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pitch.com > Restaurants > Restaurant Guide
Chef Howard Hanna of the Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange (opposite page) quickly throughout the South and the Midwest. It opened in June, in time for summer, and it has been packed with families, couples and positively American vibes just about every night since. The custard is heavenly. In addition to seasonal concretes (with blackberries, pumpkin pie or peaches mixed in), we recommend the Apple Pie Sundae (which is what it sounds like) and the James Brownie Funky Jackhammer (vanilla custard blended with peanut butter and brownies, then filled with hot fudge, oh mama!). We also dig the architecture of the place, designed by local firm Hufft Projects. With its deep overhangs, fluorescent tubes and red-yellow-white color scheme, it’s a smart nod to old-school icecream joints. Not in it for the ambience? Don’t like to stand? Just need your post-dinner sugar fix? No sweat. There’s a drive-thru. This is still America, after all.
Best Bounce-tothe-ounce Burger
Jim’s Diner 6901 Prospect • 816-363-7770
There are three things you need to know about Jim’s Diner. First, it isn’t really a diner — you order at a counter, and the place has only one table. Second, it isn’t owned by Jim — the cook and proprietor is Dave Crane. Finally, the double cheeseburger is not what you’d call cheap, at $8. But the fourth thing you need to know about Jim’s Diner is that said $8 cheeseburger is big. Like, feed-a-small-family big. It’s lus56
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BEST OF KANSAS CITY 2015
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cious, too, topped with a fresh tomato slice, iceberg lettuce and onion. Eat one for lunch, and you won’t have so much as a hunger pang for maybe 10 hours.
Best Fancy Burger
Affäre 1911 Main • 816-298-6182 • affarekc.com
When chef Martin Heuser and his wife, Katrin, opened their stylish Affäre, in 2012, they knew that their lunch menu would need a burger. Sure, it’s a German restaurant, but the language that Kansas Citians speak come midday — hell, come midnight — is burger. So Heuser used a secret weapon to make himself a serious burgermeister: bison meat. The result is a juicy, nearly perfect $12 burger, made fresh to order and seasoned with a special steak spice. The thick patty comes topped with a slice of swiss cheese and a punchy, housemade aioli. Naturally, a Farm to Market egg bun is involved, and there are hand-cut fries, served with curry ketchup. We remain fans of Affäre’s fancifully European menu, but we’re glad that this burger was born in the U.S.A.
Best French Fries
Affäre 1911 Main • 816-298-6182 • affarekc.com
Call them french fries, call them pommes frites or call them potato joy, they’re not the real thing if they come frozen out of a bag. But there’s a good reason that so many restaurants we admire don’t bother with all the cutting and the blanching: It’s a time-consuming,