| Tina Myers is back in business |
On that farewell visit to Yarbrough's, I brought along my friends Carol Ann (who had eaten at the old Fairway location many times) and Emily, who had never eaten at either location. The food was very old-fashioned, but the cinnamon rolls and desserts were as terrific as always. And why not? They were baked by our waitress, Tina Myers, who told us that after Yarbrough's closed, she was planning to open her own catering company (she already had the cards printed up) and, eventually, her own restaurant.
In February, Tina Marie Myers opened her namesake restaurant in the back of an antique mall, The Ridge, at 7410 Nieman Road -- it's right next to the Big Lots store -- and is serving her signature cinnamon rolls, fruit and cream pies and home-style dinners. It's a totally wild experience.
For one thing, if you don't know Tina Marie's is there in the back of the antique mall, you probably won't be able to find it in the Trailridge Shopping Center. Even more interesting is the history of the area where Myers has carved out a charming little dining room (painted with a mural of Tuscany, I think). It was once a teen Christian nightclub called "Club Illusion." Not to be disrespectul or anything, but a friend of mine says that "Club Illusion" sounds more like a drag club than a place for suburban Christian kids to sip soda pop and dance to Amy Grant CDs.
| Eat...and shop! |
Myers offers soups, salads, a variety of sandwiches and daily specials. I ordered the hot roast beef sandwich, served with mashed potatoes and slathered with brown gravy. Dinner specials include two side items from a list that includes pickled beets, cottage cheese, gelatin salad, red cabbage, green beans, corn and whipped spuds.
"It's just like the old Leona Yarbrough's food," said Carol Ann, who joined me for lunch yesterday with Bob and Lillis. Carol ordered the tilapia, which Myers encrusts with crushed tortilla chips. It's actually very good. Bob didn't care for his chicken salad-on-toast because it was "mushy," but Lillis loved her pastrami reuben.
The desserts were good: chocolate meringue pie -- did I mention that Myers bakes all the pies for the hot new Prairie Village gourmet burger joint BRGR? -- a lattice-crust apple pie and a caramel turtle sundae.
Tina Marie's is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
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I am going for lunch today and expect it to be as good or better than Leona's. I loved leona's!
Went there on a Sunday around 1:00 p.m. One of us had the fried chicken special and the other had the Tortilla crusted Tilapia. It was 1:50 p.m. before we got our food. The main courses were good. The sides not so good. The gravy on the mashed potatoes tasted like it was out of a jar. The green beans probably out of the biggest can they come in. I was so disappointed. The waitress who was new kept apologizing for the delay and made it up with complimentary desserts. Nice try but not enough to get me back.
I wanted to say thank you for writing about Tina Marie's. Tina is my daughter and I am so very proud of her. Thank you again and you go Tina. I know that she is doing wonderful. By the way, I live in Indiana and don't get to see her very often.
I'd wager the food at Tina Marie's is probably better than at Yarbrough's, where I had some of the worst food I ever paid for.
thanks JH! I'm not sure that many people know that much about Shawnee, let alone The Ridge and Tina Marie's. I did see some cool stuff at The Ridge, including a set of Gloria Vanderbilt glassware. Very '70s chic.
I'm glad you posted about this place. One day a friend and I were waiting on our food at Johnny C's and decided to stop into The Ridge. Wow, first I had no idea how gigantic that antique shop was...freaking huge. Second, I see Tina Marie kneading a huge lump of dough. I talked to her and found out she was just starting her cafe. Cool! Anyway, I'd say most people don't even know about The Ridge much less Tina Marie's
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