To whet your appetite for The Pitch's annual Best of Kansas City issue, we're counting down our favorite Top 50 dishes each weekday until October 7.
The slow-food movement is for suckers. At Winstead's, it's all about instant gratification. Within a few minutes of sitting down, you'll be trying to decide what to tackle first. It turns out, there's no wrong choice.
Winstead's is the burger I ate the morning of my wedding, pleasantly surrounded by the rodeo clowns of the American Royal Parade in the aqua-pink-and-chrome diner. Where else could you tell someone they've got a bit of mustard on their pancake makeup?
In order to balance out bites of salty and sweet, get yourself a steakburger, a Fifty-Fifty (onion rings and french fries), and a special chocolate frosty. The standard burger order is the everything (mustard, pickle, ketchup and onion). The steakburgers are thin and uncomplicated. It's the burger you could eat from 8 to 80 years old, although I'd swap in the grilled onions (no extra charge).
The onion rings feature sweet onions encased in a glorious, golden-brown breading. You only get three with a Fifty-Fifty, so eat them slowly. Winstead's recommends you down the frosty with a spoon. Use your fries instead -- it's infinitely better than ketchup.
Winstead's won't make you wait, which is good, because there is no way you ever could.
Our list so far:
No. 50: Chocolate Malt from Fox's Drug Store
No. 49: Il Parma from Bella Napoli
No. 48: Italian sausage and eggs from Cascone's Grill
No. 47: Orange Roll from Clock Tower Bakery
No. 46: Tacos de cochinita from Frida's Contemporary Mexican Cuisine
No. 45: Barbecued pork bun from 888 International Market
No. 44: Tableside fresh mozzarella from Jasper's
No. 43: Gyro Sandwich from Mr. Gyros Greek Food & Pastry
No. 42: Apple strudel from Grunauer
No. 41: Rice noodle bowl from dim sum at Bo Lings
No. 40: E-Crush from Hi-Hat Coffee
No. 39: Flight of Freshness from Fresher than Fresh Snow Cones
No. 38: Curried chicken salad from Cafe Provence
No. 37: Apple fritter from John's Space Age Donuts
No. 36: Pollo con limone e olive from Lidia's Kansas City
No. 35: Wedding-cake cookie from LattéLand
No. 34: Stroud's cinnamon rolls
No. 33: Smoked Polish from Werner's
No. 32: Burger and frites from Westport Cafe & Bar
No. 31: Paletas from Paleterias Tropicana
No. 30: Goat korma at New Cafe Tandoor
No. 29: Lemon cake from Café Europa
No. 28: Chocolate Mousse Torte from Napoleon Bakery
No. 27: Spring rolls from Vietnam Cafe
No. 26: French fries from LC's Bar-B-Q
No. 25: Classic Cookie's herbed-potato-and-sausage casserole
No 24: Farmer greens salad at The Farmhouse
No. 23: Egg salad sandwich from You Say Tomato
No. 22: Waldorf Salad from Bloomsbury Bistro
No. 21: Pork tenderloin sandwich from Kitty's Cafe
No. 20: Root beer from Mugs Up Drive In
No. 19: Flank steak sandwich from Happy Gillis
No. 18: Chicken Picatta from the Hereford House
No. 17: Mom's Macaroni and Cheese from McCoy's Public House
No. 16: Fried green tomato salad from Café Roux
No. 15: Veggie burger from Room 39
No. 14: Onion rings from Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue
No. 13: Cranberry scone from Oak Street Coffee
No. 12: Chicken walnut pasta from Osteria il Centro
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