When we flew back from New Orleans to Kansas City Airport last month we arrived early afternoon – and were hungry, having skipped lunch. We were too early to have dinner at the Justus Drugstore in Smithville, Mo. – a destination-dining spot in an old 1960’s-style pharmacy which I’ve always wanted to try – north of the airport. But we had perfect timing for Stroud’s in North Kansas City, just off I-35. On a Sunday at 4 p.m. it was relatively easy to get a table before the dinner onslaught and we had a lovely table in the back room in front of big picture windows overlooking a classic autumn scene – swans gliding on a small lake surrounded by trees with yellow and orange leaves. The food was great too – a chicken dinner for two was really two nights of dinners and a breakfast. We had a second helping of fried chicken and mashed potatoes the next night and ate the cinnamon rolls the next morning for breakfast. The chicken was delicious – crisp, flavorful, not greasy and hot; the mashed potatoes and thick gravy good; excellent service- even at the end of the meal our server brought more gravy so we could take it home with our other leftovers. We hadn’t been to this particular Stroud’s – in a pretty 1800’s white farmhouse and log cabin called “Oak Ridge Manor” – for years, preferring instead the old roadhouse Stroud’s further south in Kansas City but that one was closed, sadly, to make way for an expanded highway, so this new one is fine. There’s also a new one in the the K.C. suburb of Fairway and in Wichita. Good to know!
Justus Drugstore
We won’t be staying at the Frenchmen Hotel again in New Orleans – it has its charms but was too noisy, too disorganized (we’re still trying to sort out our final bill), and too uneven in terms of the quality of the rooms and especially the beds, particularly the sofabed. But I did get some ideas for our next visit if we stay in the French Quarter including: The Hotel Royal, The Soniat House Hotel and we’d gladly return to The Provincial Hotel (where we spent our last night.) I’d still prefer to stay in Uptown or the Garden District – which was our original plan until Hurricane Isaac knocked the b&b where we were booked – Chez Ellie Marie – out of commission. Next time! (Ellie Marie is right by two restaurants we really liked – Boucherie and Camelia Grill.
