Thirsty's Cantina

Oh Thirsty's, how I missed you. As a follow up to Saturday's review, I had to go back and try an old favorite. There was much anticipation in the household for taco Tuesday at Thirsty's. Would it be the same? Of course not, I had kids with me. We arrived at their corner location and parked in front of Planters. There was 70s rock blasting from the speakers outside. Good sign. I digest better to Steve Miller Band.
We were greeted by the GM, who informed my kids it was "Kids Pay for Parents" night. The place of course had none of the old divey Westport locale, but it was bright and friendly. Our waitress quickly had our drinks and orders and brought us some salsa. Hot salsa. For once, salsa that is hot. Not say its hot and its not. Hot.
Our "all you can eat" tacos actually came with beans and rice. I find this usual and smart. Unusual because I don't see it alot. Smart because beans and rice are cheap, You load up on those, you don't have to make so many tacos. And the refried beans were good. Like, really good. Not the tasteless crap you get most places. Rice was good too. The GM informed me they have changed the rice recipe 10 times over the years and you only get about 30% of the people that like them, no matter the recipe. Oh, well.
Oh, and let me say their not just a Mexican place. Their motto is "I'd rather eat food in a bar, than drink in a restaurant". I agree.
So on to the tacos. They were good. Not "oh, my God"fantastic. But good. The kind with the deep fried shell, not out of box kind. Most places you get meat, cheese and lettuce. Thirsty's kicks it up a notch with adding tomatoes, green onions and parmesan sprinkled on top the shredded cheese.
Add in a Tecate, and you have a recipe for heaven.
Food: 4.5 spoons
Price: 3 spoons
Kitch: 1 spoons. But it didn't need it. Nice clean bar and happy customers.
Bonus: My daughter's new favorite place. I'll make the drive from Indy any Tuesday.

Eat your way around the world, or at least the City Market

When I met my wife 17 years ago, she was Market Master of the historic City Market. Many credit her for turning it from a flea market to the first class farmer's market it is today. She hasn't worked there for many years, but most of the farmers and shop owners from those days still give her a big hug when we come around. But this blog is about food.
The City Market is not only a great place for fresh, locally grown produce and products, but also a great place to spend the morning grazing.
In addition to just wandering the islands and stalls for free samples, I usually grab a coffee and a fluffy scone at the City Market Coffee Company. The place gets packed early, but here's a secret. Right up front there's a place to drop a $1 and just pick up an 8oz. cup o' Joe and avoid the line. But, if you want one of those scones I talked about, you'll have to get in line.

Now I need some protein. Carolla's Italian Market grills their own sausages and burgers right there. Or there's other vendors scattered around grilling sausages and dogs with plenty of grilled fresh peppers and onions. There's even a little breakfast cart selling biscuits and gravy.
I discovered the beef pies at Tikka house this morning. My fingers still smell like the yummy beef, onions and spices packed inside this crusty little piece of heaven. They've got feta filled and gyro pies, too.

Also new is Bloom bakery. You can watch them making bread from the big window outside. They have, in additional to their fresh baked breads, wonderful little cupcakes called buds. They bake them in those little cups the dentist gives you your mouthwash in at teeth cleaning time. My daughter and I split a Vanilla Bean and a Hummingbird (orange zest with coconut butter cream icing). Yes, it was as good as it sounds.
Then we all split a ham and cheese with jalapeno stuffed croissant. Nummy.....
On the way out, after snagging some Morrel mushrooms, we found a lady making Shroopwaffels (sp?) outside the Dutch Flower place. These were little waffleconey material with cinnamon maple syrup between. My daughter wanted to go back for more.
There's more. Way more. Salsa and dips and cheeses and jellies....
A stop at Alhabasshi's Mediterranean Market is worth it. Sample all the great nuts and dried fruits. Outside he sells spices out of the bag for a dollar a scoop. Kids will walk away with a cinnamon stick for free.

Just north of the Market is a large Asian Market. If you can put on your big-boy pants and breath through your mouth, you can get cheap, authentic noodles, spices and dumplings straight from Asia. I always see people bringing in coolers and buying massive amounts of seafood, despite the fishy smell. And don't forget about the restaurants scattered around the perimeter of the Market. Winslow's has solid BBQ and great place to hang out on summer nights. I miss the Delaware Cafe, but I hear the the Farmhouse that replaced it is good. Don't waste your time waiting for breakfast at Cascone's. I never have understood the appeal. Ketchupy Italian sauce and expensive prices are what await you after waiting an hour in line.
I discovered a couple of places from my past right next the Planters (a KC institution in itself). While living in my crappy little studio apartment off the Plaza I used to order Antonio's Pizza. For a time, Antonio's and Torre's battled for pizza supremacy in Westport. Torre's is still there, so that tells you who won. So I was surprised and happy to see Antonio's is back, down by the market. New Greasy Spooners adventure!
Right on the corner next door, is Thirsty's. This is another Westport veteran that moved down to the Market. I can't tell you how many Sundays I spent at Thirsty's having all-you-can-eat tacos and watching the Chiefs lose. So glad they're back. My wife almost cried when she saw the sign.

