The Flea

After hearing how great Westport Flea Market is, from so many people, I had to stop driving by it and stop in to see for myself. I have been driving by this place for years, every time I go to the Westport Sunfresh for groceries. The concept was lost on me; I could not figure out why a restaurant was named "flea market" and every time I looked at their delivery vehicle it reminded me of the Mutt Cutts van from Dumb and Dumber. This place seemed to straddle the line between quirky and kooky. But they could not be all that lost, they do use McGonigle's ground chuck for their burgers, after all.

The burger itself was very good! Not the best I have ever had, but a very good chuckin' burger. I would give it honorable mention. This is in no way an indictment on the Flea Market, but more-so a statement of where the KC burger community is at the moment. This is not a fancy pants burger like you will get at BRGR, Blanc, Red Door Grill, or Providence NAK (and no burger can compete with my muse, the Indios Burger). But this is more of a straight up, blue collar burger: 10oz hamburger (with cheese and onions optional). The burger lets the chuck speak for itself.

The beer list was large, not the largest by any means, but at the same time tap contests between restaurants have gotten a bit out of hand. So I don't really mind a restaurant not having more than 44 taps. They still had all of the seasonal boulevards, and a few more obscure beers. I was able to get a Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat, for those of you who know what that is. They even have domestic light lagers (AB and MillerCoors products) for the lames. This large beer list does lend itself to a pretty insane (albeit early, 2-5pm) happy hour special: Any of the 44 tap beers for $0.99.

I liked the quirkiness of it, but it all kind of caught me a bit off guard as well. It is cash only (word to the wise), but that is fine. You do have to do food and drink orders separately, which is a bit odd. But everyone there was very helpful and friendly throughout the process. I also found out why they call it the Flea Market; there is a legitimate flea market inside (for those that are looking for a vintage Stretch Armstrong while you wait for your burger to come up).

There are some other pretty awesome things about WFM too: Karaoke night (for those that want to hear me belt out some O-Town or Simple Plan) and The Super Flea (which I may actually have to try my next trip). The Super Flea is a Man vs Food-esque challenge that involves: five 10oz burger patties, somewhere in the neighborhood or a half pound of cheese, 6 pieces of bread, and 3lbs of fries. So whether you are feeling like Pacquiao or Kobayashi, and are craving a nice ground beef patty, WFM has something for you.

James Beard Award Winners in the Southland (Pt. 2)

On a recent trip, I saw this ad for Birmingham, AL in the in-flight magazine. It states that you can choose from BBQ joints OR James Beard Award winners. Luckily for Kansas Citians, we can enjoy James Beard Award winning chefs taking on BBQ and the like! Similar to Colby Garrelts' Rye, Debbie Gold parlayed her James Beard Award into bringing you midwestern favorites, cooked by burning wood. Where Colby cooks most of his menu with smoke, Debbie puts hers straight on the wood fire grill.

After adding her name to the list of James Beard Award winners at The American Restaurant, Debbie opened a burger joint (there are plenty of other awesome menu items there too, but I think this post will explain why I zeroed in on the burgers in the next paragraph) that brings blue collar fare (at a blue collar price too) to the white collar crowd in Leawood. 

It has been well documented that I am a huge How I Met Your Mother fan (more the early seasons, but I would be lying if I told you that I had not seen every single episode multiple times, or if I told you that I wasn't watching it as I type this). In HIMYM, "The Best Burger in NYC" was at a restaurant with a green door and "Burger" sign above that green door (pictured to the right). The crew spent an entire episode looking for this restaurant. That is exactly what I thought of when I heard about the Red Door Grill (now called Red Door Woodfire Kitchen & Bar, but who is counting?). Albeit, the door is red and not green, but you get where I am going with this.

Any-who, Red Door has a dining room (for those that prefer that environment) and a bar area (for those that want to watch sports and/or keep an eye on any injury updates that may have fantasy implications). I prefer the bar area for lunch, for obvious reasons (my fantasy football league isn't going to win itself), but both have the same great menu. The feel is modern, yet cozy.

