Go and discover the best chicken in Kansas City. Go-Chicken-Go’s fried chicken is cooked the same as it was in 1970. The Go-Chicken-Go specialty… is chicken. Who would’ve guessed? It’s a fan favorite of chicken eaters all across Kansas City. In order to enjoy Go-Chicken-Go’s masterpiece, you can’t get carried away with what you order, or waste your time by going inside.
My directions are simple. Order a nine piece combo chicken, a medium Dr. Pepper, and G-Sauce (we’ll get to that later). Open up your red and white cardboard box with the famous Go-Chicken-Go symbol, the running chicken, on the front. Next, simply take a whiff of the fried goodness welcoming you to devour crispy, golden brown, tender chicken. The skin is coated in perfect crusting, and fried to perfection to leave a smoky, crispy feel. But wait — you still have your G-Sauce to try. Go-Chicken-Go has possibly the best sauce on the planet. It’s spicy, but yet still twangy, and is similar to a cocktail sauce with a twist. If you play it right, every other bite dipped in G-Sauce, Go-Chicken-Go’s combo chicken will melt your tastebuds.
I have two knocks against Go-Chicken-Go. Other than their regular chicken and G-Sauce, you’re not
going to find anything special on the menu. I tried their famous gizzards and never will again. They’re chewy, black, not all the way crusted and just the fact that they’re gizzards doesn’t help. Everything else in the store simply can’t compete with their classic. Go-Chicken-Go is strictly for their chicken combo box.
Next, the atmosphere is not great. The glorious chicken resides in a shack-like, fastfood looking restaurant with a wooden looking roof over it. You have to order through red metal bars that are constricting and are verging on creepy. There are plastic tables in the eating area which, to be honest, usually aren’t very clean. The kitchen is clean, which helps, but the service is subpar as well. The workers are usually helpful, but aren’t willing to assist any farther than either cooking chicken, typing in your order or taking your box of chicken at your table. My suggestion is to drive through and skip going in. It’s just much easier and less stressful to get to their fantastic chicken.
Town Topic comes straight from the early 1900’s. You order off a tin counter, an old-timey menu rests above the counter, mini jukeboxes hang on the walls, the sign outside the joint simply has “Town Topic” written in black and the floors are checkered red and white. The list could go on and on. This place is classic. Heck, it’s been around longer than my parents. It’s known as one of the best greasy snacks you’re gonna find in Kansas City.
You can compare the burgers to that of a better Winstead’s: thin patties, oozing of grease, lots of cheese and thick buns. The burgers aren’t culinary masterpieces but do a great job of filling your greasy food needs. Trust me and order the onion rings with your burger. The outsides of the onion are crunchy enough to fall apart in your mouth, and the onion inside is easy to bite off, instead of having to slurp out the onion like most onion rings.
The same two ladies are there working every day. I can guarantee that you’ll be called either sweetie, honey, baby or child anytime you need to ask something of them. Right when you hear your first slurp of depleting liquid through your straw, one of them is suddenly there to ask you, “Honey, can I refill your drink?”
The fact that the joint is small with only around 15 tables and a bar around the outsides just makes it that much better — it gives Town Topic the old timey feel that urges you to want to stay the whole day and night. If you need a good place to eat brunch, the chef makes a mean pancake for eight bucks with breakfast potatoes as a side. Or if you’re ever awake craving a greasy burger at 3am, Town Topic is open 24/7, and is even better in the late hours. An anonymous review on the website “Yelp,” stated, “If I had 10 minutes to teach a foreign person about America, I’d read them the Declaration of Independence. If I had 15 minutes, I’d take them to Town Topic.” I couldn’t agree more. I have a better time eating at Town Topic each time I visit.
Guy Fieri got it right by coming here on his hit Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Johnny’s BBQ competes for some of the best barbecue in Kansas City. They have all kinds of BBQ from barbecue chicken to burnt ends. Every order will live up to your expectations, and beyond.
Walking in, barbecue sauces and license plates from all over Kansas City cover the walls. You can catch a slight glimpse of the magic being made in the kitchen before walking through the line to order and watch the hoards of people who already have their barbecue in envy. The workers at Johnny’s are always helpful, and will help you decide what to order in case you can’t decide between their abundant different options of barbeque. Once you’ve ordered, just go find a table and your food will magically come find you. I never understand how the workers get the correct order to the correct table when they don’t take numbers or yell anything out. Another plus is that it is so close to East. An awesome barbeque joint is seemingly in our backyard.
Before I reflect on the brilliance of Johnny’s barbecue, I have one complaint…don’t try the beans. They suck. You’ll be disappointed on the first bite. They’re flat, rubbery, and the sauce surrounding them is horrible.
Now on to their unmitigated selection of excellence. Johnny’s prize product is their barbeque chicken. The outside is crisp with the secret Johnny’s rub plastered on the skin of the chicken. Biting in, the chicken is moist, smoky and fills your mouth with flavor. But, Johnny’s BBQ chicken isn’t the only great thing on the menu. Their ribs are fantastic. The meat barely hangs onto the bone and is the easiest meat to bite off of any ribs I’ve tried. Their burnt ends, the prized meat of every cook, are eccentric as well. Perfect softness, and tender meat seems to be the only way I can describe them.
Everything they have seems to live up to my expectations… other than their beans. Johnny’s is up there for my favorite barbecue joint of all-time when you combine the service and their delectable, seemingly perfect barbecue.
This place has got it on lock. I rarely ever go past Wornall Road so I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t slightly uncomfortable pulling up to a restaurant on 65th and Troost. But when I found myself inside, I was right at home. This place has oysters, crab, catfish, tuna, shrimp, frog legs and other fresh seafood in a glass counter to your right. Fishing poles hang on the walls and nets hang from the ceiling. There is a large menu above the register with red writing that looks like it came straight from a fish market. Everything about the joint is clean.
I ordered a half-pound of fried catfish and frog legs — something you don’t order everyday in Kansas City. Along with the seafood, I spotted a “Vess Whistle” orange soda. I’d never heard of “Vess” in my life, but this thing was the most sugary soda I’ve ever tasted. I’m talking eighty-five grams of sugary soda- the amount of sugar in five cans of coca cola.
The fried frog legs and catfish both came out in separate Styrofoam containers on a large red tray. The awesome thing about this place is that the cook comes and brings you your food then literally watches 
you take your first bite to make sure you like it. The chef watched as the catfish blew my socks off. The catfish had a perfect fry, falling apart in your mouth. It was utterly delicious. It looks like a row of fish, with a thinner, but yet crunchier crust than that of a Filet-O-Fish.
The frog legs were interesting. I’ve never had them before but they were surprisingly good. I’m glad I went on the wild side. I kid you not, I finished all of the food in around 10 minutes. After I finished, the chef came back out and brought me their “secret sauce” and a box of free catfish nuggets. He said it was called “Jack’s Sauce.” I don’t know if the chef gives it to every person who walks through the door or not, because he seemed like this is his prized possession. This chef was THE man, and his sauce was THE sauce. It was musty red, on the spicy side, cajony and worked in harmony with the catfish. I was blown away. I thanked the chef, tipped him well and left a happy boy. I’ve gone back twice since, and am glad I go each time.
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