The flurry of comments inspired by Jonathan Bender's recent post about the Kansas City restaurants that, perhaps, shouldn't be institutions provided a few lumps -- and I don't mean in the cream gravy -- to the 78-year-old Stroud's, Kansas City's best-known fried-chicken restaurant. No matter what you think of the dishes served at this beloved restaurant -- which moved from its original roadhouse location to a building on Shawnee Mission Parkway in 2008 -- you have to give it credit for outlasting all of its competition.
There were several more popular fried-chicken spots than Stroud's over the last seven decades, including the Green Parrot Inn. (The famous Wishbone Restaurant came later -- in 1948.)
| In 1882, the long-forgotten Vienna Model Bakery, Cafe and Restaurant stood here. |
| "Society" met at Pusateri's back in the 1930s |
It's not easy finding a place to dine after most traditional restaurants close, although we do have our favorites.
In its wilder past, Kansas City was loaded with great spots to eat after midnight.
| Putsch's 210 in its heyday |
In that same Fat City post, another postcard, pictured here, from the Fat City archives was displayed.
| Where was this place? |
Well so do I, although sometimes the prices make me cry. The menu pictured here, from an Overland Park burger joint that was popular in the mid-1980s, lists a pork tenderloin dinner with salad, green beans or corn, mashed potatoes and gravy and bread and butter for $3.95. This restaurant had two locations (the other was in Raytown) and the Johnson County site reportedly has a not-too-distant date with the wrecking ball.
Who can remember the name of this long-gone restaurant? The first commenter to guess correctly will be named "Fat City Historian of the Week." That's all you'll get, I'm afraid, since our gift certificate for a free plate of corn bread and beans became worthless when this restaurant went out of business.
| Forren's is gone, but the postcard is worth two bucks |
Forren's must have been a very big deal in Emporia. The postcard boasts that it had five private dining rooms seating more than 500 people. The restaurant served "hot dishes, cool sparkling salads, and fine foods ... without extravagance."
You can find collectibles from the old Forren's on ebay (including this postcard, which averages about two bucks). That got me thinking about the relics from other restaurants closer to home. What's valuable and what isn't?
| Hearty drinking on the 30th floor |
Now that Grunauer -- the Viennese restaurant owned and operated by chef Peter Grunauer and his two children, Nicholas and Elizabeth -- is officially open in the old City Tavern location in the Crossroads, it's a good time to look back at another venue serving Viennese cuisine in the metro. Yes, there was one.
But until last weekend, I sure didn't know that. I attended the annual Postcard Show & Sale at the Lenexa Community Center a couple of days ago and found some great vintage stuff, including the color postcard from the 1970s, pictured above, of the Salzberg Haus. I wonder whether any Fat City readers recall eating there.
| Great chefs started out cooking with a light bulb |
James Beard Award-winning chef Debbie Gold recently told me that she started out cooking on the Easy-Bake Oven she got when she was six years old: "Everyone had one! You have to learn to cook on a light bulb sometime!"
Lots of future boy chefs started cooking on Easy Bake ovens too, even though the toy's Web site proclaims "the classic light bulb oven still delights with a girl's first baking experience."
That didn't stop Mark Wingard, the co-owner and chef at You Say Tomato from asking for one and getting it: "I cooked pies, cakes, brownies on it," he says. "You bet I had one."
LOOKS GREAT TO ME!
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