For Andrea Broomfield, writing her newest book, Iconic Restaurants of Kansas City, was one of the hardest things she’s done in her career.
Ask her why and Broomfield will tell you she struggled with deciding which of the hundreds of deserving restaurants made the cut into the final book.
“I created a huge spreadsheet as I was working on perspective, and it was a matter of spending a long time figuring out when these restaurants opened and when they closed,” says Broomfield. “I was trying to figure out how to make sure I included restaurants that were almost all family or independently owned and paid close attention to how long they survived. There are some exceptions, but most of the restaurants in the book were or have been in business for three to four generations.”
Broomfield’s book takes readers through the framework of Kansas City cuisine—which started before Kansas City even existed.
“The whole city identity was based in hospitality that goes back to the Santa Fe Trail days,” Broomfield says. “We had entrepreneurs who were settling here because of the Santa Fe traffic who saw a future in the provisions—food in other words.”
That pattern only evolved as railways and traffic on the riverfront made Kansas City a main travel hub, and passersby were loving the fried chicken and barbecue that could be found within the city.
“Kansas City became a crossroads putting down infrastructure that really made Kansas City think of its evolution in hospitality, which was planes,” Broomfield says. “Planes had to stop and refuel because there weren’t jets that could go from coast to coast without stopping. Kansas City continued to have this identity of, ‘we’re going to get off the plane and stay a few days, we’re going to listen to jazz, and eat out, and continue our journey’—so we’ve been spoiled with many options in the city for eating out at really any price point.”
As Broomfield selected Kansas City’s most iconic restaurants, she looked for places that had staying power. “What all the restaurants have in common is that they are such a part of the fabric of the city that can sometimes be taken for granted,” she says. Broomfield completed most of the work on the book over the pandemic, and as many restaurants that had been part of Kansas City for decades didn’t survive the early days of Covid, she was reminded of the importance of savoring the city’s iconic restaurants while they’re still around.
The book dives into the history of restaurants that are no longer in business, as well as gives an overview of Kansas City’s oldest restaurants that are still making their mark. Ask Broomfield which places you should try, and she’ll point to André’s Chocolates (opened in 1955), In-A-Tub (1955), Haye’s Hamburger and Chili (1954), Jasper’s Italian Restaurant (1954), and Stroud’s (1933).
“Go to these restaurants that are still there and ask for something that’s been on the menu for as long as the restaurant has been around,” says Broomfield. “You end up with such a better understanding of the flavors from the past that continue to have staying power but create new trends too. When you have a restaurant that withstands changes, that’s where you start to get a flavor identity of the city. Kansas City is tremendously blessed because we have all these people who deliberately seek out restaurants that are old.”
Want to know more about Kansas City’s iconic eateries? Grab a copy of Iconic Restaurants of Kansas City here for $21.99.
Join Andrea Broomfield on May 22 from 2-3 p.m. at the KC Public Library for a chat about the book. Sign up here.