, but I love the crunchy catfish fingers, the creamy mac and cheese, the flavorful greens, the cornbread and the fried pork chops. My server chided me for skipping the tender neckbones and black-eyed peas, but I had already eaten too much by that point and almost passed on tasting the two cobblers, peach and apple. They looked so tempting that I had to try, you know, a couple of small bowls.
On Thursdays — from 6 to 9 p.m. — Papa Lew's offers all-you-can-eat crab legs and the soul-food buffet and a beverage for less than $20. "It's a really good deal," my waitress told me.
It's a deal as sweet as the casino buffets, and, even better, Papa Lew's is nonsmoking. Now hand me a plate, baby.