Stroud's

I have to start out by saying I miss the old location at 85th and Troost. Yes, it's been gone for awhile, but the hurt is still fresh. Come on, a creaky, uneven floor, and an old guy playing at the piano? It doesn't get any better than that. The one up north is still cool, but the new location in Fairway has no style.
I ask every person new to KC the same question, "have you been to Stroud's?". I always get the same answer. "Yes, but the chicken wasn't that good."
I'm going to let you in on a secret the moron who sent you there forgot to tell you. Come closer. Lean in...
The chicken's not that great. Never has been. Now, the chicken fried steak, the pork chops (which you can get grilled or fried, or both on the same plate), the mashed potatoes, oh God the mashed potatoes, and pretty much everything else is sweet, delicious mana from heaven.
My wife and I have been trying to copy the green beans for years, but still haven't got it right. And my sister and I could finish off a platter of gizzards and livers before you could say "Gross! Gizzards and livers?"
Next secret. Have everybody order a different side, that way you can have them all.
So the next time your aunt Matilda comes in from Cleveland, and you want to take her to Stroud's, repeat after me, "don't get the chicken."

Food: 5 spoons
Service: 4 spoons, you have to wait, but it's worth it. I think they've had the same waitresses forever.
Kitch: 2 (I averaged the 2 locations)
Bonus: The cinnamon rolls!

Classy Burger-geddon

   -To  start off,  I’m not a big fan of Gourmet hamburgers. A good burger is a good burger, but for the sake of argument we go head to head with Kansas City's top foo-foo burger joints. Also, I'd like to add I prefer my burgers a little thinner so Hi-Boy is still the real winner here. But BRGR puts up a good fight; great for kids, dates or out of towners. They try to keep it real, with burgers everyone will enjoy, unlike Blanc. The BRGR Mac and Cheese debate is still going on here at GS. It's tasty, but I dont think it is right for  kids - tastes like wine is in i,t or some funky cheese yo mama might like. Oh, and I think both places have soupy  ketchup.

Burger-geddon

It's on. It's more than stripy pants versus checker pants. As any reader of this blog knows, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Hi-Boy lover. But its time to give Big-Boy it's due. The Spooners headed to the one on 40-Hiway in sweet-sweet Indy, home to so many delicious dives.
The place itself froze in time mid 80s. That always a good thing.
We ordered a variety: burgers, tenderloin, fries, onion rings, tots, shakes and something wonderful sounding. A bacon-dog.
They should have called my burger the lettuce burger instead of the Big Boy. Bland. Tasteless, except for the lettuce. The tots were fine, and the shake okay. The onion rings could have been a little crisper, and the tenderloin was just sad.
The bacon-dog was the best thing, which isn't saying much because it wasn't that good. C'mon Big Boy, I wanted you to put up more of a fight. You got this rep to live up to. A history.
Victory to Hi-Boy.

Bonus: To top off this sad little adventure we went to Flea Mart down 40 a ways. Always on the look out for something kitchy, I was excited. It just got worse. They say the gates of Hell are disguised as places of misery, like the DMV and clown colleges. We found another. It was like a really expensive Salvation Army store. Expired meds and Conway Twitty albums anyone? How 'bout a Klingon knife?

Food: 2 Spoons, right out of the freezer to the fryer
Kitch: 4, I love the 80s
Price: 3, not too bad
Bonus: Bacon on a hot dog.

LOBITO'S Steak Burger?

I'm sad. So sad. I wanted to like this place. It would make 40 HiWay and Blue Ridge Cutoff the Golden Triangle of fabulous fast food, Hi-Boy, Dickson' Chili and Lobitos. Alas, it was not be. It was like Christmas day, where you're expecting a Red Rider BB gun and getting a sweater, instead.

Service, kitch factor (see photos) were 5 spoons easy. They had all the cheesy Mexican decor and creepy Easter bunnies. The lady that served us was super nice. I could see it broke Jacques's heart to tell her "No, I don't want the rest of my fish taco".

I ordered the Carne Asada. My steak was bland and tough. My beans bland and soupy. My rice was, ...well you get the picture. The steak burger was even so-so. Plenty of grub, but if I wanted tons of bland Tex-Mex I'd go to Ponac's (oh, snap!)

I'm sorry. I'm going to go lay down now.

Goooood...Good For You.

Hooooray We Made it into the Top 10 !

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