nft: stephenson's restaurant closes
 

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/16697841.htm

quite a shame...i worked there for a while in high school, had a blast

bp

I liked that place. Didn't Harry Truman eat there?

It's about time. I ate there once and it was absolutely horrible. Horrible service, ambiance (95 degrees in the "A/C"), and most of the food was barely passable.

I liked the one in Arkansas better.

It was good long ago, but of late it was very unimpressive.

Still, I'll miss the place.

Wow....that place was a KC institution.

Is V's still around?? On 40 highway in Independence?? I used to love that place as a kid.

I had no idea that Stroud's south closed (or I had forgotten.) THAT was outstanding food and "interesting" parking under the bridge.

I'm with you. I haven't eaten there in probably 25 years and it sucked then, just horrible. I can't believe that it stayed in business that long.

There was another "institution" that had crumbled in recent years.

When I first moved to KC I had to try Strouds and Stephensons. Both made me want to bypass any more KC "institutions".

i loved the food at stephenson's, but i will agree w/ what was said above, it was pretty hit and miss..

i usually got pretty lucky; i knew the best servers to pick out and if the food looked like crap, those guys wouldn't even let it out on the floor...best damn pork chops i ever had

bp

Every time it was a miss for me.

My parents seemed to have liked the place.

Stroud's was kosher.
Best damn cinnamon roll biscuits ever.

:banghead:

Yep V's is still around...but, I haven't eaten there in a long time...nor do I know anyone who has...

As kids my brother and I used to love it...especially the little monkeys they would hang on our drinks, and the little swords...G.I. Joe loved those swords...Perfect for the kung-fu grip...

the key for me was to stay away from the chicken....i couldn't stand the baked and creamed chicken there...

pork chops, ham steaks, swordfish, green rice...damn, i'm going to have to dig out my stephenson's recipe book and cook up some green rice

gooooooooood stuff
bp

besides, i don't go anywhere roger recommends anymore; not after the happy dragon.....yuck

bp

I think there's still a Shroud's up north somewhere, IIRC...looks like an old farm house or plantation...Damn good fried chicken...kick ass cinnamon rolls too...same place? IDK...

When I was younger, my uncle used to work at the "Red Mule"...I think it was part of Stevenson's...all I remember is that it they shared a parking lot...

the red mule inn was across the street, where the big biscuit now is..

i remember bussing tables at the red mule in probably 1993, the day banquet waitresses would go to the mule and wait tables at night...they sure tipped bussers out a lot more than the night waiters did...

bp

that's right...I guess we always just parked at Stevenson's for some reason...I don't remember crossing the street, but I do remember hearing that the Big Biscuit used to be a different restaurant...

They had a Stephensons off of I-29 and 56th street for a time, I beleive. Went there as a kid, and all I can remember was I couldn't finish the food due to the grossness.

I worked at the one north of the river in high school... Steve was cool, but his wife was nasty. I loved making her mad... not that it was hard to do.

We at there quite a bit before I worked there, and I never had a bad meal... and the Sunday brunch was great. We would go to the one in Jane, MO, and it was always really good, too. My last Stephenson's steak was at Lee's Summit, and it was awful.

Did you know a Tim O' dell that worked there??

tha name sounds familiar, what year would this have been?

bp

Went there once. Wasn't impressed. But for some reason I remember a story about Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) was in town for some reason and went there to eat and there was some kind of drunken distrubance but no arrests. Anybody else remember that? Or have I burned to many brain cells?

green rice casserole



nuff said.

I drive by it on I-35 every time through KC to Wichita. We stopped there on our Christmas trek this year, good food.
The Strouds in Wichita is great as well.

rep for that, green rice rules

bp

This past summer, some friends from out of town were visiting and we decided to go to Tasso's for dinner (Tasso's is a Greek restaurant in the same general area as that Stroud's). We drove about 25 miles to get there and found out it was closed. No problem, we thought, our friends are big fans of Strouds so we will just go there. GONE! LOL IIRC, we ended up driving all the way back north to the Strouds in the northland.

Can you describe green rice? I've seen people mention it when the subject of Stephensons comes up again and again, but I've never seen an explanation.

kind of hard to explain, so i will just link you to a recipe

http://www.recipesource.com/fgv/rice/03/rec0398.html

bp

Is this the apple orchard place out there by what used to be COuntry Meadows antique Mall?

Strouds...wasnt that the place northwest of Worlds of FUn...over near Vivian Road?

I used to go there all the time with my italian ex and her family. I hated the place, but it was free food so whatever.

We always had a "saved" table at Anthony's...downtown. Is that restaurant still around? They had the best chicken Spedini. Then we'd go to her uncles house in little Italy and watch the Chiefs games, eat meatball sandwiches with lemon wedges on the hard bread, and drink red wine...lots of the red wine...then after the game we used to go to the woodlands and gamble.

yep, the restaurant is at the intersection of lee's summit road and 40 highway

bp

People quit coming because of concerns about the neighboorhood.

I grew up very near Stephenson's. Back in the 1970's that's where a lot of high school guys would take their dates for the first real "night out" restaurant thing.

Stephenson's food has been hit or miss over the years. The pork chops, beef and ham tips and huge shrimp was always good, chicken very hit and miss, steaks not so good. They always had apple fritters, green rice and excellent chilled salads. And nobody makes a better Apple Cider. I sure hope the orchard continues to operate, and they continue to make cider. Losing that would be a real shame.

I hate to see them go, but because they refused to remodel and upgrade their restaurant, it fell by the wayside. Shame, because the new Bass Pro World is about to open in six months or so, literally about a mile to the east at US 40 and MO 291. That will bring lots more tourists to the area.

V's is still open on US 40 just east of Cool Crest. It still does a great business, lots of banquets, wedding rehearsal dinners, etc. Parking lot is always full. They also have an excellent Sunday brunch.

Stroud's is open off I-35 North about three miles west of Claycomo. They choke their own chickens, y'know...

And K.T. Fryers in Lenexa burned, though I hear they're going to rebuild.

Don't know if you're talking about Strouds or Tassos, but Strouds closed because the overpass they were in the shadow of was being expanded and their building was slated for demolition.

He was talking about Strouds because, afaik, Tasso's is still open for business. It just happened to be closed on the night we were there.

I live about a mile from Stephenson's, and I have eaten there maybe 5 times, ever. I remember years ago, it was pretty nice... kind of a classy place. But, as the Star article said, they just quit putting money into it, and it crumbled. The green rice was the bomb, though. Also... the apple fritters. I had alot of friends work there in high school, so I was thgere a lot picking them up and stuff... but I just didn't eat there a lot.