Dixon’s Famous Chili 

By Dayle Ringer 

On Friday night Mitch surprised me with taking me to Dixon’s Famous Chili located at 9105 East 40 Hwy in Independence, Missouri for our date night. Sadly, to say I never heard of this place; I will be back when I can splurge on meals (the serving size; not the cost). I already know what I will be ordering on the next two visits.  

A little history; Dixon’s got its start back in the early 1900’s when Vergne Dixon began selling his chili out of a street cart in downtown Kansas City. Then in 1919, he was able to open the first Dixon’s Chili Parlor at 15th and Olive. Mr. Dixon employed men who was down on their luck; Mr. Dixon’s focused on high quality food and fast service, the business quickly grew. A little-known fact that he was so proud of his chili that ketchup wasn’t allowed in his restaurant. Also, President Truman frequented Dixon’s, he had loved this chili, so much that he was a patronage most of his life. In 1960’s with Mr. Dixon’s nephew taking over the operation he expanded to the location on 40 highway. He did change the “no ketchup” policy, however there is a .15 cent fine, that is continued today. 

When I walked in, I felt like I was in the 50’s. It is amazing little “parlor” you can sit at the bar on the stools that spin or find yourself a table. We arrived their around 8 P.M. and it was packed full of people eating and visiting. The staff was friendly and helpful with any questions that you might have.  You can order chili three different ways; Juicy, dry, or soupy. The delivery of our food was fast, even being packed, and later in the evening. 

Mitch ordered the Spaghetti Chili; I have seen this on Food network before and been wanting to try it. Since he ordered this, I went for something else (this is one of the two things I will be ordering on my next couple visits). This is Chili served over spaghetti noodles topped with (Mitch ordered) onions, cheese, and ketchup. You can order the chili with or without beans. Mitch let me try this, O.M.G. I normally wouldn’t say that in a blog, but I couldn’t even begin to describe the taste. I think I found a new favorite way of eating chili.  

Spaghetti Chili

Mitch is ready to eat and he did eat this whole thing. :) 

I ordered, of course, the foot-long chili cheese dog. This chili cheese dog is right there with the chili cheese dog in Eldon, MO at the Cree Mee. (I will have to eat there this summer and write about that. Who would drive 2+hours or so to eat a chili cheese dog with a cherry marshmallow Pepsi? This gal right here.)  The taste is different than Cree Mee’s but just as good. I didn’t think I would be able to eat all of this, but I just couldn’t stop eating it, because it was that good.  The hotdog itself was grilled, the chili was phenomenal topped with shredded cheese and pickles. No ketchup needed. 

Foot long chili cheese dog

For desserts, they have pies and they are all homemade and you can tell. We had apple pie ala mode. The crust was flaky, the apples wasn’t done enough for me, however for Mitch they were perfect. It all depends how much you liked your apples cooked. Don’t like apple pie, (I wouldn’t think you would be human if you didn’t) they had plenty to choose from, even cherry cheesecake, which that would be heaven to me. 

The second thing I will be ordering next with my couple visits will be the tacos. Yes, tacos, and they have all you can eat tacos every day for $7.95. I cannot wait to try that. Next time you're in this area and want to eat some famous chili, stop in, sit a while and bring your appetite. You won’t be disappointed. 

http://www.dixonschili.com/about-us/

https://www.facebook.com/creemeedrivein/

The Brass Onion 

By Dayle Ringer 

This week’s adventure took us back to Overland Park, Kansas to a restaurant called The Brass Onion. This is located at 5501 W 135th St. This area is adorable, a new and upcoming area. The parking was a little walk. However, it is a free parking garage that is located there in the 

Prairie Fire Entertainment District. They also have complimentary valet starting at 5pm daily. Make sure to check out the wall mural that is done on the way to the garage. This artist is amazing, I have seen other murals he has done in the downtown area. He is a true artist; known as Scribe; his name is Donald J Ross. 

Picture from The Walking Tourist; link below.

We chose to make a reservation online, to avoid any waiting. I don’t think we would have to wait; we are the couple that usually do, especially if we never been there before. While searching online, I found that they also have a Brass Room; that is adjacent to the restaurant. This is a private event space, perfect set up for rehearsal dinners, anniversary parties, corporate events and meetings. They have a built-in bar set up, which includes a private patio space, a mounted TV for media, full china place settings with linen table clothes; they can seat up to 80 people. 

The restaurant itself, was modern, dark grey walls, full bar, a cute portrait of a smiling pig, low lighting and quaint. It can be a romantic date night, or night out with your friends and/or family. Our server was Amy, and she was fantastic. We didn’t want for anything. She knew what she was doing and didn’t have a problem with stopping to explain the menu, answering any questions or just to talk about things in general. 

Mitch stated that the reason why he picked this restaurant was the deviled eggs on their menu. He was intrigued for sure; that was a must to try, and if you choose to go here, if you like deviled eggs, it is a must for sure. These deviled eggs have creole Dijon, roasted poblano and candied bacon; it had a creaminess and was light, a little heat, and the candied bacon was absolute sinful. The perfect bite for the devil himself. 

