I've spent a great deal of time in the Kansas side of Kansas City, last week would be the first time for the Missouri side.
I didn't get a lot of time to snoop around town like I would normally like to; I was traveling with a larger than normal herd this time but we did get in some good local eats so let's get to that!
Stroud's, where they choke their own chickens. No, really.
The portions in this place are insane, no one should ever ingest that much fried anything in one sitting! That said, the dinner servings and side dishes are served family style. Not many places in this area serve sweet and unsweet tea, and Stroud's offers both! The fried chicken and country fried chicken are really awesome. The mashed potatoes and green beans were just like your granny used to make. To end the meal, each person gets a piping hot cinnamon roll. I really didn't care for these, they were like fried dough bathed in cinnamon. Not bad, just not my thing.
Next, we have Smokin' Guns BBQ.
This place is in an industrial side of town, fairly easy to navigate and find. Be VERY careful crossing the multitude of railroad crossings, there are some intersections where there are no yield or stops for any direction - you run the risk of being annihilated by a semi truck.
Food! The lunch portions are perfect! I had some turkey and pork, both tender, well smoked - cooked just right. They seem to only have 2 sauces, regular and hot. I love hot sauce, theirs was really mild in my world. There is a large selection of sides to choose from. My top notables were the fried mac-n-cheese nuggets and potato salad. You also get a pickle with your meal, and a pickle always makes a meal complete.
Finally, we have The Corner Cafe. This is a bit "chainy" for me but MAN the food is awesome. I will admit I nearly dismissed this one because the first thing you smell when you walk in the door is sugar from the pastries cabinet at the host station. I love sweet stuff as much as the next girl, but this was a bit too much for me. The food here was fantastic!! The french toast was perfect, my coworker had an egg poached over medium and said it was exactly right. The spaghetti and meatball/sausage meal was ok, a little bland but still good. Portion sizes are perfect, not too much or too little. Oh and they have corn nuggets... fried balls of corn goodness. Holy deliciousness.
I will note here that I stayed at the Hampton Inn by Worlds of Fun. If there's ANYTHING I have learned in these years of travel, it is not to stay in hotels near amusement parks because they are typically trashed. This location wasn't the worst I've stayed in, but it was far from the best. The "crowd" you get there is loud, it's right next to a highway and there's a biker bar across the street - noise is just a bit high for my liking. Also, the air conditioning in the gym doesn't work. It just doesn't work. There's a remote control on the wall that management will tell you to use to adjust the temperature, but about 3 minutes after you turn it on and get back on the treadmill the ac goes out again. Not ideal, but it was nice enough to run outside for a while so no big loss.
Oh, just a note for those traveling through KCI. This airport is small and set up a little strange. Security is at each gate or section of gates instead of the terminals. Depending on where you are, you may or may not have access to anything other than a little convenience kiosk that is really overpriced. I travelled on AirTran/Southwest this time, so I was fortunate enough to have access to the kiosk and a Starbucks (still overpriced). It's very unfortunate that there are still airports that get away with price gouging like they do. $4 for a 16oz bottle of water is robbery. I've made more effort to carry a reusable water bottle with me to refill at water fountains to avoid the excess cost. Some airports seem to be encouraging this, Atlanta for instance has a water bottle space above most of their fountains now to fill bottles. This is also great when you are in an airport before concessions open or after they've closed.
Anyway, that's all I have today! On to the next trip.
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