Author Topic: Straight talk ("honest") about Kansas Ave. Mexican Restaurants, Kansas City, KS (Read 50689 times)

pissclams · « **Reply #25 on:** February 12, 2013, 07:57:43 AM »

where's yesterday's edition of "straight talk", pete?

Pete · « **Reply #26 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:25:48 AM »

Quote from: pissclams on February 12, 2013, 07:57:43 AM

where's yesterday's edition of "straight talk", pete?

It was a turkey sandwich day. However, I think you will be pretty darn pleased with today's edition....

Cire · « **Reply #27 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:36:27 AM »

Quote from: Pete on February 12, 2013, 06:52:09 AM

Quote from: Cire on February 12, 2013, 06:17:43 AM
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.

Gotcha, Do not know the area. Also, any of the sauces/salsa's that have orange are habenjero(?) based. They usually food process it, if the oil in it was separated it may have just been sitting a little while. The food processor usually emulsifies it.

pissclams · « **Reply #28 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:43:04 AM »

Quote from: Pete on February 12, 2013, 08:25:48 AM

Quote from: pissclams on February 12, 2013, 07:57:43 AM
where's yesterday's edition of "straight talk", pete?

It was a turkey sandwich day. However, I think you will be pretty darn pleased with today's edition....

can't wait. this thread has re-energized the CF board in the middle of the february blues.

Dr Rick Daris · « **Reply #29 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:51:48 AM »

well here's the deal though with the SA orange salsa type stuff...i'm pretty sure that they had a couple that were similar colored but one was just weird and oily and tasted just horrible. i'd be slightly surprised if it was just a habanero based salsa but i guess stranger things have happened.

pete- please review the san antonio carniceria and tortilleria next sometime soon. it's right across the street from epr. make them tell you what is in the weird oil salsa thing. take pictures of all the salsa things there too.

steve dave · « **Reply #30 on:** February 12, 2013, 09:12:10 AM »

was that orange stuff really bitter?

pissclams · « **Reply #31 on:** February 12, 2013, 09:21:45 AM »

i think SA only has 3 salsas, a green, a red, and an orange (habanero). the orange one is really hot.

Pete · « **Reply #32 on:** February 12, 2013, 09:56:23 AM »

Quote from: rick daris on February 12, 2013, 08:51:48 AM

well here's the deal though with the SA orange salsa type stuff...i'm pretty sure that they had a couple that were similar colored but one was just weird and oily and tasted just horrible. i'd be slightly surprised if it was just a habanero based salsa but i guess stranger things have happened.

pete- please review the san antonio carniceria and tortilleria next sometime soon. it's right across the street from epr. make them tell you what is in the weird oil salsa thing. take pictures of all the salsa things there too.

I will document the rough ridin' crap out this for you, Rick Daris. Not sure I can get to this one before the end of the week....we really need to talk about service level agreements on these efforts, that's on me, sorry.

Dr Rick Daris · « **Reply #33 on:** February 12, 2013, 10:10:18 AM »

Quote from: pissclams on February 12, 2013, 09:21:45 AM

i think SA only has 3 salsas, a green, a red, and an orange (habanero). the orange one is really hot.

this is possible but i swear they also had a fourth mystery liquid. could've been emulsified cow brain for all i know. it looked off and way different from the other stuff. was immediately right from the cashier/where you order. idk you guys maybe i imagined it or maybe it was just a standard habanero salso but i have strong reservations against those possibilities. no doubt in my mind that pete will get to the bottom of all of this for us though and for that i thank him.

ChiComCat · « **Reply #34 on:** February 12, 2013, 11:42:45 AM »

I think we all need to chip in and get Pete something for his work an effort. I vote for this http://reviewercard.com

BleedingPurple7 · « **Reply #35 on:** February 12, 2013, 03:31:48 PM »

Quote from: Pete on February 12, 2013, 06:52:09 AM

Quote from: Cire on February 12, 2013, 06:17:43 AM
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.

I am not sure if you're doing this to purposely limit the scope of your investigation or out of ignorance to the rest of the great Mexican places in KCK. You can eat at a different mexican place every day for a month anywhere along Central ave up to Minnesota or so. Armourdale is certainly the little Mexico of KCK, but the Hispanic population is pretty heavy North of there as well. For you tourists who come to the 'dotte for the Mexican food, don't hamstring yourself by focusing on just one area. Thumbs up to Cire for mentioning Bonito, that place is solid.

That being said, Pollo Rey is great as was mentioned before. I'll do a brief one of Taqueria Mexico for you

Atmosphere is good, and looks like a pretty average mexican joint inside. Clean bathrooms are always a nice surprise.

Service has always been good when I've been there. Even when moderately busy I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 10 minutes for my food. There may only be a couple people on the wait staff that speak English, but they recognize that I'm white so I have never had to order in Spanish there.

Food is great, beef tacos and chicken enchiladas are my favorite. The enchiladas are pretty close to a tex-mex style, but hey you can't argue with good food.

Pro tip: It doesn't hurt to brush up on a bit of Spanish if you're going to adventure to some of these places. Odds are, you'll be able to get by with English in most, but the really tiny joints might only have a couple people working and you'll probably be the only non-Spanish speaker they accommodate all day. You can always get by with pointing to whatever you want on the menu, but I think they appreciate it when I'm not full on gringo when I come in and order. It goes without saying that you shouldn't have the "this is America, you should know English" attitude coming in. We may be in America, but you're on their turf.

