Restaurants in Kansas

The three foremost culinary lures of Kansas are barbecue in the east around Kansas City, fried chicken dinners nearly everywhere but especially south of Kansas City in the town of Pittsburg, and itty-bitty hamburgers, aka sliders, which were originally served in Salina at the still-thriving Cozy Inn. Hidden gems include Niecie’s for soul food in Kansas City and Porubsky’s Grocery in Topeka, where winter specialties include chili with horseradish pickles.

Kansas’s Most Famous Dishes

Fried Chicken

Coffee-shop fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and greens

Chicken Dinner

Salad plate includes slices of orange drizzled with dark balsamic vinaigrette.

Salads

Mountainous sandwich holds pastrami, egg, French fries, cole slaw, and a tomato at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburg, PA

Sandwiches

Kansas’s Best Restaurants

Chicken Annie’s

PITTSBURG, KS

Roy’s Hickory Pit BBQ

HUTCHINSON, KS

A single slider, dressed with pickle chips
Cozy Inn

SALINA, KS

Caffetteria - Commuter Egg Sando
Caffetteria

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS

Barto’s Idle Hour

FRONTENAC, KS

The Breadbasket - Bierocks
The Breadbasket

NEWTON, KS

Martinelli’s Little Italy

SALINA, KS

Milton's Cafe - All American Breakfast
Milton’s Cafe

LAWRENCE, KS

Nu Way Cafe - Onion Rings
Nu Way Cafe

WICHITA, KS

Woodyard Bar-B-Que

KANSAS CITY, KS

Great heap of mixed pork & beef shreds, thick with BBQ sauce at Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que
Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que

KANSAS CITY, KS

Brookville Hotel - Fried Chicken
Brookville Hotel

ABILENE, KS

Kansas Articles & Guides

View All Articles & Guides

20 Burgers to Eat Before it's Too Late

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Exterior view of Dave's showing gas pumps ... legendary chili dogs

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Fill Your Gas Tank and Your Stomach "Eat Here. Get Gas": It's a roadside jest as old as gas stations themselves. (Before gas stations, pioneering motorists bought gas in pharmacies.)...

L C’s Bar-B-Q - Close Up

The Best (Real) Burnt Ends in Kansas City

The Real Thing Barbecue's newfound nationwide popularity has put burnt ends on menus across the country, but in all too many cases, the burnt ends are bogus. The best burnt...

Cheeseburger at Crabill's in Urbana, OH 

America's Best Classic Sliders

Things Have Changed Long ago, a slider was just one thing: a dime-thin patty of griddle-cooked cheap beef from 1 to 2 ounces nestled in a mini bun less than...

The Breadbasket - Bierocks

Nebraska's Comfort-Food Meat Pie

When Russians of German ancestry settled the Nebraska Midlands over a century ago, they brought with them recipes for a unique meat pie. A bun of soft bread dough...

BBQ Sauce Arthur Bryant's Legendary BBQ In Kansas City, MO

Kansas City Barbecue and More

Even before Calvin Trillin declared Arthur Bryant's to be "possibly the single best restaurant in the world" in a 1974 Playboy magazine article, Kansas City was famous for barbecue....

Fried Chicken: The Delicious Double Dozen

Fried chicken is popular all across America and so different everywhere that it is not possible to say what city, state, or region does it best. While the process...

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