Long and Winding Road

We were running late and trusting the Garmin (as usual) for the shortest/fastest route to Taco Republic which is located Northwest of the Plaza.  We were really winding our way around through some awesome looking neighborhoods and somehow spilled out onto Countyline Road in Kansas City, KS.  Sounds like a rural area, but it reminded me of Wornall--1960's buildings, busy road, not a lot of character--especially as compared to the lovely neighborhoods we drove through to get there.  But Taco Republic is worth the winding roads.  Taking our seats with fellow Gassies on a long outdoor picnic table, there was plenty of room for the youngsters to play around in the gravel.  I could see the fun was about to begin!

The traffic sound fell away as the conversation became lively (was that after Margarita pitcher #1 or #2???) and later a firetruck stopped at the red light, honked, waved and generally entertained our 3 year old Gassie before the light turned green.  All of a sudden, the busyness of the road just seemed charming!

Started out with some nachos that were clearly first rate and chose 3 tacos.  Was really excited about the Del Mar fish taco, but alas, it tasted very fishy and I couldn't enjoy it.  Loved the S & P tacos and would love to taste several more if I ever find myself in the area again.  Extra points for the creativity of the tacos and...just down the road--an ice cream custard shop.  Another reason to venture out!  Final Score 4 of 5 from Mrs. Ref

Taco Republic

Mr. Ref here, last month we visited Taco Republic and it was a little different, but i liked it.  I had (2) S&P tacos and (1) S&P chicken taco, and I would say the chicken taco was my least favorite, but I did enjoy both of the beef tacos.  One of the things I really liked about Taco Republic was it was out doors, so it allowed the kids to come and we always enjoy seeing the kids.  The chips and salsa was good but not great, but the cheese dip was really good.  So even though the food was back and forth, overall I thought it was good and I gave it a 4 out of 5.

I have been very remiss the last few months, so I am going to try to do a better job blogging. September was Taco Republic and it is a small place with outdoor seating.  We had perfect weather for the outing and Luke and Hazel were able to join us.   The outdoor space provided a nice areaa for Luke to play.

Since Tacos are their main menu items,  I wanted to try several and ordered 3.  One of the tacos, the S&P, was the Tuesday special and was my favorite of the 3 I ordered.   I ate so many chips and appetizers and had a couple margarita's,  I had to take my other two home for lunch the next day. The other two tacos were the tecate barbacoa and the Old school, both good, but not as good as the  S&P.  I give Taco Republic 4.1 and would love to go back, especially if I was in the area.

Hamburger Mary's Why?

Mr. Ref here, last month we went to Hamburger Mary's.  I wasn't sure what to expect because my wife told me it was a cross-dressing establishment, and when we first got there it was fine.  The hamburgers were good, not the best, but not the worst.  The fries were about the same good, not the best, but not the worst.  At this point nothing seemed all that different, there were a couple of cross-dressers and the decor mostly had posters and pictures of films, books, etc. about cross-dressing, gay couples, etc.  But again at this point I knew what type of place it was.  Then as we were finishing up our meal the show began, it was Charity Drag BINGO and it was not your regular BINGO.  They had several different types of BINGO, that on your BINGO sheet represented some type of sexual reference.  And this is when the flaunting began and when it became to flamboyant for me.  At this point I was ready to leave, but Mrs. Ref was wanting to stay a little longer, so we did, for about 2 or 3 rounds of Charity Drag BINGO.  Before Charity Drag BINGO began I was giving Hamburger Mary's a 3.5, but after Charity Drag BINGO I am changing it to a 2.5.  The food was good, but for me, the show was too much.

Hamburger Mary's--Why Not?

Didn't know what to expect as far as atmosphere here.  Is it a gay bar?  A place for transvestites?  I didn't really know.  The place was bright, fairly roomy, and full of movie posters, some of which had risque titles, some even a touch past risque.

Our appetizer plate, courtesy of Erin and Josh, was excellent as far as bar food goes.  Served hot and fresh--if you can say that about fried foods-- with several types of sauce to dip the chicken wings, tenders, fries, and fried green beans (yum!yum!) we slurped them up greedily!  The fired green beans could have served as my whole meal, I liked them that much.

The burger menu has lots of fun names for the different selections; I went for the Rockstar which was topped with smoked gouda and tasted delicious.  The burger was cooked medium - well, just as I ordered it, and still managed to be a little dry, but that was rectified by the sauce and I think it was just a marker of higher quality hamburger meat.  The fries that came with it were not hot, and totally tasteless (not worth the calories), but I tasted the sweet potato fries and they were hot and delish!

The funnest part of the evening started when we were finishing our meal -- it involved a man in an evening gown, a song, and Dirty Bingo.  But I'm not going to give away the details.  Use your imagination.  Or quench your curiosity and visit for yourself!

Mrs. Refs final score 4/5.  Why Not?  It was fun and I got to study a different culture :)

Last month we visited my part of town,  for the first time I got home before anyone else.   Back to dinner, we visited Lorenzo's and Italian Restaurant in Belton.   We had a couple of appetizers, fried ravioli and mozarella sticks, both were very good.   I ordered the seafood ravioli, it was a large portion with big chunks of seafood and a nice seafood bisque for the sauce.   I thought the dish was tasty with plenty left over for lunch the next day.   It came with a rather pedestrian salad and some very fresh, garlic rolls.   I would definitely go back, as the food was above average and a reasonable price.   I give it 3.5/5

Lorenzo's Italian Restaurant

Mr. Ref here, this month was my pick and I picked Lorenzo's Italian Restaurant in Belton.  As I have stated in previous blogs, Italian is my favorite food, I love spaghetti, lasagna, pizza and any type of pasta, so I have picked Italian restaurants a few times.  This month I wanted to pick somewhere other that Westport, the Plaza, downtown or the normal type places we go.  I wanted to see if there are other places around the city that compare to the normal places we like to visit.  Plus I wanted to be able to drive up to the front of the restaurant and be able to park without roaming around for ten minutes looking for a very small spot that looks like it was made for a VW bug and not a normal size car.  Don't get me wrong, I love the quaint little places we go to eat each month and almost all of the time the food is really good and the company is great.  But there has to be some other mom & pop joints around the city that can compete with those type of places.

Quite honestly, Lorenzo's was good, but it did not hold up to our norm.  Mrs. Ref & I, and one other, forgot to blog last month and so we had to provide appetizers for all, we had Fried Ravioli, Mozzarella Sticks & Meatballs.  The Fried Ravioli & Mozzarella Sticks were fine, and I enjoyed them, but they seemed very similar to store bought and not freshly prepared.  However the meatballs were a different story, the meatballs themselves were very good and the red sauce provided was even better.  The meatballs were definitely the best appetizer.  This may sound weird, but for my main dish I had a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and it was surprisingly good.  It wasn't the best I have ever had but the meat was tender and cooked very well, the onions and peppers were also very good, but there was not nearly enough cheese.  The cheese was good, but for me to make the sandwich perfect it needed more cheese so the whole thing would just melt in your mouth.  I also tried Mrs. Ref's Seafood Ravioli and it was very good and very tasty, and had large chunks of seafood in every bite.  I did like Lorenzo's and I would go back, but I would not make a special trip.  I gave it a 3.5 out of 5.