Most recently, the building has housed Taco Republic and before that an auto repair and sales. There are two dining rooms, two patio dining areas and an area with a fire pit and seating. To go from the main dining room to the other dining room, we were led back outside.

The food menu is fairly short and includes the popular Z-Man sandwiches from Joe's BBQ restaurants. There are 4 other sandwiches, 3 salads, and 5 shareables, plus sides and desserts. We went with the House Smoked Salmon Club (toasted sourdough, bacon, apple, chimi mayo, lettuce & tomato) and Double Smash Burger (brisket/chuck blend on a brioche bun with American cheese, pickles, JND sauce and caramelized onions). The burger had particularly good flavor.

The sandwiches come with the choice of a regular side and we had fries and Monterey corn. The fries were a little less crispy than at the other other Joe's restaurants and even though I usually wish fries were crispier, I liked these better.

The alcohol menu is longer than the food menu and I thoroughly enjoyed the Sauv Blanc Slushie, particularly the frozen grapes which had been sitting in the slushie.

We finished the meal with a  Peach Blueberry Crisp, which is described as Brown sugar crunch, fruit filling, ice cream.

Main Dining Room

The ribs were the best I have had at a non BBQ restaurant in recent months and the service was quite good.

Before leaving De Soto, we drove through the downtown photographing some interesting buildings and recent public art.

"Dusk in De Soto"

Next to it is the 1906 William Kelly Bandstand. It looks nice, but the two men sleeping on it may make visitors uncomfortable.

Going up Massachusetts Street, the next stop was The Toy Store is a large family owned store with two large floors plus a basement. The upper floor includes a large children's book department that is larger than the ones at many major bookstores. Their goal is to provide old-timey nostalgia and modern quirkiness while being a knowledgeable source on children's playthings.

This is the 2nd location of The Toy Store, which began in downtown Topeka in 1976 and is now at 21st and Fairlawn. They added a Lawrence location in 1998, and moved here to the 900 block of Massachusetts Street in 2005.

The staff were all friendly and helpful. This will be a place we visit again.

Continuing north on Mass, we visited Waxman Candles, which has been on my list of things to check out for many years. It was opened by Bob Werts in 1970 and relocated to its present location at 609 Massachusetts Street in 1993. The next generation of Bob's family manages and does much of the work today, but at age 77, Bob still comes in each morning, primarily to make the ceramics which the company has sold since 2016. Pretty much everything sold in the large store is made in the back. Even the botanicals used for the Wildflower candles are grown, picked, and pressed by Waxman staff.

One of the staff took us on a tour of the work area (something they are happy to do whenever the shop isn't too busy) and explained how much of the work is done. The wax is constantly kept hot, ready to be used at any time, heated with hot water so it can't get too hot.

We stopped by Oak Hill Cemetery, but found it much harder to locate specific graves. After spending a hot, humid 50 minutes locating just two graves (George Nash Walker & Leo A. Beuerman) we decided that was enough for today.

Lunch was at Hillcreek Market, which opened in 2023 in the former Kroeger's Country Meats in Lecompton, Kansas. It is no longer a meat market (though they do sell meat from so local sources) they have expanded the restaurant portion of the store. We had a Southpaw BLT and a Wagyu Smash Burger.

The BLT is described as local heirloom tomatoes, bacon, greens, garlic aioli & pesto on sourdough ($12.50). The burger was two 3 ounce local wagyu beef patties, smashed with fresh ice burg, onions, pickles & cheese (American or provolone) for $13. A side of fries was $5.

We liked it all. I enjoyed the burger the way it was, so much that I didn't add mustard, something I almost always do.

We got a slice of peanut butter pie to go. It was rich and very good. Hillcreek Market takes 3% off the posted prices if you pay in cash. This is so much classier than places who post a price that is only available for cash and then charge more if you use a card.

Lecompton is blessed to have to good places to eat. Better yet they both have great pies.

The final stop of the trip was the 1860 "Clock House" located about halfway between Lawrence and Topeka along US Highway 40. It is offered for sale and is described as overlooking the California / Oregon Trail. The name comes from the large clock outdoors over the entrance, which was added about from another location about 30 years ago.
 
 

The Toy Store
 
 

Waxman Candles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hillcreek Market