As mentioned above: the burgers stuck out to me because they are made with McGonigle’s custom blend of beef brisket, short rib and chuck tenderloin, and I LOVE MCGONIGLE'S! I have personally had the Porkey's Revenge and The Remedy, both are amazing! If you are in the mood for something smokey, go with The Remedy. The aged cheddar, smoked bacon, and egg that top off that wood fire grilled burger will overcome your taste buds with smoky goodness. If you are thinking something more outside the box, go with Porkey's Revenge. The bacon jam, roasted tomato, and melted brie cheese do some kind of a tango between that fire grilled patty and brioche bun that leave you wanting more. Normally, I am not a big brie guy, but the melted brie on this burger will make you question everything you thought you knew about brie ("It's dank Brie!", sorry for yet another inside joke, but not sorry enough to not type it. You guys should really take a trip into my thoughts after visiting RDK&B, it's a pretty funny place). Your wait person will ask you if cooking your burger Medium is okay. The answer is YES! You may even tell them to err on the side of less medium (but not med-rare, we are not trying to get anyone shut down here) because that wood fire could severely dry out/char the wonderful McGonigle's meat blend if it is cooked any more than medium, and no one wants that.

The burgers are not the only amazing thing on the menu at RDK&B: The fries are outstanding, IMO they are probably right behind the BBQ Bohemoeth that is right across the parking lot, this is definitely a "fries first" place. The polenta is also pretty incredible; it is the creamy/soupy variety (like grits), not the fried/baked variety (like corn bread), but is full of smokey, creamy goodness. The one issue with the polenta is not about the taste at all, it is with the listing of it on the menu. It is listed as a table side, but since it is the creamy variety instead of the bite sized baked/fried pieces (that you may have seen elsewhere), it can be a bit awkward if ordered to split between a table of dudes (opposed to the "pound of fries"). 

Last, but not least, is my muse: The doughnut dessert dish (sadly, I did not catch her name). These yeasty doughnut morsels, rolled in sugar, and served with Chirstopher Elbow's Sweet Cream ice cream (from Glace) are perfect in every way. The outside is a tad crispy, the inside is a tad dough-y, and something about this combination is perfect for the fall!

Everything on this menu looks delicious, I am just sad that I cannot eat it all at once! I will definitely be back to try more, say "hi" if you see me there!

"Eat My Sausage!"

This post is titled after what the Haus twitter account once told me. I took their advice and I advise you all to do the same!

Haus is a German style sausage and bier haus that serves wurst made locally (by The Local Pig), on bread that is also made locally (by Farm to Market). The interior of Haus is what I consider to be the perfect mix of modern and retro, just enough retro that the modern decor isn't over the top, and just enough modern decor that it doesn't feel like Zoo Bar (which I do enjoy, from time to time). They even have a stack of board games in the corner if you just want to sit at the bar and enjoy some bier.

There are so many delicious sounding options on the wurst menu at Haus, I had a very difficult time deciding which one to order. The duck-ginger-sage, lamb-cumin-oregano, and roasted eggplant-feta were all calling my name, but I went with the pork-tequila-serrano pepper sausage with homestyle sauerkraut, which is a more "rugged" alternative to that store bought junk that they label "Kraut", and sweet peppers. It was a fantastic choice, it had a little bit kick to it that was offset by the sweet peppers and the vinegar from the sauerkraut. My wife went with the smoked chicken and apple sausage (also with kraut and sweet peppers), which was a great milder, slightly sweeter option. All of the mustards are great on both wurst that we had.

As a side, we had the large haus cut fries with cucumber-yogurt and curry-sour cream dipping sauces. I had high hopes for the cucumber-yogurt sauce, reminiscent of a tzatziki sause, but it was the curry-sour cream sauce won my heart. 

We washed all of this down with two beirs. I went with the Aventinus Weizenstarkbier, a dark German wheat bier. My wife went with the Weihenstephaner Kristallweiss, a light German wheat bier. Both were great options, both had playful fruity notes. Haus also has a plethora of draft bier options for those who prefer a freshly poured glass of bier to bottles.

Haus is a great place to take a date or to meet friends for a bite to eat before a night on the trolley. It is certainly awesome and we will be back soon to try the rest of the sausage options.

Summer, Sandwiches, and Sweet Potato Fries

This summer has been a great summer for eating. Not so great for my waist, but we are going to have to buckle down for Ironman 70.3 soon, which will take care of that. And great for trying new (to me) awesome restaurants. I have noticed a few themes that have begun to shine through in my exploits. One being sweet potato fries, which is nothing new, I have always loved sweet potato fries. The other being blue cheese. Blue cheese is often overlooked and avoided by less adventurous eaters because of its very sharp and distinct taste and smell. Others cannot get over the thought of edible mold, hope they never need Amoxicillin. I personally love the rich, sharp, salty taste of bleu cheese. This is a post about a summer of blue cheese and sweet potato fries.

First up is Lucky Brewgrille: Lucky was the perfect combination of close to a friend's house and having a deal available on Groupon, so we bought the deal. We went there on a warm summer day and sat on the patio. While there was no real view to be had, it was still a nice, fully shaded patio.

