Sometimes, I start a blog post and I completely get waylaid by other entries that I'd like to do first. The next thing I know, I completely forget about going back and doing the original post. That happened in this instance with this entry on Stroud's in Kansas City. A friend was traveling to KC last fall and I tried to redirect her to my entry on Stroud's on Road Tips. However, I couldn't find it. I went back into my lists of posts and found out that not only hadn't I published the post, I hadn't even finished the thing! So, as they say, better late than never as I now publish my entry on my visit from the spring of 2018 to the venerable Stroud's in Kansas City.
In 1933, Prohibition ended in December of that year and it also meant the opening of a small barbecue and beer place by Guy and Helen Stroud in what was then a somewhat rural area on the far south side of Kansas City, Missouri. Helen Stroud was a lawyer by profession, so she really had no training as a cook. Nor did Guy Stroud. But they thought a little road side place outside the Kansas City limits that would serve barbecue and beer would be a popular place. And, as it turned out, it was very popular.
The Stroud's ran it as a barbecue joint until 1942 when beef and pork were rationed during World War II. Chickens were plentiful, however, and Helen Stroud started to make pan-fried chicken dinners that she sold for the whopping price of 35 cents each. The chicken dinners were such a hit that Helen Stroud ended up hiring two ladies from the South who fine-tuned the process of frying chicken at Stroud's.
In 1977, Stroud's was bought by Jim Hogan and Mike Donegan, two bartenders at Kelly's Westport Inn. They acquired a couple of cookbooks with handwritten notes from Helen Stroud and they set out to continue the success Stroud's had with their famous pan-fried chicken. In 1983, the two had an opportunity to buy another restaurant on the north side of Kansas City, Oak Ridge Manor, whose history as an eating/gathering establishment went back over 100 years. And someone else wanted in on the deal, too.
Mike Donegan's twin brother, Dennis, had been traveling the country as the lead opening manager for Victoria Station restaurants that were popping up all over the country. Dennis had just finished up opening two Victoria Station restaurants in Honolulu and decided that he was tired of being on the road. Dennis bought into the operation and the three bought the restaurant and renamed it as Stroud's Oak Ridge Manor. In 1992, the Donegan's and Hogan franchised a third Stroud's in Wichita. Local businessmen Bill Shea and brothers Doug and Troy Farha owned the Wichita location.
Over the years, Stroud's won many local awards for their pan-fried chicken, but in 1998 the restaurant was recognized by the prestigious James Beard Foundation for their inaugural "American Classics" award. Stroud's award continues to be the only James Beard recognition given to a restaurant in Kansas City.
In 2000, the Donegan twins bought Jim Hogan out of his shares of Stroud's. Then a number of changes took place...
Not long after the Donegan's took control of Stroud's, Dennis Donegan was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in 2004 after a valiant three-and-a-half-year battle. Mike Donegan soldiered on with the Stroud's restaurants.
Pictured right - Mike Donegan
In 2006, Donegan closed down the original Stroud's in south Kansas City, and two years later he opened a new location in the Kansas City, KS suburb of Fairway. In 2013, the local restaurant group KC Hopps (Blue Moose, O'Dowd's, Barley's Kitchen + Tap) bought into the Fairway location. (Donegan continued to solely own the Stroud's Oak Ridge Manor location.) In 2014, the Stroud's/KC Hopps group opened a location in Overland Park, KS. And in 2016, the group opened an Omaha, NE location - the first one outside of Kansas or Missouri. However, Stroud's pan-fried chicken didn't go over well with Nebraskan's who love their beef and that Stroud's closed in late 2017.
In October of 2019, the Stroud's/KC Hopps group closed down the Fairway location citing an uneasiness over proposed development in the area and the high cost of renovating the restaurant and property around the building. And, of course, it was the Fairway location that I went to in the spring of 2018, pulling up to the place just off Shawnee Mission Parkway just after noon. (see map)
The interior of the Stroud's in Fairway had sort of a rustic/farmhouse motif. Checked table cloths covered sturdy wooden tables throughout the restaurant. Large windows along the south and west side of the building allowed for the natural light to brighten the room.
There was a nice bar area on the other side of a half-wall that separated it with the dining room. I momentarily thought about sitting at the bar as there was an afternoon baseball game from St. Louis on the television, but I soon found out that there wasn't a bartender on duty.
I was seated at a booth along the west side of the dining room. A nice lady by the name of Olivia came over to drop off a lunch menu for me. The lunch menu is basically a condensed version of Stroud's dinner menu which is served family-style with a salad or homemade chicken noodle soup, a choice of potato, their green beans with chunks of ham and chopped onions, a chicken gravy and homemade cinnamon rolls. The lunch menu does feature some of the evening entree items, but they also feature burgers and either grilled or fried chicken sandwiches, a number of spicy hot chicken selections, salads and appetizers. Stroud's is also somewhat famous for their house-made chicken noodle soup.
I wanted to try their two-piece lunch special and I asked my server if I could get two legs instead of the standard breast and leg. She said it was no problem. (I was at the start of my diet that has, so far, allowed me to lose over 60 pounds.) I did get a choice of potatoes and I took the mashed potatoes and, somewhat surprisingly, she also brought out a bowl of their green beans with ham and onions mixed in A small bowl of the chicken gravy and a cinnamon roll - more of a sticky bun - came with the meal. I also got a Boulevard Pale Ale to go along with the meal.
Because the chicken is pan-fried at Stroud's, it takes a little longer for meals to show up. And that was fine with me. The chicken was piping hot when it came to the table. It had a great tasting coating to the outer core of the chicken legs, but they were pretty small compared to fried chicken legs that I've had at other places. Actually, I should have gotten the breast and a leg because there would have been more meat available. Hodak's in St. Louis continues to be my gold standard for fried chicken (click here to see the Road Tips entry on Hodak's), and while the chicken at Stroud's was very good, it didn't compare to the fried chicken I've had at Hodak's. I had a little bit of the mashed potatoes with a spot of gravy to give them a try and they were fine. But the green beans mixed with chunks of cooked ham and onions were yummy.
While this Stroud's location is now closed, you can still go to the Overland Park Stroud's (see map) and the North Kansas City Stroud's Oak Ridge Manor (see map). I understand that the staff at the Fairway Stroud's were offered positions at the two other locations in the area, so I'm hoping my friendly server was able to stay on board. The food at Stroud's is good ol' down-home-style cooking and their fried chicken is nationally renown. For a place that started out as a small barbecue and beer joint over 85 years ago, their fried chicken has been the common thread legacy that has been enjoyed by generations in the greater Kansas City region.
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