The menu is rather small - 5 sandwiches, salad, Wisconsin cheese soup and 6 entrees. 

A BLT came with the choice of salad, soup or side for $6.25 It was OK, but nothing special. 

The baked teriyaki chicken breast was described as 2 4-ounce chicken breasts served over brown rice with a side of steamed broccoli and the choice of 2 sides for $9.50. It did not even come close! There were two thin slices of chicken breast - at best, half the amount of meat described. And there was no rice or broccoli. The salad was fairly good and the red cabbage was ordinary. I finished the meal disappointed and still hungry.

Tina Marie's is supposed to really stress their deserts, so it was surprising when the server brought the bill without asking if we were interested in desert or if we wanted anything else. So we asked about the large selection of made from scratch deserts referred to on the menu.

We were told that there were four choices: blueberry pie, peach cobbler, brownie and devels food cake. We selected the cobbler, but when the server started to set it down, she apparently realized that it was still cold from the refrigerator and asked if we wanted it heated. We asked for it to be heated and if there was ice cream.

When we finally got the warm cobbler with ice cream, it was nothing special.

The only thing I can say, is that Tina Marie's is only 7 weeks old, it may get better. If it doesn't, I can't imagine it lasting very long.
 
 

chicken breast slices and red cabbage

The BBQ pork ribs had a good flavor, but were still a little tough and stringy. The burnt ends were cut into small bits that had excellent flavor from the hickory smoking, There were well done and tender. The fried catfish fillets were a nice size, The crinkle cut french fries were ordinary frozen fries. 

The menu said that the onion rings were "not home made...but they look and taste like they are." They were better than the fries, but no one would mistake them for home made. My favorite of all the side dishes was the  Nathan's Gourmet Sweet Horseradish Pickles.

The sausage was still the best meat tried, both the the sausage that Papa Bob's started with, and the flavor from smoking.

The best part of the meal was the mixed green salad, the spaghetti was rather bland and the bread pudding didn't have very much flavor.

My presentation was on the history of the Straits of Mackinac, Mackinaw City,
St. Ignace and Mackinac Island in northern Michigan. I grew up in Mackinaw City and spent 5 summers at Fort Michilimackinac, working in the blacksmith shop, demonstrating the muskets & cannons, and giving tours.

I had fun preparing for the presentation. It brought back good memories and gave me an opportunity to learn of new discoveries in the 35 years since I worked for the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. For example, La Salle's Griffon, a sailing vessel which disappeared in 1679, may have been found near Washington Island in Lake Michigan.

I may organize my notes into an essay to post on www.mightymac.org.

Tina Marie's main dining room

Although selling many pastries and serving breakfast all day, the dinner menu is a selection of salads, sandwiches, noodles, crepes and pizzas in a variety of flavor combinations. We had a Four Cheese (mozzarella, romano, smoked provolone, parmesan) crepe, Margarita (roasted garlic, basil, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts) pizza, Italian (shaved pepperoni, seasoned beef, spicy sausage) pizza, and Spicy Cajun (shrimp, andouille, chicken breast, candied jalapenos, tapenade) salad.

In spite of its including olives which weren't listed on the menu, I enjoyed the cajun salad a great deal. The 10" bruschetta pizzas were also very good, particularly the margarita flavor.

We were all full, but felt we must try a pastry. We settled on just one cinnamon apple beignet, but the chef didn't think it was big enough for three people to split and made us two fresh, hot, powder sugar covered beignets. They were a big hit with all three of us.

For supper, we went to Happy Bonzai Restaurant in Shawnee, Kansas. The sushi and Japanese steakhouse has been open for about one year.

Arriving around 6 PM, there was one hibachi table with two parties already started with their salads. We were seated with them - a young couple and a woman with a one year old child.

The prices were several dollars cheaper than I am used to seeing at Japanese steakhouses in the Kansas City area. My Calimari was $13.95. L's steak and chicken would have been $17.95, but the daily special was teriyaki steak for $12.95 and they gave us the same $3 off the steak and chicken special. Quite reasonable!

The meals came with the usual: steamed rice, hibachi vegetables, soup and two small shrimp as an appetizer. They charge $2 extra for fried rice, but but is chicken fried rice and didn't seem like the rip off that fried rice is at many steakhouses.

The servings were a little smaller than I am used to getting at Japanese steakhouses, but still more than we ate and L took part of her meal home in a box. The food was pretty average - worth getting if you are in the neighborhood, but not worth a special trip. Our chef was friendly but somewhat inexperienced. When I asked, he said that he had been doing the hibachi table cooking for about 6 months.

Happy Bonzai Restaurant

They were out of the corn which I enjoyed so much on my first visit, so I tried the baked beans. They looked great - two kinds of beans with large chunks of meat. But other than the meat, I didn't care much for the flavor. I think they would be much better if they were baked longer and the meat was cut it to smaller pieces, allowing the beans to acquire more flavor.