We started out with the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, the menu says it comes with tortilla chips, but you can also get it with pita bread. I recommend the pita bread! We also got an order of buffalo wings, which were the full wing style (think The Peanut, but not as epic). The wings were saucy and had a kick, but were not melt your face hot. I dipped mine in, of course, bleu cheese.

For the main course, I ordered the Inside/Out Bleu Cheese Burger. The Inside/Out Burger is the traditional Lucky Burger that has been stuffed with Bleu cheese crumbles and topped with grilled red onions. I subbed sweet potato fries for the asparagus that normally comes with the Inside/Out. I always think its awesome when any dish comes with asparagus, but sweet potato fries are kind of my jam. They are pretty much the only thing that I would sub asparagus for. Turns out to be a great decision because both the fries and the burger were awesome! The burger was quite messy, it was juicy and had this awesome bleu cheese ooze coming out of the middle. The sweet potato fries came with Lucky's own spicy ranch, that is made in house. I am not a huge ranch guy, but this sauce had some funk to it, if you are a spicy ranch guy... Then Lucky is an awesome place to catch a K-State game, grab some awesome sweet potato fries (with some spicy ranch), and wash it down with $2 domestic draws.

Next up is The Cashew. First and foremost, The Cashew is an awesome KU bar. Although they do not have gigantic TVs to watch the games on, they have awesome KU Alumni pre-game events in their upstairs event space (that also hosts weddings, etc.) prior to KU games at the Sprint Center. Not to mention the free shuttle to Sprint Center on KU game days.

The Cashew has awesome decor that is classic and modern at the same time. I don't usually talk about decor, but the engineer in me was captivated by the belt driven fans. The restrooms are updated and clean. the bar is fully stocked and had Boulevard Tank 7 on tap. I think they silently encourage everyone to buy alcoholic beverages with their meals, because the beer glasses were much larger than the soft drink glasses (and were filled more often), but that is my only complaint about what is otherwise a thoroughly awesome place.

The Cashew is also an awesome little sandwich shop. Sticking with my bleu cheese themed summer, I got the Black & Bleu. The Black & Bleu is blackened chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, home made spicy bleu cheese aioli, and bleu cheese crumbles all on top of a warm pita bread. The blackening seasoning on the chicken was not overpowering, as blackening seasoning sometimes gets. The aioli was nice, it had flavour to it, but was not overly spicy. The pita bread was perfect. The sandwich came with a spicy pickle and chips. The pickle was the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae that was my awesome sandwich. The chips were good chips, but still just chips. In all fairness, they did go well with the sandwich though. Mallory had the Tomato Mozzarella Panini, which was also solid, it was like a grown up grilled cheese.

I recommend The Cashew to anyone looking for a good sandwich before a KU game. You can even jump on their website and see a live webcam that will show you how busy the restaurant is.

Lastly is The Mixx. The Mixx is a personal favorite of my wife and I's, whenever someone from out of town wants to go out to lunch, this is where we take them. We have yet to have a bad item from The Mixx.

The salads are great! The soups are great! The sandwiches are even great! Our favorite salad dressing that is offered at The Mixx is the stone ground mustard vinaigrette, it is the definition of the hyphenated word "earth-shattering". The SGMV goes well on almost any salad and is always my choice on a create your own salad. But this trip was not about the SGMV, this trip was about the sweet potato fries.

I ordered the Pretzel Chicken Sando with a side of sweet potato fries. The Pretzel Chicken Sando is grilled chicken, pepper jack cheese, grilled sweet onions, tomato, spinach, garlic aioli on a heavenly pretzel bread. The bread is always fresh at The Mixx and this was no exception, this pretzel bread hit the spot! This sandwich was everything I wanted it to be and more. Then it was time to dive into the fries.

The sweet potato fries came with a honey mustard dipping sauce, and just as I try to avoid ranch, I also try to avoid honey mustard. I used to love honey mustard as a kid, but now view it as a semi-childish dressing/dipping sauce. At risk of tainting my wonderful sweet potato fry, I reluctantly dabbed it into the honey mustard sauce, and man am I glad I did. This honey mustard sauce was not childish at all; It was as if the honey mustard I had know from my childhood grew up, went to college, bought a suit, got a corporate job, then quit its soul-sucking corporate sell-out job to go make dressings at The Mixx. This honey mustard went with the sweet potato fries so well, I kind of wished that I had saved some pretzel bread to dip in it as well.

If you are looking for a great sandwich, soup, salad, sweet potato fry, or anything with the word "mustard" in it, The Mixx is your place!

