Guy Fieri might be a harsh critic, but it’s no secret he has one of the most developed palates in the food industry. So when I heard he made a few stops in Kansas City on his hit food review show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” I decided to try out three of the featured restaurants — Cupini’s, Jarocho and Woodyard Barbecue.
CUPINI’S
As the cashier’s thick Italian accent described the most popular menu items at Cupini’s, it didn’t take long to decide on the authentic Italian margherita pizza and homemade lasagna — after all, Fieri praised it for having “everything you want in lasagna.”
After placing my order I was directed past a refrigerator filled with premade pasta and cheesecake to the dining room in the back and found a seat under the pinned-up newspaper articles and pictures of Fieri.
Within 10 minutes of ordering, my lasagna and margherita pizza were served, the heat burning my throat with my first bite. I could tell the thick-cut noodles in the lasagna were cooked to “al dente” and the light marina sauce with small chunks of tomatoes certainly didn’t come from a can. There wasn’t too much ground beef — the perfect noodle to sauce to meat ratio. I would’ve preferred a little more ricotta, but adding parmesan did the trick. Passing on a side of garlic bread is probably a smart idea — the six layered five-by-five piece of lasagna was much bigger than I expected.
After trying the pizza, I realized that I had only ever tried American pizza — and Italian pizza isn’t heavy on grease and the cheese is always freshly grated. There wasn’t much sauce — which is customary to Italian pizza — allowing me to enjoy the taste of the homemade crust and cheese without sauce dominating the whole pizza.
The savory basil taste and fresh mozzarella certainly improved the quality of the pizza, but the crust pulled it all together. The best part was the thin crust — cooked just until crispy and not at all doughy.
It’s already hard enough to find quality Italian restaurants in Kansas, but Cupini’s showed me what authentic Italian cuisine should look like. Not only did I develop new pizza standards I’m afraid Waldo Pizza’s greasiness won’t live up too, but I realized Fieri was right, the lasagna is “funkalicious.”
JAROCHO
At first, the thought of combining Mexican and seafood just didn’t seem right — no good restaurant serves both enchiladas and clams. But surprisingly enough, Jarocho managed to prove my theory wrong.
The bright pink and blue walls painted with sea animals created an aquatic, seafood restaurant type atmosphere, that looked straight out of the Caribbean.
While items like fresh guacamole and fish fillet kept the two types of food separate, options like shrimp chipotle and Mexican soup with shrimp combined the cuisines together in one dish — something that makes this restaurant unique.
Looking for an option of each type of food, I chose the guacamole, two grilled shrimp tacos and six oysters — something that would test Jarocho’s ability to execute true seafood in Kansas well.
With half the booths in the restaurant full, I was surprised when the waiter served everything within a few minutes of ordering.
I was hesitant to try the oysters — the sliminess and concept of raw fish has never sounded appealing to me. Even though the oysters were prepared well and seasoned, one was plenty for me. The salty taste left in my mouth was reminding me of the sea with every swallow for the next hour.
Now it’s no secret that guacamole is essential to every Mexican restaurant. While Jarocho’s could’ve used more lemon juice and wasn’t as flavorful as Chipotle’s, it still met my constant guac craving.
Each taco was filled with at least four pieces of shrimp, Mexican slaw and chipotle sauce. The grilled shrimp left a charred taste that added to the taco as a whole and the garlic and cilantro enhanced the flavor.
Not often do you find a restaurant specializing in two different types of food, especially two that are polar opposites like Mexican and seafood. Jarocho offers fresh seafood from crab to octopus, while including traditional Mexican dishes like queso and guacamole. Next time you can’t decide between fish and quesadillas, make it easier for yourself and order a combination at Jarocho.
WOODYARD BARBECUE
Just three blocks away from Woodyard Barbecue there was no chance I’d get lost. Arrows and signs were planted on the streets of northern Merriam, KS that led me to the sweet smell of beans and burnt ends. They finally directed me to the outside of the restaurant that looked like an old shack with a hard-to-find, fading spray-painted sign out front.
The smell of true Kansas City barbecue immediately reached my nose as soon as I stepped out of my car, likely from the piles of different types of wood — from applewood to hickory — in the back lot of Woodyard. After all, the joint got their name by being a “wood yard” and selling specialty wood to other barbecue restaurants in KC.
The “dining room” was bigger than I expected and could easily seat 50 people, even though I was the only one there — which seemed unusual for a Friday afternoon. After browsing the menu, I decided on the pulled pork sandwich with a side of burnt end chili.
When the sandwich was served I was surprised by the amount of pulled pork that was piled on the bun — the meat must’ve added at least two inches to the sandwich and was spilling outside the bun onto the tray. While the smoked pulled pork itself could’ve had more flavor, the trip to the self-serve barbecue sauce station made a major improvement.
Burnt ends are a delicacy to KC barbecue and not every restaurant is able to execute the dish. That being said, I wasn’t sure Woodyard would match my expectations of a flavorful piece of meat that’s perfectly cooked — not chewy but still fully-cooked. But upon trying the chili, it became clear why it was one of Woodyard’s best-sellers. The big chunks of meat weren’t at all dry and the chili, thankfully, wasn’t spicy enough to have me reaching for my water with every bite.
Woodyard Barbecue is the definition of KC barbecue. The hickory smoked smell and home-made sauce proved the authenticity of the barbecue. As a Kansas City native, trust me when I say you don’t know true barbecue until you’ve tried Woodyard.
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