This time the pork ribs were tough and a bit dry. I was there early for lunch and wonder if they were left over from a previous day.

I had the $7.99 combo of a salad and half sandwich. I chose the roasted eggplant sandwich (roasted eggplant & red pepper, feta cheese, oil, vinegar, and sun dried tomato pesto on grilled sourdough) and the walnut & cranberry salad (mixed greens with roasted walnuts, cranberries, red onions, tomatoes, feta, and vinaigrette dressing). Both were good, with the sandwich being the best. 

L had the turkey havarti sandwich (roasted turkey, havarti cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo served on multi grain bread). It included the choice of fresh fruit or potato chips for $7.89. She described it as "just a turkey sandwich."

The Northwoods Walleye dinner came with two or three pieces of fish and the choice of two sides. I ordered and paid at the counter and was given a number so the fresh food would be brought to my table. While waiting, I fired up my notebook computer and discovered that they had free wifi.

My food came reasonably fast. The French fries were limit and very disappointing, but the seasoned green beans were a real treat. For diet reasons, I have been eating a lot more green beans lately, and these beans flavored with rendered bacon flavored fat, onions and pepper were some of the best.

The deep fried walleye was quite good. The third piece was a bit fishy and may not have been quite as fresh as the other two, but I may be going to Culver's again if this promotion lasts long enough.

The menu and prices are mostly unchanged, but they have added some smoked meats. I tried the baby back ribs, which were flavorful, meaty and tender. The chili, which I liked last year, was almost all beans.

The owner told me that the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is visiting the Double Nickel this fall.

I returned to Llywelyn's Pub in Overland Park for supper. There were no empty parking spots in the lot and at 7PM, the bar and grill was nearly packed. 

I had  Llywelyn's Broil (grilled marinated flank steak grilled served on grilled bread) and the house made potato chips for $10.59. The steak was perfectly cooked and had good flavor, but after two visits, my favorite items is the thin delicate chips.

The meal quality was mixed. I filled small cups with both the regular and spicy BBQ sauces, but when I got to my table, could not remember which was which. After tasting them, I still couldn't tell any difference between them. The sauce was very sweet, with know taste beyond (I think) brown sugar. 

The sausage had little flavor from smoking, but was otherwise fairly good. The brisket had zero flavor from smoking and was fairly dry. The BBQ pork rib I tried was VERY good - meaty, tender and with a wonderful flavor from a brown sugar rub.

After learning that they use frozen French fries and onion rings, I ordered corn and coleslaw for the sides. Both servings were generous. The slaw was sweet and slightly above average. While not on the cob, the corn was very good, and tasted as if it had been roasted.

Supper was at Sobahn, the newest Korean Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. This is the third Korean restaurant I have visited at the same Shawnee Mission Parkway location. Other than removing the buffet tables, dinning room looks much like it did when this was Four Seasons Asian Restaurant. The wood tables and chairs are very heavy.

The menu was long and varied. I selected one of my favorite Korean dishes, O Jing Uh Bokkeum (squid sautéed with vegetable in a hot & spicy sauce). At first taste, I didn't think it was very hot, but there was some underlying heat in the dish. I would have liked a little more interesting mix of vegetables, but it was good enough to have again. The meal came with steamed rice, kimchi, spicy cucumber, steamed broccoli, tofu, sweet black beans and leafy vegetable which the server said was called "green," for $12.99

Service was slow, but not terribly slow. Everything seemed to take a little more time than it should. For example, drink refills meant that my glass was taken by the server, who would disappear into the back for a few minutes before returning with a full glass.

Although Sobahn wouldn't be my first recommendation for experienced Korean diners, it is worth visiting. The menu is accessible and the servers communicate well. Sobahn would be a good place for someone trying Korean food for the first time.

Added a new 2010 update to Grandpa's Old Ford garage.

Learning that Llywelyn's makes their own onion rings, French fries and potato chips, I started with the rings. A large basket of the onion rings with spicy ranch sauce was $6.99. But  for me, the rings were too much about the flavor of the batter and not enough about the onion.

I was much more pleased with the sausage sandwich and Welsh potato chips for $7.99.  The grilled lamb sausage was served in a toasted soft pretzel bun, topped with sautéed peppers & onions and came with Irish Whiskey mustard dipping sauce. The sausage had a very strong flavor and wouldn't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.

I revisited D' Bronx Deli & Pizzeria in Overland Park, Kansas. The side Caesar Salad ($2.75) was large, but nothing special. But the $6.95 classic grilled Reuben sandwich with house made corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and their own Russian dressing on New York style rye bread was very good. One of the best sandwiches that I have had in Overland Park.

Updated and expanded the review of the Anchor Inn in Hutchinson, Kansas.