Deviled Eggs

The dinner to order at least for me was not hard, the Jambalaya Pasta. The serving was huge. I only ate half of it, which the leftovers I ate for Sunday lunch was perfect. It didn’t lose any flavor heating it back up, like some left overs do. The Jambalaya was a mixture of shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, bell peppers (red, green, and yellow) and onions in a spicy creole sauce served over linguine pasta. The meat was cooked to a perfection, the peppers was cooked but still had the crunch (even on Sunday when I reheated it) the pasta was cooked to al dente and the sauce, oh my. I like a lot of sauce on my pasta; I’m about the sauce not the pasta itself. It was out-of-this-world for me. The sauce was mildly hot but creamy; all noodles were covered with the sauce and some left over to soak up with any bread. I wanted to lick my plate but thought better of it, although it was tempting. 

Jambalaya Pasta

Mitch had a little more difficulty of trying to decide between The Sautéed Shrimp and Grits or The Obedient Bird. He ultimately went with the Shrimp and Grits. This consisted of jumbo shrimp, redeye-Tasso ham gravy, hoppin’ John’s grits, cornbread, with whipped butter. This did have bell peppers in it and chunks of ham. Mitch has a hard time eating the peppers due that the peppers do not like him. He let me try a bite; this was heaven, especially if you’re a grits fan. This also has some mild heat to it; we think the grits helped with the spiciness. The grits itself was deviously delicious. Grits are hard to do, and the chef here knows what he is doing. Also, like mine, it was reheated beautifully on Sunday. 

Sauteed Shrimp and Grits.

When we return, I think he will be trying the Obedient Bird. This a ½ brick chicken, deep south faro, natural herb jus, with sautéed green beans and shallots. I haven’t decided, the Jambalaya Pasta was phenomenal; I was eyeing the Double Cut Iowa Pork-Chop or the Low County Macaroni and Cheese, this has shrimp, smoked bacon, roasted mushrooms, smoke gouda and gruyere.  

I am sure whatever we decide to eat next will be outstanding experience from start to finish. I didn’t think the prices was too unreasonable. My plate was $20 and his was $23; about average I think when it comes to eating out.  

Feel free to leave any comments, and let me know if you tried this place and your experience here. Until next time; eat something good for the soul.

https://thewalkingtourists.com/overland-parks-prairiefire-combines-history-shopping/

https://thebrassonion.com/

https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article118399148.html

Cinzetti's

My apologies everyone, that this has taken me a week to get wrote. As with everyone else life has been crazy. However, I finally got my computer, desk, little corner office set up. Somethings are still in the works, but it is functional.  

Last week, Mitch took me to Cinzetti’s-an Italian Buffet. I have never heard of one. I was intrigued.  This is not like any other Italian restaurant. Mitch called it “The Golden Corral of Italian Food,” but this was so much better than Golden Corral. It is in Overland Park, KS., just north of 95th and Metcalf, the address is 7201 W 91st.

    

The inside looks like Italian villa, they have five dining rooms and piazza where chefs cook in 14 different cooking stations, where you can watch them cook. They have around 80 different items to choose from; some include Chicken Marsal Rotini, Penne Con Pollo, Spaghetti Marinara, Mama’s Meatballs, Pink Sauce Gnocchi, Fettuccini Alfredo, Chicken Spiedini, Lasagna Bolognese, Lasagna Vegetali, and of course Pizza.

Cinzetti’s also had lots of salads to choose from, fresh bruschetta (which I loved). The also has a fresh bakery and 16 flavors of ice cream to choose from. This is a family event. The whole family could be happy here. The price was reasonable, Mitch stated it was $7.70 each for us. This doesn’t include drinks. They do have a bar, a list of assorted drinks, wines, and coffee if one chooses.

Mitch and I tried to try everything we could. We were completely stuffed at the end, very fat and sassy that night. The best Alfredo, we thought was the bowtie pasta, the alfredo sauce was rich and creamy, and Mitch liked the fact it had peas in it. I tried the pizza. 

They had several different types, but when in Rome, you go for the Pizza Margherita. This was delicious. Thin crust, the right blend of sauce, cheese, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, etc.  My favorite was the fresh bruschetta. The topping was the tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and balsamic, served over a small baguette.

   

For dessert we tried different things. The cannoli's that is must for me, well, it was more of “leave the cannoli's take the gun.” The best dessert was the made to order crepe. 

You can choose the filling you want, and you watch the chef make it. We choose the strawberry banana cream. Yum, that’s all I can say.  

It is worth a trip to Overland Park for the experience, we will be back for sure.  Until next time, eat somewhere different. You never know when you will find that little diamond of a place. Please leave any comments, good, bad, a favorite quote from "The Godfather." :) 

http://www.cinzzettis.com/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/