Cheap eats in Kansas City: frugal — and delicious — food tips for 2019
It’s not just you: going out to eat is way more expensive than it used to be. Food prices have risen 24 percent since 2008, with costs expected to continue to escalate 2-3 percent a year moving forward. Now compare that to your salary ten years ago. Now, health insurance. And so on. Even at mid-range restaurants in Kansas City, $20 plates — sometimes $30 plates — are increasingly common. Unfortunately, you should probably just get used to it.
Or: maybe not! Hack this city’s food scene by strategically eating cheap and delicious food at the following places. Some are classics, some are new, some are happy-hour-only, some are once-a-week deals. But they can all ease your bank-account anxieties while keeping your tum sated.
What to get: pork tenderloin
Price: $5.25
The standard Kansas City pork tenderloin is a comically oversized chicken-fried patty that dwarfs the bun on which it is served. Kitty’s (810 ½ East 31st Street) is different. It stacks up three crispy, tempura-battered pork cutlets and serves them alongside classic fixings — lettuce, tomato, pickles — and a healthy dash of hot sauce. This $5.25 sandwich (chicken and fish options are also available) has a remarkable origin story as well. It was created by the restaurant’s original owners, Japanese-American Paul Kawakami and his wife, “Kitty,” who founded Kitty’s after being forced to live in an internment camp during World War II. The restaurant transferred ownership many years ago, but this classic items remains, and has surprisingly few imitators in taste or price.
What to get: gyro
Price: $6.99
Joe’s Kansas City may be world-famous, but it’s not the only joint in town serving up amazing food adjacent to the unleaded pumps. Papu’s Cafe (604 West 75th Street), located inside a Shell station in Waldo, has a reputation that’s slowly spreading beyond its neighborhood. It is certainly the only gas station in town with its own gyro spit, from which generous hunks of tender lamb and beef are cut for the restaurant’s much-loved gyros — served traditionally with tzatziki sauce, tomatoes and onion on warm, pillowy pita bread.
What to get: tacos
Price: $2.95 for three on Saturdays
The price points at Fric and Frac (1700 W. 39th Street) are unusually specific: $5.65 for this, $11.15 for that. We don’t mind, especially when we’re there to take advantage of its various weekly deals. After 6:30 p.m., they do two for ones on burgers (Mondays) and gyros (Wednesdays). But Saturday’s special is our fave: $2.95 for three simple, addictive, served-in-a-red-basket hard tacos. All day long.
What to get: half-chicken
Price: $8
At Poi-Ō (1000 West 25th Street), chef Carlos Mortera and his father (also named Carlos Mortera) brine their chickens for 24 hours in a blend of vinegar, garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper before slow-roasting them whole over an open flame. The half chicken comes served with spicy pickled vegetables, warm tortillas, and an addictive salsa verde. It’s a lot of effort, but the resulting birds are intoxicatingly good.
What to get: snack pack
Price: $4.79
Gizzards with G-Sauce is the main draw at Go Chicken Go (multiple locations, but the best is 59 N. 7th Street in KCK). And we respect that. But we’re also partial to the simple “snack pack” which gets you two pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, and a roll for under five bucks.
What to get: double cheeseburger
Price: $5.80
The humble Town Topic (multiple locations; we favor 1900 Broadway) cheeseburger is seen by many as the city’s greatest late-night indulgence: thin, never-frozen, all-beef patties seared on the griddle and topped with caramelized onions and gooey American cheese. The burger is so iconic that it has spawned tributes at recently opened high-end spots like the Savoy at 21c and Corvino Supper Club and Tasting Room. But the original remains the king, and it can be had at any hour of the day for a mere $5.80.
Carniceria y Tortilleria San Antonio
What to get: tacos
Price: 4 for $5
The best taquerias in Kansas City, and quite possibly all of the Midwest, are located in Wyandotte County. All of them are relatively cheap, but our pick for the cheapest and tastiest is Carniceria y Tortilleria San Antonio (830 Kansas Avenue), where you can pick up 4 tacos for $5 any day of the week. These tacos are filled with your choice of meat: stick-to-your-ribs barbacoa, tangy al pastor, buche (stomach), tripa (tripe) and/or juicy, savory carnitas. Stop at the salsa bar to next-level your taco order by loading up on onions, cilantro, pico de gallo, fiery habanero salsa, pickled carrots, and more.
What to get: empanadas
Price: $3
Stuffed with shredded beef, chicken, or potatoes and eggs, the empanadas at Empanada Madness (906 Southwest Boulevard; 13155 State Line) are good enough for Royals catcher (and Venezuelan native) Salvador Perez, and thus they are good enough for us. A perfect low-key lunch for those who work downtown.
What to get: pizza
Price: $5 on Mondays
This neighborhood deli-market-restaurant (6229 Brookside) serves half-price pies on Mondays. What does that mean for you? A $5 pizza, but also a bit of a wait. People know a damn-good deal when they see one.