D' Bronx Reuben sandwich

My shrimp taco and chicken fajitas were both OK, but not very authentic or exciting. I would have liked the meat and vegetables in the fajitas to have been cooked longer and the flavors to have mixed.

Added a new review of the Kansas Oil Museum and Butler County History Center in El Dorado, Kansas, which was visited last June.
 

Kansas Oil Museum

Hickory Tree Restaurant has a buffet and customers get their own food and beverages, and bus the tables when they are through. The meats served today were pork chops, ribs, chicken and beef brisket. The chicken was the favorite for both of us.

The final stop on the road home was in Abilene, where a reader of this web site had just told me there was s waterfall that is not well known.

We found a very attractive waterfall at the site of a ruined mill in Brown's Park a couple of miles south of town. There were no signs for the waterfall, which I think deserves to receive more attention. I plan to return later in the year when things are green.

waterfall in Brown's Park

Skaet's serves reasonably priced, good solid meals. I had bacon, eggs, hash brown potatoes and toast for $4.89. The bacon and eggs were very good. L was happy with a half order of French toast and half order of biscuits and gravy. The French toast was thinner sliced than many and was the better of the two.

Following breakfast, we visited the Kansas Kids Museum at the Hutchinson Mall. The museum is located right off of the food court, but it is more of a children's playground than museum. It appears to be a very good place for birthday parties for small children.

The largest room "Pebbleville" is described as an old fashioned main street and exhibit areas representing a lumber yard, a general store, fire and police stations, a home, and a health center, but that made me expect much more than the series of collections of toys that I found. The main museum aspect of the Kansas Kids Museum is a rock and mineral collection from a late Mr. Westfall, but it isn't exhibited in a particularly interesting or educational way.

We drove on down to Yoder to photograph the small business district and revisit Yoder Meats, which is already featured on the Kansas Specialty Foods page. Yoder Meats has a small Kansas gift shop and a much larger meat market with many products that are produced in their manufacturing facility next door. After sampling several items, I choose their smoked cheddar sausage, liver sausage and mozzarella sausage. The smoked cheddar is one of the best sausages I have had ever.

L purchased a number of baked goods. Some are produced by Yoder Meats, others by local families. When a friend had one of the peanut butter star cookies later in the the day, she said "Oh my god, its awesome!"

Heading back to Hutchinson, we stopped at the free, Hutchinson Zoo. The 9 acre zoo has 160 (mostly native) animals and takes about 45 minutes to thoroughly see without the Prairie Thunder Railroad ride. The train operates on weekends and when school is not in session.

Our favorite exhibits in the zoo were the raccoons and river otters. The raccoons were very aware and interested in the people looking at them. The otters were continuously active with one doing somersaults in the water, while the other would come across the pool and flip on its back to float away.

With 4 restaurants planned for the day, we had a light lunch at R-B Drive In. The homemade onion rings ($4) & pork tenderloin $3.75) were very good. The corn dog $1.1) was just a corn dog.

Back at the Grand Prairie Hotel, we joined friends to watch the University of Kansas trounce the University of Missouri in the final basketball game of the regular season. Rock Chalk!

Then we head out for our second light lunch at another small restaurant which had been heavily recommended - Oliver's Carry Out. Oliver's is a small restaurant with a fishing shop next door the sign proudly proclaims "Burgers and Bait." We had the smallest cheeseburger ($1.30), a chili dog ($1.79), mozzarella sticks ($2.50) and a single BBQ pork rib ($1.50).

The ribs are only smoked on Fridays and Saturdays and were by far the best item we tried. I thought the rib was so good, that I called a friend back at the hotel to tell him about them and he drove over to get the last half slab remaining ($9.99) He is a connoisseur of Kansas City BBQ and pronounced them very good!

The chili sauce was watery and I think it had too many beans for a coney sauce, but I was impressed with the dog which had a good smoky flavor.

With so much good food, we decided it was time for some exercise, so we took advantage of the warm sunny day to play a couple of sets at a pair of tennis courts at Elmdale Park. The courts are not in very good condition, but we are still enjoying nice weather after Kansas' tougher than normal winter.

In the evening we went out with another large group to have supper at the Anchor Inn, a large family run Mexican restaurant that has been a Hutchinson favorite for many years. They offer a large menu, but everyone went the buffet which fills half of one of the dinning rooms. The price had gone up since last year, but at $7.50 for a complete meal (even including iced tea) at lunch or supper, it is a real bargain.

And the food is very good, particular the enchiladas, home made tamales, and various meat dishes. I even had to buy sauce to take back to someone who I work with in Olathe.

I discovered that there is another Anchor Inn location in Salina. I hope to try that location later this year.

