Find catfish, loaded fries at KC gas station restaurant that just expanded north
An avid traveler and diner, Avery Smith knows the most mouthwatering meals can come from unexpected places — like the counter at a gas station.
So when Smith left his corporate financial job in Dallas, moved back to Kansas City and started a restaurant with his cousin, local comedian Kevin Roberson, he had no qualms about taking their food to a gas station — but the food had to be good.
The first Hole In Da Wall opened last year, July 15, inside the Shell Xpress Mart on Benton Boulevard. Exactly a year later, cousins Smith and Roberson opened another Hole In Da Wall across the river and inside a Rocket Stop in Claycomo at 336 US-69.
“Whenever I go to places, I look for those hole-in-the-wall places to eat,” Smith said inside the kitchen at the Claycomo location. “The place where they got the good food and that might not be your big brand name. It’s family-owned, and the quality is there.”
It’s no secret that a good meal can come out of a gas station, especially in a barbecue and comfort food-friendly city like KC. But a gas station restaurant often comes with little quirks.
And much like many hole-in-the-wall restaurants, Hole In Da Wall is hard to find when you first pull up to the Rocket Stop gas station. There is no signage indicating that chicken wings and burgers await customers inside at a counter next to the coffee machines and cigarette case.
Also, there isn’t seating, so a meal at Hole In Da Wall is best taken to another location. For that reason, Hole In Da Wall allows guests to place pickup orders online, and their food is available for delivery on DoorDash.
But open the Rocket Stop doors, and the smell of seasoned, fried catfish cooked to order distinguishes this gas station from convenience stores in which hot food offerings are typically just hot dogs on roller grills.
Their Claycomo menu is pretty similar to what they offer in KC, but their Northland spot offers more lunch deals, Smith said. He’s hoping $10 daily specials — like the classic burger with fries on Monday or the two-piece fried catfish and fries on Friday — will attract the workers from the nearby Ford Assembly Plant and Amazon warehouse.
“It doesn’t change the portion size,” Smith said. “We just wanted to give everybody the opportunity to have good food at an affordable price.”
Hole In Da Wall started primarily as a burger restaurant, which is still on the menu. You can get a half-pound single patty with lettuce, tomato, pickle, red onions, bacon and cheese for $12, or a double for $15.
But what’s surprised Smith is how other dishes have taken off. Some of their most popular dishes include the loaded crinkle-cut fries ($7) — topped with cheese, chili, bacon, green onions, jalapeños and ranch dressing — as well as the wings and catfish.
Guests can order six, 12 or 20 pieces of wings, or they can get a five-piece tender meal (from $13 to $28). For seafood, the catfish meal comes with two fillets ($15), or guests can order it as a sandwich meal (also $15). Hole In Da Wall also makes a 12-piece shrimp plate ($15), and every meal comes with a side of fries and a drink.
It helps that six months ago, local content creator Glenn Robinson of Hood Dude Food Reviews stopped by Hole In Da Wall’s first location. He posted a video as his social media personality The Epitome and gave high marks to the sandwiches, wings and especially the catfish.
He also suggested the Hole In Da Wall team bottle the seasoning that covers the fried catfish and wings. Smith said his homemade all-purpose blend also goes into the ground beef for the burgers and is used to marinate their chicken.
“It was a huge uptick in traffic (for us),” Smith said of the business after the Hood Dude Food Reviews post.
Smith said they’re already working on a third location in another Rocket Stop gas station in Grandview. The ultimate goal, though, is to open in a standalone brick-and-mortar space.
“We’re not in a rush, though,” Smith said. “The most important thing to us is that we’re providing consistent food across the board.”
Hole In Da Wall is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
