Dining Day Trips
Who says fine dining is limited to Wichita? Your next favorite meal is a short drive into the Kansas countryside.
The Editorial Staff
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The days are warming up, and the call of the open road beckons. Put down the top on your car, grab a road map and get ready for some top-notch dining within a day’s drive. Kansas has all sorts of hidden gems—if you know where to look. Whether it’s fine dining in a century-old hotel in the Flint Hills or chowing down on the state’s biggest burger, we’ve found 20 eateries that are worth the drive. In many cases, the restaurant’s history is almost as memorable as the food. So cinch up your seatbelt, but leave the belt around your waist a little loose. The call of the open road awaits, and so does your stomach. It’s time to heed the call!GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL
Savory steak in Cottonwood Falls.
Suzan Barnes makes no bones about the success of Grand Central Hotel & Restaurant (215 Broadway, 620-273-6763, grandcentralhotel.com): The secret is in the steak. “Customers regularly tell me it’s the best steak they’ve ever had,” says the eatery’s owner. People from as far as Africa, Europe and San Francisco have visited Cottonwood Falls, a town of 900 people, to try the delicious food. The eatery has shipped its beef to Lyle Lovett. Even The New York Times has favorably reviewed the restaurant.
Located in the heart of the Flint Hills, Grand Central Hotel & Restaurant almost never came to be. M.M. Young built the hotel across from the historic Chase County Courthouse in 1884, and it remained in business until the 1980s. After sitting empty for a decade, the building was on the verge of demolition when a lawyer purchased it for $41, the price of back taxes. In 1994, a couple from Kansas City bought it and made plans to renovate the hotel. A Wichita radio station was interviewing the new owners when Barnes, who worked in the corporate travel industry at the time, heard about the hotel. She called the owners and soon thereafter took over as manager to oversee the eatery’s renovation. “Our goal was to create a rich Western style with a European flair,” says Barnes. The owners stripped the interior to its original brick walls and stockyard brick flooring before opening in November 1995. Eight years later, Barnes purchased the business.
“The goal was always to serve the best steak possible,” she says. All of the beef is made from Sterling Silver Premium Meats, a line of certified premium USDA choice beef. We recommend the Grand Angelo steak, a filet topped with shrimp sautéed in garlic butter and mushrooms. On Fridays, there’s a sirloin special and Saturdays feature the prime rib. There’s also the option of chicken, fresh seafood or pasta—though we suggest the steak. “Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that people want a good steak and baked potato,” say Barnes.
Grand Central Restaurant is open from 11 to 4 p.m. for lunch and from 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner from Monday through Saturday. Reservations are a must for anyone planning to make the 80-mile trip east to the scenic Flint Hills. — J.M.
Experience… Get a room at the historic Grand Central Hotel. The 10 oversized guest rooms are decorated with Western artifacts and historic photos that commemorate Chase County history. Grand Central Hotel & Restaurant is Kansas’ only AAA, four-diamond historic inn and restaurant.
If You Stay… Stroll down Broadway to visit the historic shopping district. Or if you want to take in the Flint Hills the old-fashioned way, go sightseeing by horseback (Kansas Flint Hills Adventures, 620-342-2625) or from the back of a 1958 Ford wheat truck (Prairie Drifter, 620-273-6020).
