By OWEN MORRIS
My goal is to have this series wrapped up by Halloween, which means I've got a lot of writing ahead of me. Fortunately, the response has been great, and I'm trying to link to any and all lists I find other people doing.
Today's pick will surprise people, either for being listed as low as it is or for being listed at all. The food itself -- a Kansas City strip -- is neither surprising nor daring. In recent years, though, which steakhouse is best has become an increasingly opinionated argument. Kansas City no longer has one steakhouse that stands head and shoulders above the competition.
In the past week, as I've been thinking about steakhouses, I have asked a lot of people what they think is the best steakhouse. The answers have run the gamut from new places such as Sullivan's to old classics such as the Golden Ox.
While's there a half-dozen steakhouses with great locations, interiors and varying degrees of aged steaks, there's one that screams Kansas City more than the rest.
My sixth choice of top 10 foods to eat before you die is the Kansas City strip from Plaza III. The original Plaza III, not the one in Leawood that's not even open for lunch anymore, but the Plaza Plaza III that remains the quintessential steakhouse of Kansas City even if, as its detractors say, it has lost a step in recent years.
Plaza III represents everything a steakhouse should be. It has a great location that everyone can see, but it's not inviting to everyone. The rooms are dark and wood-paneled and give off the permeating stench of money. The waiters and waitresses are professionals who are friendly but not too friendly, good-looking but not too good looking.
The sides and fish dishes are standard steakhouse fare, and their remote placement on the menu (as opposed to the steak) gives you the not-all-too-subtle suggestion of "just order the damn steak!"
There's not much to say about the steak itself. Good steaks are purposely plain with just a touch of salt, pepper, butter and nothing else, allowing the meat to speak for itself. It all comes down to how a place stores its steaks, and Plaza III uses the aging process, storing the beef in a "specially designed Beef Locker for 21-28 days to develop natural tenderness and exceptional flavor."
Becoming a chain with locations in Boston and Jacksonville has certainly not helped the level of food, but if the steaks have openly depreciated in quality, I have not noticed it. The biggest noticeable change is what has appreciated, and that would be the prices. Plaza III bills itself as one of the top 10 steakhouses in the country, and it charges like it. The regular Kansas City strip is $39, and the large is $46. Then again, every steakhouse has been raising the price of steak as much as possible because it has become so expensive. In most restaurants, the margin on food costs is about 30 percent (for every $10 you spend, the restaurant spends three dollars on food), but steak has always had much tighter margins, like 40 percent, and sometimes higher, so if the prices are higher, the reason is usually because the meat is costing more.
There are two types of true Kansas City steakhouses: the homegrown, family-style, part westeners like Jess and Jim's and then the upscale, country-club atmosphere like Plaza III. Both have their merits and both have good steaks, but if I had to choose one and only one to eat before dying, it would have to be Plaza III.
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I don't know how anyone could stand to eat a dinner at Jess and Jims. I would have to go in as it was one of my wine accounts. Each time it had a distinct and disgusting "nursing home" smell.
BTW, if you were an escourt in KC, wouldn't you be in the Capital Grille too?
If you want your steak cooked RIGHT in this town, you have to go to a fish place.
Conversely, for the best shrimp, go to a steakhouse.
Don't know why. Don't care. Have eaten out nearly every night for decades, and that's what it comes down to. Take my word for it.
Plaza iii is all right but i like to go to the Cap grill and play 'can you spot the escort?"
Plaza III has vastly better atmosphere, but Jess and Jims has the hands down best steaks in the city.
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