What to get: sweet potato panini
Price: $5-ish
Most people know Bizz and Weezy (1800 Baltimore) as a confectionary, but the Crossroads spot quietly serves a mighty fine — and mighty affordable — lunch as well. Healthy salads and half sandwiches hover around $5, and you can toss in chips for an extra dollar. We like the sweet potato panini, a vegan option that comes with cranberry chutney, mixed greens, and feta.
What to get: the Distikt Biskuit
Price: $8
There is no debate: the best chicken biscuit in the city is made by chef Guroux Khalifah at his ever-relocating Distrikt Biskuit House. (It’s currently inside the Adam’s Mark Hotel out by the stadiums, at 9103 East 39th Street.) Starting with buttery, fluffy, thick biscuits — 4 inches tall and baked every morning on site — Khalifah adds a crispy, highly seasoned fried chicken thigh, a fried egg, and a smear of tangy aioli. This absurdly delicious, lovingly made sandwich works as either breakfast or lunch (it comes with home fries) and will fill you up for the better part of the day while costing less than a Big Mac Extra Value Meal.
What to get: burger basket
Price: $6 on Wednesdays
We love the damn Brick. We love the easy vibe, we love that it’s O.G. Crossroads (open at 1727 McGee since 1999), we love its Saturday Brickfast (all-you-can-eat biscuits and gravy, $1 bloodies), but we especially love the Wednesday special: burger and fries for $6, with veggie and turkey options available.
What to get: the pork soup
Price: $9
The only dish that has remained on the menu at Crossroads favorite the Rieger (1924 Main) since it opened in 2010 is its famous pork soup. Pork confit and roasted garlic is added to a deep, silky pork broth, which is topped with a layer of brûléed comté cheese and a chicharron “crouton.” Fewer dishes under $10 anywhere feel quite so luxurious. Especially on a cold night, this dish will tuck you right in.
What to get: Italian sausage
Price: $2.95
A longtime favorite among Kansas City baby boomers, the Italian sausage at Marco Polo’s (1201 W 103rd Terrace) wears its age well. Grilled potatoes, peppers, and onions, plus a nice sausage, served on a roll — and just three bucks.
What to get: pizza
Price: $10
The crust is crispy, the sauce is sweet (we like sweet sauce; some don’t), and the toppings are generous at this Columbus Park dive (700 East 3rd Street). Bonus: they deliver.
What to get: Napolitano sandwich
Price: $6.95
A trip to Carollo’s (9 East 3rd Street) in the River Market is a great reminder of Kansas City’s Italian heritage as well as an opportunity to sample imported Italian foodstuffs at reasonable prices. We favor the craveable, big-as-your-head sandwiches, and our favorite is the Napolitano, stacked tall with capocollo, salty salami, and prosciutto, and topped with shredded lettuce and a tangy giardiniera (pickled Italian vegetables). Feeling proud of your savings? Finish off the meal with a homemade cannoli.
What to get: tacos
Price: $1
We had to include one Taco Tuesday, and of all the Taco Tuesdays, Rico’s Tacos Lupe (802 Southwest Boulevard) is the champion. Corn-tortilla street tacos served with onions and cilantro, with plenty of meats to choose from: carnitas, asada, chicken, chorizo, even lengua. A buck apiece.
What to get: beef pho
Price: $7.25
Rich, peppery bone broth lies at the heart and soul of the pho at Vietnam Cafe (522 Campbell Street). This is straight-up comfort in a bowl. Get it with slices of tender beef.
What to get: anything
Price: half-off on Tuesdays
We stopped by Bon Bon (806 Pennsylvania, Lawrence) in December, eager to order the Thai wings we’d so enjoyed on our last visit. But they weren’t on the winter menu. So we settled for something called BON BBQ: Carolina rice grits, Chinese barbecue pulled pork, kimchi, an egg, and crispy shallots. And it was even better than those wings! Moreover, it happened to be a Tuesday, and at Bon Bon on Tuesdays they do happy hour all day. Which meant the food, plus the tasty APA we ordered was, like, nine dollars. God bless Bon Bon.
What to get: chicken and waffles
Price: $11.25
Chicken and waffles are all over KC menus these days — no complaints here — but our favorite is at Niecie’s (6441 Troost Avenue). Here, you receive a generous dish of crispy, crunchy fried wings served atop a fluffy, powdered-sugar-dusted, butter-plopped waffle, with hot sauce on the side. Pair it with some house-made lemonade, and you have a decadent meal that works any time of the day.
What to get: hot dog and soda
Price: $1.50
Costco (241 East Linwood) has a pharmacy. Bear with us here. There’s a pharmacy, and if you tell the greeter that you’re there to pick up a prescription, he or she likely won’t ask you for your Costco card, which as we understand it costs something like $120 a year. Now you are inside Costco. Sell the lie by walking toward the pharmacy, then angle back toward the food stand. At the food stand, they do not ask for your Costco card. Don’t be distracted by the flashy menu items, like the chicken bake or the brisket sandwich. Eyes on the prize: a hot dog, which comes with a 20 oz. soda, for only $1.50. Order it confidently. You have reached an elite level of frugality. There is no going back.
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On Twitter: @aprilfleming, @davidhudnall.
