Straight talk ("honest") about Kansas Ave. Mexican Restaurants, Kansas City, KS

[Pete]

As most of you know, the Kansas Avenue / Argentine Boulevard region of Kansas City, Kansas, is the worlds greatest collection of authentic Mexican restaurants.  Probably even better than Mexico City, but I have never been to Mexico City and will likely never go (why would I, when I can go to Kansas City, Kansas, see what I am saying?).  This hidden gem is just sitting there, under our noses, and hardly gets discussed openly and honestly.  THAT ENDS NOW!

I have assembled a list of greater Kansas Avenue Authentic Mexican Restaurants on which we must compile information.  We will gather knowledge about every single one of these restaurants.   In this thread, we will post our honest reviews of the each restaurant on the official list.

The official list may be modified if we discover additional restaurants, or if any restaurants are closed for health code violations, destroyed by arson, shuttered by the IRS, or any other unfortunate circumstance that seems to afflict Kansas Avenue Mexican restaurants.

To qualify as a “Kansas Avenue” authentic Mexican restaurant, the place has to be near the Kansas Avenue and Argentine Boulevard corridor.  The restaurant must be an authentic Mexican restaurant.  Tex Mex can GTFOOMF.

NOTE:  Many of you have visited restaurants on this list already.  DO NOT LET YOUR PRIOR VISITS CLOUD YOUR JUDGEMENT!  We need fresh eyes on this rough ridin' thing.  Also, take pictures, because they are worth a BUNCH of words.



The official list:


Tierra Caliente
813 N 10th St, Kansas City,  KS


Ninfa's Tortillas & Taqueria
964 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 
Tortilleria San Antonio
830 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 
Art's Mexican Products
615 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 Birrieria Michoacana
Taqueria Mexico
719 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 
Reyna’s Panaderia
727 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 
El Pollo Rey
1101 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS


Taqueria Las Arenosas
1203 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

 
El Camino Real II
1147 Argentine Blvd, Kansas City, KS

 
La Piedamore
1150 Argentine Boulevard

[Pete]

Tierra Caliente
813 N 10th St, Kansas City,  KS


Facade:  Good.  The turquoise cinder block really “pops.”  The gated front door is a nice touch, and they had a sandwich board on the sidewalk with pictures of the food!  A delightful combination of professionalism and sketchiness.

Décor/Ambience: Good.  It felt like we really were in Mexico.  Ceiling fans with no blades, exposed outlets, water marks on the ceiling, empty vending machines….yet, nice pictures of matadors, Jesus, Mary, and other delightful Latin scenes.  The tables were clean and chairs were not sticky.

Service: Average.  I would have rated this higher, but the waitress failed to keep the juke box filled with Mexican pop hits for the full duration of visit, due to her attending to her two toddlers who were ramming their stroller into the table next to us.

Food:  Excellent.  As soon as we ordered, they started hand-making our tortillas.  The food was great.  The salsa Verde was awesome.  The menu was steadfastly authentic, with no “Tex Mex.”


NOTE:  I did not try the Mole, but I will....I will....

['taterblast]

do Ninfa's! their tortillas are ridiculous! with butter sauce!

[Pete]

do Ninfa's! their tortillas are ridiculous! with butter sauce!

I will probably hit Ninfa's next week.  Limestone is a big fan.

[GoodForAnother]

these places scare me.  I will continue to go to el patron.

[Pete]

these places scare me.  I will continue to go to el patron.

You and your kind disgust me. 

[puniraptor]

I think Oklahoma Joes is great. NOT SORRY

[CNS]

Oh Man. I need this.   Having worked in kcmo so long  I am well versed in the swblvd players,  but not the kck joints.  Keep these coming.

Also, I will prob try each and everyone of these by summers end, as I am through there a lot these days.

[Pete]

Oh Man. I need this.   Having worked in kcmo so long  I am well versed in the swblvd players,  but not the kck joints.  Keep these coming.

Also, I will prob try each and everyone of these by summers end, as I am through there a lot these days.

2013 is the year of the KCK Taco.  I'll have these banged out by Spring, and will be circling back on specific menu items after that.

[AbeFroman]

Had El Pollo Rey for the first time last week. Very good. Loved picking apart the chicken to make tacos

[pissclams]

wtf is with the green crap on your taco? 

[Pete]

wtf is with the green crap on your taco?

I don't think you want to know.

[Pete]

Had El Pollo Rey for the first time last week. Very good. Loved picking apart the chicken to make tacos

I am going to get some Polaroids of this very thing this week!

[pissclams]

EPR pro tip, neither the beans, the salsa, nor the 8,000 tortillas they give you with each order are worth a damn.  consider yourself lucky if they happen to have an avacado for sale at the counter.  also the wings aren't worth getting.

[Pete]

EPR pro tip, neither the beans, the salsa, nor the 8,000 tortillas they give you with each order are worth a damn.  consider yourself lucky if they happen to have an avacado for sale at the counter.  also the wings aren't worth getting.

The chicken must really blow your doors off then, eh? 

[CNS]

Mods, please pin this thread for my quick reference in the future when on my phone in the middle of KCK around noon.

TIA.

[ben ji]

Arts sponsored my baseball team in 7th and 8th grades 

To this day if I need tortilla chips i will actively seek out Arts in the chip isle

[GoodForAnother]

these places scare me.  I will continue to go to el patron.

You and your kind disgust me.

just kidding man. big taqueria mexico fan here. need to try el pollo rey.

[Boom Roasted]

EPR pro tip, neither the beans, the salsa, nor the 8,000 tortillas they give you with each order are worth a damn.  consider yourself lucky if they happen to have an avacado for sale at the counter.  also the wings aren't worth getting.

The chicken must really blow your doors off then, eh?

I've heard that just getting the chicken from EPR then going down the street to some market for the toppings and tortillas? Obviously not a pro but i really want to try it!

[Dr Rick Daris]

the tortillas and the salsa at epr are fine. just fine.

also, i want some recon done on one of the sauces at sa's across the street that tastes kind of metallicky and is like orangish with two almost separate liquids where one looks like grease/oil and the other is aforementioned orangish liquid. scared to know what it was but also curious. made me shudder and did not eat more than one taste of it.

[EuroCat]

Spanish food is better and La Bodega is nearby. Case closed.

[pissclams]

its habanero salsa

[Dr Rick Daris]

its habanero salsa

are you sure because there were two similar looking salsas and this one both looked and tasted just incredibly off. like half oil and half salsa. it was gross.

[Cire]

I'm pretty sure that kck has a bonito michuacan.  Carnicerias should be on the list. 

[Pete]

I'm pretty sure that kck has a bonito michuacan.  Carnicerias should be on the list.

Clams suggested Bichelmeyer's, and it's near the Kansas Ave neighborhood.   I will consider it.  If someone wants to go and review it, very well. 

I am focusing on the Kansas Ave. strip.