sausages » Kansas City Lunch Spots

Lunch on Independence Square

Posted by Dave at 6:20 pm

Aug 142011

Those who follow me on Twitter know that I served on a jury a few weeks back. Unlike more fortunate people who served downtown for awesome murder cases, I had to truck out to Independence every day to help settle a civil matter. I don’t head out east very often and from what I hear that side of the metro excels at drive-in burger shacks like Mugs-Up and Teresa’s Drive-In. Normally that’s not a problem but this was during the heat wave and I drive a car with non-functioning air conditioning. So I stuck to Independence Square for the few meals I did eat there and came away largely unimpressed.

Cafe Verona is the obvious choice for someone wanting good food, so naturally I didn’t go there. The place didn’t exactly get ringing endorsements anyway. I had been to Ophelia’s several years ago and, while I don’t recall the specifics of the experience, I know that I didn’t care for the food, ambiance, or the service.

Ruling out those two basically leaves Square Pizza. This place has very pleasant decor and a jaunty vibe, with black and white checked floors and yellow and red color scheme. The fellow manning the cash register was extremely friendly and helpful as I tried to figure out what to order.

There are only a few kinds of pizza available as individual slices. On that day it was cheese, pepperoni, and “supreme.” These are fairly large pieces in the deep-dish style. The crust is extremely doughy and soft, reminiscent of Pizza Hut pan pizza. It didn’t taste bad, it was just an utter gutbomb. The salads are actually pretty good for a pizzeria. I mean, there was actually a cucumber of my salad – cucumber, in a pizza place!

Around the corner The Rheinland serves up a small menu of traditional German food and hearty sandwiches in a space with the decorative sensibility of someone who is at least 112 years old. Frilly curtains and white china don’t make me want to mow down on sausages, chug beer and revel in Aryan superiority like your average festive German. The Knackwurst was fine, if a bit chewy and salty. My plate was rounded out by some very nice tart potato salad with bacon and a pile of sauerkraut. The roll that came with the meal was among the worst tings i have ever put in my mouth. Dense, stale, chewy and gross.

Wanting a simple sandwich one day, I popped into Dave’s Bakery and Deli, practically next door to Square Pizza. Dave’s is old school in the sense that it seems unfazed by culinary developments of the last three decades. It is a simple dining area, anchored by a long bakery counter and cash register. This is a place to get a cheap sandwich and a coffee from a styrofoam cup. A display case under the register offers an assortment of cigarettes and chewing gum available for purchase. This strikes me as a basic, blue collar joint with a huge menu but average food.

I had a ham sandwich on wheat bread that was so fluffy and chewy, it might as well have been white bread. Only mayonnaise and yellow mustard were available as condiments, since dijon is clearly too fancy for a place like this. The Swiss cheese looked and tasted like white American cheese. Basically we are talking about very cheap ingredients here. But I didn’t hate it, and it was easy on the wallet.

I wanted to make it to Courthouse Exchange but couldn’t squeeze it in. Any other places on the Square I should have tried?

Fritz’s Smoked Meats: 10326 State Line Rd

Posted by Dave at 10:55 pm

Jul 102009

Off the top of my head, I can think of three restaurants in KC named “Fritz’s.” There is the famous railroad restaurant that is either disgusting or fantastic, depending on who you listen to. People on cheesy online venues like Insiderpages.com tend to refer to Fritz’s railroad as “Choo Choo Rific,” among other things. There is also the curious, but somehow endearing Fritz’s Chili in Overland Park that serves up a plate of hamburger and calls it chili.

Lastly, there is Fritz’s Smoked meat on Stateline Road and 103rd Street.

The name says it all, people. Walk up the stairs and into this humble brick building and you will be confronted with a series of deli cases full of meats in various forms. Meat comes in tubes, circles, rectangles, obelisks and various polygonal permutations here. It is by no means a comprehensive selection a la your supermarket deli counter but they do have plenty of stuff you can’t get on your average grocery run.

The centerpiece here is the variety of sausage available. They have Polish, hot Polish, beef hot dogs, pork hot dogs, knackwurst, andouille, Italian, bratwurst, cheddarwurst, garlic sausage and probably a few more.

Best of all every one of these varieties is available fully cooked on a bun at the counter for $2.50. For a little more money you can get a deli sandwich topped with one of their homemade sliced meats like smoked turkey, salami, bologna or brisket.

Side dishes are very limited. You can get beans or a bag of chips. There are also some cookies by the register that look like those you get at the gas station. The take out menu I have says they offer potato salad but I don’t recall seeing it on my visit.

For me, this place is about sausage and that’s exactly what I had: a hot polish, bag of chips and a crisp Pepsi from the fountain. Not a mountain of food but a good quantity for lunch, and the right price at $4 even. When you order a sausage, they take it out of the huge warmer behind the counter, throw it on a cheap white bun, wrap it in aluminum foil and hand it to you. It takes about 5 seconds.

It doesn’t look like much when you open it up.

But a couple simple accouterments and it gets dressed up for the party nicely.

They have maybe 5 tables in this joint, and a little counter that holds napkins, plastic ware and a little bin of sauerkraut. Each table holds nothing but a large bottle of French’s yellow mustard. I didn’t even bother to look for ketchup anywhere.

The sausage was damn good. Not as spicy as I would have liked but it was explosively garlicky and salty and had wonderful texture. The wiener had a delightful snap with each bite which is the hallmark of a nice natural casing. While I ate I noticed a lot of people ordering two dogs. By the time I finished mine, I understood why.

Basically this is an old school smokehouse and meat counter that happens to do a fairly brisk lunch business. Most customers opt for take out so I managed to find a chair rather easily, but I wouldn’t go with a large group. The service behind the counter is excellent–friendly and fast as lightning. Fritz’s will not bowl you over with atmosphere, but it is an excellent option for a quick lunch out in this area, particularly if you like a good sausage.