Restaurants you ate out at as a kid

[chrizow]

I remember us getting donuts from Winchell's on occasion. They pulled out of KC long ago, although I think they had a Lawrence location a few years back.

most definitely.  my dad picked up saturday-morning, post-sleepover donuts from winchell's at gregory and 350 hwy in raytown probably 200 times.  one time i tried a "bear claw" from there and thought it was the most vile food i had ever tasted.  i am drooling over a cake donut with cherry icing from winchell's right now...

[moosnsqrl]

BOOK IT! I remember that. What a great program. No way any kids would game that system.

What was Comets player Gino Schilarldi's pizza place and where was it? I remember as a kid wanting to go there so badly, but we never did.

It was just called Gino's IIRC and was co-located with the Bagel Works, owned by Enzo DiPede (sp?). Both were just up the street from the soon-to-close Streetside Records, on Pennsylvania.

[WSPanic]

most definitely.  my dad picked up saturday-morning, post-sleepover donuts from winchell's at gregory and 350 hwy in raytown probably 200 times.  one time i tried a "bear claw" from there and thought it was the most vile food i had ever tasted.  i am drooling over a cake donut with cherry icing from winchell's right now...

Isn't a bear claw basically just an apple fritter? I loved Winchell's Apple Fritters. I'm pretty sure there is a difference - but I think both are apple-based fried pastries with icing. Hard to make that taste bad, IMO.

[chrizow]

Isn't a bear claw basically just an apple fritter? I loved Winchell's Apple Fritters. I'm pretty sure there is a difference - but I think both are apple-based fried pastries with icing. Hard to make that taste bad, IMO.

i am sure i would love it now.  i was like five years old and only appreciated about 2% of foods.

[mean]

i am sure i would love it now.  i was like five years old and only appreciated about 2% of foods.

Macaroni and cheese?

[chrizow]

Macaroni and cheese?

when i was a kid i would eat pizza, hamburgers (ketchup and pickle only), bologna sandwiches, and junk food.  that's about it.

[mean]

That gives me hope for today's generation of little shits who only eat chicken fingers.

[ChefColby]

Happy Joe's for pizza at Ranchmart - I HATED this pizza but my dad loved it so I was gonna eat it if I liked it or not. I remember being about 8 yrs old and seeing a guy wearing 80's bleached splattered jeans while we were waiting in line it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

Longbranch

Boots & Coats - We went every Wednesday night. They had a huge Hamms beer light/clock that I would stare at all night long. I loved the melba toast in the cracker basket. When you left with a doggie bag they used to always therow the pickles in with the chicken and it always ruined it for the next day.

Cascone's off Metcalf.

Tippins
Bo lings
RC's
Jess & Jim's
Annie's Santa Fe
There was another Mexican place in Watts Mill but I can't remember what it was called.

[ChandraNH]

Shoney's for us too, in the 70's.  We went every payday Friday.  it was awesome.  I'd have spaghetti and meatballs and salad (and spaghetti and meatballs is still my go to meal in divey/diner places, no matter how bad I know it will be),  And they had the best hot fudge cake dessert and comic books.

I also think as an older kid, that I liked Pizza Inn.  I had an uncle who managed one and to this day, I think they had some of the best pizza ever (from a kid perspective)

[mlind]

I remember us getting donuts from Winchell's on occasion. They pulled out of KC long ago, although I think they had a Lawrence location a few years back.

That reminds me of Carl/Karl's Bakery on Quindaro.  My sisters and I still remember how good the doughnuts were.  I heard from someone recently who told me Carl/Karl is still alive (he must be 90) and still makes baked goods for his church.  They had a guy in a glass booth at the front of the store who made the roses to decorate cake.  We used to watch him.  Sometimes he'd give us one, but not often.

Another place we ate - Stevenson's Apple Farm.

[Highlander]

When I was real young, my dad owned a restaurant off Independence Ave and we ate there a lot.  Once he sold it we were pretty poor so did not get out much.

Brownies at about 52cd and Prospect.  Actually, area was OK in the early 60's when I was very young and Brownies was a neighborhood restaurant behind our house. 