Kansas Kids Museum
 
 
 

Yoder Meats
 
 

Hutchinson Zoo
 

R-B Drive In
 

Oliver's Carry Out 
 
 
 
 
 

Elmdale Park tennis courts

Anchor Inn

That evening, 20 of us drove on down to Yoder, to have supper at the Carriage Crossing restaurant and bakery. The Mennonite restaurant usually does a good job with groups, but this was an off night - particularly for me. Drinks, ordering and getting the food took a very long time. Even though we arrived before 7:30, we ended up being the very last party in the restaurant which closes at 9 PM. 

When the food finally arrived, there was none for me. My meal was totally missing. I had get our waitress's attention and wait for the food to be cooked. When my smoked sausage with green beans and fried sweet potato wedges finally arrived, it turned out that the yams were covered with (not mentioned on the menu) sugar syrup. Not a very good option for a diabetic:-( And with everyone else nearly through eating and the restaurant being so slow, I wasn't going to try to get Carriage Crossing to replace the yams with something else.

Maybe it was attitude at this point, but I didn't care much for the rest of my meal, either. At least it was a bargain at $7.99.

Placing our order at the Carriage Crossing restaurant

We tried pupusas, steak and a couple of chicken dishes. My Bistec (seasoned steak) reminded me very much of Swiss steak. It had excellent flavor, and the serving was enormous.

The pupusas (stuffed corn flour flat bread stuffed) are still my favorite dish - particularly the pulled pork, which tastes like BBQ. They come with a large jar of curtido (Central American kimchi) to eat on top of it or on the side. An single pupusa is $1.95 and 3 or 4 with the curtido make a good meal.

L's bacon cheese burger was dry and fairly hard. Her French fries were just another frozen product.

There are 8 specials served before 2:30 PM, ranging in price from $7.50 for vegetables to $15.95 for steak and scallops.

I had the steak and shrimp (5 ounces of each) with steamed rice, vegetables, soup and salad for $14.95. Haru's is one of those restaurants that charges another couple of dollars if you want fried rice. The steak was cooked a little more than the medium rare that I ordered, but was tender and juicy. It was flavored with a LOT of garlic, which I love, but might not appeal to all. The shrimp and vegetables were not over cooked and were firm and tasty.

The chef doesn't do a "performance" at lunch time and the meal was fairly quick. I was able to get in and out of the restaurant in less than 40 minutes.

In the evening, I drove to DeSoto, Kansas where Dean Weller met me at Grandpa's Garage & Body Shop. I stumbled across this collection of restored antique automobiles in 2007, and in the past 6 month, the web pages devoted to Dean and his collection have become the most visited on this web site. It was a chance to see the finished Model T that Dean was working on during my previous visit and view the Ford Model T Speedster that he has just started building.

I was delighted to learn that Dean is still going strong at age 84.

For supper, I drove up to Bonner Springs to try a 3 year old restaurant - Papa Bob's Bar-be-que which is located a mile and a half east of town and has a Kansas City, Kansas address..

Though there was no one smoking at the time, the main room still smelled a lot like cigarette smoke and I continued on to the non-smoking dining room at the far side. I had the Deluxe Meat Platter (2 ribs & 2 sliced meats, plus the choice of 2 sides) for $13.95. I selected sausage and pulled pork for the meats and the only two sides made in house, coleslaw and baked beans.

The ribs were tough, but had a good hickory smoky flavor. The pork was a little bland, but the sausage was quite good and worked well. The slaw had little sauce and tasted like sweet cabbage. The beans were smoky and even sweeter - still quite good despite no noticeable meat. The were served quite warm in a mug.

I also had an order of Taner's Terriifical smoked wings to go. The 10 small, dark wing thirds were fairly tough when i ate them later in the evening, but had a nice hickory flavor. There really wasn't very much meat for $6.75 and they neglected to include a dipping sauce.

Service was mixed, but quite friendly. When Papa Bob's wife learned that it was my first visit, she went over the menu with me carefully. She even went an brought me a sample of the horseradish pickle chips - a very sweet, mildly horseradish flavored bread and butter pickle that is actually Nathan's Gourmet Sweet Horseradish Pickles.

My server didn't realize that I had been seated in the non-smoking room and took a long time to find me at first. But when she realized her error, she was genuinely apologetic and even offered to buy a dessert.

Grandpa's Old Ford Garage
 

Papa Bob's Bar-be-que

The Galbi lunch box had a nice sized serving of the sweet, tasty short ribs.

For supper, friends joined me in trying the new Hayward's Pit Bar-B-Que on Santa Fe in Overland Park. This location is counter service only and some prices were running about a dollar less than the main Hayward's at Antioch and College Boulevard. The meat tasted the same, but all of the meat we tried (ribs, sausage, brisket, turkey and burnt ends) was luke warm at best. 

It appears that they are just smoking the meats at the main location and bringing it to this location to sell.

Hayward's Pit Bar-B-Que