Restaurants we missed, but wish were still here
| Charles Ferruzza Collection |
Fat City’s Owen Morris — who is probably tired of me talking about the Kansas City restaurants I wanted to experience, but waited too long and they closed (like the legendary Gold Buffet) or places that were already long closed by the time I moved to town in 1984 — turned me on to the new book by former New York Times restaurant critic William Grimes. The new Grimes book, Appetite City: 25 Restaurants We Wish Still Existed focuses on New York restaurants, of course.
The Kansas City joints that I wish still existed include Bretton’s (and the Polynesian-style Bali Hai Room downstairs), the Wish Bone — I grew up on the bottled salad dressing, but missed the fabled fried chicken restaurant, which closed in 1980 — and the Say, Man! hamburger joint at 3843 Prospect. The 1950 postcard, above, offers a few tantalizing details about the diner: it was open 24 hours, served ten cent burgers and hot do-nuts.
Does anyone have a time machine I could borrow?