Golden Ox.  That was a big night out
Stephenson's Apple Farm.  Another big night.
Italian Gardens.
Jennies.  Probably the place we frequented the most.  Knew the owners well.  Didn't go much after Jenny died, the son took over and it expanded. 
Soakies on Main.
Der Weinerschnitzl on Prospect
Nichol's on SW Trafficway. We ate there a lot.  Wish it was still there.

A bit later in childhood after the move out south

Allens on State Line.
A hamburger joint on Wornall I think was called Mart 90?
Manny's (another great place before it expanded).
Joe's Barn, somewhere in Overland Park
Zeppi's on Wornall
Texas Tom's on Wornall
Eddies loaf and Stein at Ward parkway Shopping Center.

[Joe Smith]

Smak's on 81st and Wornall - I lived across the street at the time and that was about the only place we could go out to maybe once a month if we were lucky.

The Arthur Treachers on Van Brunt when we lived up the street.

Humdingers on 9th and Olive was real big for me as a kid. At least once a day. I liked their giantly huge chocolate-cherry malts and the Pochito's, which were deep-fried burritos with a hot dog in the middle. Mmmm....

Church's Chicken on 12th and Prospect. I could get a piece of chicken, a pecan pie and a small coke for 50 cents.

(This doesn't quite count, but...the gas station on 13th and Prospect. It's now the cop gas station. Back when I was a kid they had a vending machine inside that spit out warm chili and spaghetti and other stuff in a pop-top can that was a little bigger than a Vienna Sausage can for 10 or 15 cents a can)

The Golden Point - We would always get the huge basket of fries for 50 cents. It's where the car wash is now just east of Benton on 9th St.

The McDonald's on Prospect at about 25th or so. The first Mickey D's I remember my mom taking me to.

Mr. Steak on Burlington in Northtown. About once a week my mom would take me there on payday. She always got a steak. I always got a cheeseburger and fries. I think it was where that huge drive-thru car wash is now on the west side of Burlington. We also went to Sambo's every once in awhile in Northtown.

The Pizza Factory in Holiday Hills on Parvin and Brighton. Went there almost every day with my friends and got the personal pan pizzas. We would play stuff like Dr. Love and Styx tunes on the jukebox and play their cocktail-tabled Pac Man, Asteroids and Galaga.

In-a-Tub on N.Oak - Went there a lot in high school when it was next to Cascone's.

The Berliner Bear - Went there quite a lot as a kid. Me and my mom being German and all. I never really liked the food. My mom's was better, but my mom liked it a lot. Quite a lot. She could talk German to at least one person there. She would bring me a Black Forest cake home once in a great while. Used to see George Brett there all the time. Never saw anyone bother him.

Big Burger on Vivion Rd. Not much though. Everyone I know always thought the food sucked, including me. I was there about 6 months ago and the food still tastes the same:puke:

Stacks on Chouteau - Decent enough food. It's still there too.

Kelso's Pizza on Vivion Rd. Good pizza. Fun place for kids. Later, I worked there as a delivery driver. they had a Postal Jeep that you couldn't drive over 45 and a red w/ black vinyl top 2 door beater '72 Nova. Lots of HP, but it was a beater. I creamed the right side of it one night trying to turn around in the dark parking lot of an apartment complex over on Winn Rd. and 35, off Brighton. Damn vertically buried half railroad ties. Didn't even know I did it until the boss showed it to me.  

The Alamo - Holiday Hills on Parvin and Brighton. Been going there since I was 11 or 12. We thought it was the best Mexican in the world. Later when I was about 20 years old I had a roomie who was the head line cook. I partied quite a lot with everyone there my age. Lots. They had a dishwasher there who had busted into his dad's safe and ran away when he was 16. We partied our asses off with him. Oh yea, what was in the safe? Let's just say his dad was a baggage handler for the Peruvian National Airlines......Fun times!!!!
 I believe that there's still two brothers working there that are my age and have been working there since the early 80's. Always thought they had the best chimi's in town. They definitely had the best margarita's. They invented the slushy margarita machine in the 70's and the bar mix to go with it was sold in liquor stores around that area.  