CNS · « **Reply #36 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:21:36 PM »

Authentic Mexican food is the best.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

sys · « **Reply #37 on:** February 12, 2013, 08:31:50 PM »

oily orange habanero salsa, lol. what the eff will you retards think of next?

kim carnes · « **Reply #38 on:** February 12, 2013, 10:43:19 PM »

i've had tacos al pastor from el camino real twice. they're ok.

Pete · « **Reply #39 on:** February 13, 2013, 11:53:46 AM »

El Pollo Rey
1101 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

Facade: Excellent. It looks like a freaking barn. There is a big rack of hard-wood by the front door that they use for the wood grill. It was oak when we went, but I bet they take whatever hardwood they can get.

Décor/Ambience: Average. The wall of pre-paid calling cards really spices up the place. However, we could not hear the Spanish language televisions, and there was no Latin music being played. It was clean a place. One fun part was watching the guys salt/pepper the halved raw chickens at one end of the food prep area, then just throw them down the line and land them on the grill…excellent hand-eye-chicken coordination.

Service: Average. It’s fast food, and there are three menu choices, not much to it.

Food: Very Good*. The asterisk is because you only have three menu choices; Grilled Chicken (half), More Grilled Chicken (whole), and Buffalo Chicken Wings. Each comes with tortillas, pork and beans (various parts), pickled red onions in a baggy, and a puree salsa. On the table they have two different flavors of bottled super-hot habanero salsa. Technically, there is one other menu option, you can buy a whole, raw, avocado (not sliced) as well. We saw one guy buy the avocado when we were there, but didn’t get a good look at how he tackled it…they don’t give you a knife, so he must have made do with his plastic fork or spoon. The preferred method of eating the chicken is to tear it apart with your hands and plastic fork and make your own tacos. However, we did see quite a few people just dive into the chicken with their hands, as if at KFC or something.

Pete · « **Reply #40 on:** February 13, 2013, 11:57:30 AM »

The two Latino kids in that picture just destroyed their chicken....no tortillas, no non-sense. Just dove in with their hands and went to work.

Steve Dave's six-year-old, and Limestone's six kids would have been all "I don't like bones, where are the nuggets." You could tell these kids appreciated what they were being given....an inspiration to be sure.

pissclams · « **Reply #41 on:** February 13, 2013, 12:48:04 PM »

i've noticed that a lot of the true bloods will rip the chicken off of the bone using the tortilla and just eat it that way.

420seriouscat69 · « **Reply #42 on:** February 13, 2013, 01:00:07 PM »

I didn't read any of this thread, but I wanted to let you know Margaritas is the answer if you're looking for Mexican food in KC. Their dip is amazing!

Emo EMAW · « **Reply #43 on:** February 13, 2013, 01:02:55 PM »

Quote from: Pete on February 12, 2013, 06:52:09 AM

Quote from: Cire on February 12, 2013, 06:17:43 AM
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.

Bichelmeyer's is the best thing in KCK, IMO. They have like 10 different kinds of pork bellies for crying out loud! About the only place to get anything when I'm making stuffed camel.

Pete · « **Reply #44 on:** February 19, 2013, 10:48:00 PM »

Tortilleria San Antonio
830 Kansas Ave, Kansas City, KS

Facade: Good. I like the bull heads. I bet they would sell you a raw bull head if you really wanted one, so truth in advertising right there.

Décor/Ambience: Good. This place is a grocery/butcher shop/taqueria…so you basically walk into a small grocery store and an area with dudes making tortillas. Then there is a counter to order food, a bunch of tables to sit and eat, and a large meat counter. Loads of mounted heads of various wild animals are up on the wall. One of the more interesting features is a separate counter where you can buy different pieces of fried pork, though I have no idea what “pieces” they really were. Pretty diverse crowd. Some families doing their shopping and grabbing lunch, plenty of business people on their lunch hour, etc.

Service: Very Good. It’s essentially fast food, but they were all very nice. The nice part is that you can get in and out of there fast, and it’s good for to-go orders…good take away containers for sauces and condiments.

Food: Very good. I had an Asada Torta and Taco, both were really good. They also have burritos. A friend got a Barbacoa burrito and said it was fantastic.

Asteriskhead · « **Reply #45 on:** February 20, 2013, 12:35:31 AM »

Quote from: Pete on February 13, 2013, 11:53:46 AM

That guy used to work for me in Topeka. He opened a restaurant in Lawrence, I believe it was named "Tapas".

Pete · « **Reply #46 on:** February 20, 2013, 06:42:27 AM »

He was just the dude at the next table, I don't know him.

pissclams · « **Reply #47 on:** February 20, 2013, 08:21:13 AM »

how was SA's orange salsa?

Pete · « **Reply #48 on:** February 20, 2013, 08:25:56 AM »

Quote from: pissclams on February 20, 2013, 08:21:13 AM

how was SA's orange salsa?

It was good, very hot. I preferred the avocado green one the right of it. Same amount of heat, but a bit more flavor. I didn't try the yellow habanero on the left. I can't imagine how hot that must have been, given the strength of the other two to the right of it.

Pete · « **Reply #49 on:** February 25, 2013, 11:02:51 AM »

I think I will fire up another installment of Straight Talk today!