New Oklahoma Joe's

When a new Oklahoma Joe's opened in Leawood, a coworker of mine insisted that we go on the day after it opened. We got there at about 11:15am, and in typical Okie Joe's fashion, there was already a line out the door. But don't worry, they have a bar right by the door, so they can sell you a Boulevard beer to sip on (or chug, depending on your personal preference) while you wait in the line that snakes around the perimeter of the interior of the restaurant. This location has nearly the same interior design as the location in Olathe, but does not have the mystique of the gas station location. But then again, we all know how I feel about finding great food in less than normal locations (i.e. trucks and gas stations).

This Oklahoma Joe's offers the same menu as the other two locations, but many will tell you that there is no reason to order anything other than the Z Man. The Z Man features brisket topped with smoked provolone cheese and two onion rings. The Carolina (with fries) is my personal favorite, being the perfect mix of Carolina and KC bbq, which is perfect for the man that is the perfect mix of Carolina and KC himself (yours truly). The Carolina features pulled pork (that is advertised as "Carolina style", but is really more a mix of KC and Carolina, but always 100% delicious) topped with cole slaw that has a bit of a zip to it and OK Joe's famous sauce. Admittedly, I did second guess my usual when I saw the size of the daily special Smokey Joe's that they were serving up. I always order the side of fries, with the word "side" being used loosely, as the "side" is the size of a Mac truck for the low low price of something like $2.79. I recommend splitting the fries with a friend, they are some kind of wonderful though. I have never been temped to try another side dish at Okie Joe's, as I know the beans cannot beat Jack Stack, and none of the other sides appeal to me as much as a year's supply of fries covered in seasoning salt. *Side note regarding the fountain pop: There are numerous diet options (including my personal favorite Pepsi Max), and you will need them after eating this gigantic quantity of food, unless you want to end up with "The Sugars" like Paula Deen.

Some call Oklahoma Joe's the best BBQ in KC, some have a problem with that because it has "Oklahoma" in the name. I personally do not think that it is the best BBQ in KC, because I don't believe that any one place has the best BBQ in KC, but that each BBQ joint has one thing that they do that distinguishes itself from the others. Okie Joe's is the place to go to get a rockin' sandwich! I do not personally have a problem with the joint having "Oklahoma" in the name, because it doesn't matter where Joe is from, it just matters that he has become a KC Icon (and not an Icon like that copy cat bridge that they built on the Paseo and named "The Icon" like there wasn't one just like it already existing in Charleson, SC). I look at it this way, if Joe were from Kansas, then no Tiger's would want to eat there. If Joe were from Missouri, people would feel like they need to wear their best jean shorts to enjoy Joe's BBQ. That being said, OK Joe's is an awesome joint. I applaud them for building a third location in an attempt to thin out crowds at the existing two locations, but it looks like that many more people are now enjoying Joe's special brand of BBQ.

I do recommend OK Joe's to anyone looking for a great sandwich, just make sure you go at an off time (like 3pm), so then you will only have a 10 minute wait.

HI, MAY I HELP YOU?!

One of the essential experiences in Kansas City BBQ is lunch hour at Gates. My personal Gates location is State Line, but I imagine that they are all the same; the line is out the door, the air smokey (BBQ smoke, not cigarette smoke), the cashier is arguing with the cook, there is not a table available in the whole place, and you hear a lady (almost erratically) yelling "HI, MAY I HELP YOU?!". The line is doubled back and you are no where close to the front row of the line, yet you hear the lady continuing to yell "HI, MAY I HELP YOU?!" louder and louder, but no one is answering. Eventually people will start staring at you and then one nice (or incredibly frustrated) person will let you know that it is your turn to yell your order forward.

My personal favorite is the burnt end on bun. The burnt ends are not the chunks that you think of when you think of Jack Stack's burnt ends, they are more of a shredded burnt end. They are a little fattier than the chunked burnt ends. In the chunked burnt ends most of the fat has been rendered, but these has a good mixture of burnt and tender texture in the shredded mixture. Burnt end on bun, however, is one of (if not the only) sandwich in the place that does not come with fries on the same plate as the sandwich, you have to order a side of them (which as you can see, are the size of a human head). No order is complete without the giant carbonated beverage and a fist full of pickles (that I was a bonehead and forgot to order this trip).

Gates has great sauce, it is a sweet and spicy mix. It goes well with the smokey meat and tangy pickles. I find that the "Sweet n' mild" sauce and the "Original" sauce are VERY similar while the spicy sauce is a bit hotter with similar flavors.

Since I enjoy being a healthy man, I do not eat BBQ plates of this galactic proportions often. But when I do, I make sure that I make the most of it!