Showbiz in Antioch shopping center. I was riding my bike inside before they had a roof on the place. Worked there in high school and it was ground zero for the Northland video game craze. Food wasn't bad either.

[Joe Smith]

When I was real young, my dad owned a restaurant off Independence Ave and we ate there a lot.  Once he sold it we were pretty poor so did not get out much.

Brownies at about 52nd and Prospect.  Actually, area was OK in the early 60's when I was very young and Brownies was a neighborhood restaurant behind our house. 

Me and my mom lived at 5005 Olive right behind there in the mid/late 60's and she used to take me to this brick one-story diner on Prospect about where you say this place is. Never could recall the name.

[mean]

This may be the best forum thread ever.

[Highlander]

Me and my mom lived at 5005 Olive right behind there in the mid/late 60's and she used to take me to this brick one-story diner on Prospect about where you say this place is. Never could recall the name.

I bet it was Brownies.  It was one story and brick and a diner but I cannot remember if it was on the east or west side of the street.  The area was pretty commercial back then with a lot of viable busnesses. 

[Joe Smith]

I bet it was Brownies.  It was one story and brick and a diner but I cannot remember if it was on the east or west side of the street.  The area was pretty commercial back then with a lot of viable busnesses. 

It was on the west side across the street from Bledsoe's Rentals.

[slimwhitman]

I remember us getting donuts from Winchell's on occasion. They pulled out of KC long ago.

We had "donut day" every Thursday at the office and we were a few blocks from the Winchell's at 39th & Broadway.  Most people brought Winchell's because it the so close, but everyone seemed to prefer the original Lamar's on Linwood.  This was the mid/late '90s.  One time someone brought Winchell's and they were painting the interior that day.  The donuts tasted like paint.  I couldn't shake that chaulky paint flavor from my mouth for weeks.  In fact....I can still taste it.  Winchell's closed shop in KC around 2000.  Maq's Donuts at 95th & Mission Rd still uses Winchell's products.  He showed me his stock area and everything says "Winchell's" on it.  He said Winchell's corporate made a deal with Krispy Kreme: Winchell's would leave certain markets (including KC) if K.K. would stay out of other markets.  If you want Winchell's, go to Maq's.

[KCMax]

 If you want Winchell's, go to Maq's.

Wow, that is awesome! I'll be sure to stop there this week!

I hope those of you that grew up outside of KC feel free to chime in too, this isn't meant to be exclusive to local places, although I have enjoyed reading about KC restaurants that are long gone.

[AJoD]

Grew up in Omaha.  We'd hit Godfather's maybe every couple weeks.  We always had coupons, something like $10 for two pizzas would feed our family of 6-8 (mostly little kids who didn't eat much).  We had a "Tapper" which was a pitcher promotion...if you brought it back, you could fill it with soda for free.  I'm sure it was meant as a limited time thing, but we must have milked that baby for 5 years of free soda.

If the parents were feeling a little more flush, we'd go to Pizza Hut.  I think my dad liked it better.

And for really special occasions, we'd go to Johnny Sortino's, which I still go to sometimes when I go back to visit my dad...it's actually pretty good pizza.  There was a woman (I think Johnny's wife) who would give small size Snickers bars to the kids after the meal.  Plus, the arcade was a big hit, maybe 6-7 games in a center room set off.

For our Sunday brunch pizza fix, we'd occasionally hit Valentino's a full-on Italian buffet.  We were a family who liked pizza, I guess.

When it wasn't pizza, we did a lot of Sunday brunches at Village Inn or Garden Cafe.

And my dad had a tradition of taking one kid out to lunch at Wendy's on Saturday afternoons.

I don't really recall going to McDonald's much unless we were on a road trip.

Ethnic food was not on our radar growing up.

There was also a Ross's Steak House in Omaha, no idea if it was any relation to the one mentioned above, I don't think so, it was something of an iconic old school Italian steak house.  My dad was a regular, and when I was a little older, I remember joining for an occasional special lunch.

Good times.

[supastudio]

House of Toy. Anyone remember that place?