Why Kitty’s Cafe’s pork tenderloin sandwiches are worth the post-lunch coma in KC
Editor’s Note: Star audience intern Rachel Schlueter is eating iconic dishes at beloved restaurants around Kansas City this summer. Think we should go somewhere? Fill out this form. And sign up for our free Let’s Dish newsletter for biweekly feeds of Rachel’s latest eats and recent restaurant industry news.
There’s an unofficial rule for hole-in-the-wall dining: the fewer the seats, the better the food.
At Kitty’s Cafe in midtown Kansas City, with just two chairs at a small lunch counter, that wisdom holds true.
The restaurant, located at 810 1/2 E. 31st St., was opened in 1951 by Paul and Kitty Kawakami, a Japanese-American couple who was confined in a California internment camp during World War II despite both being born in the U.S., according to The Star’s archives.
Charlie Souvilong, 67, bought the restaurant in 1999 from the restaurant’s second owners, and he and his daughter Jinna Souvilong, 28, have operated the cash-only restaurant since, keeping its legacy alive — and adding a few touches of their own.
Kitty’s is best known for its triple-layered pork tenderloin sandwich ($9.50): three razor-thin pork slices battered and fried in a Japanese-style tempura coating that Kitty herself developed.
Jinna Souvilong said her dad expanded the menu in the early 2000s to include chicken and catfish sandwiches to accommodate customers who didn’t eat pork, while maintaining the signature crunch that makes the original so beloved.
Souvilong said the Kawakamis’ children, who still live in KC, are regular customers.
From hole-in-the-wall to national fame
Souvilong’s boyfriend, Dillon Wigfall, started working at the restaurant a decade ago while it was understaffed. Before dating Souvilong, he didn’t know the spot existed — even though his family had been coming for years.
“They gate-kept this place,” Wigfall said. “Then I started working here, and there were endless phone calls. They kept calling and asking, ‘Hey Dillon, can I put an order in?’”
It’s understandable why locals would want to keep Kitty’s close to their chests. From the outside, the restaurant is unassuming, with two small rectangular windows flanking the door.
But step inside, and you feel like you’ve unlocked a long-held Kansas City secret.
On a recent weekday afternoon, a steady stream of customers flowed through the tiny lobby, patiently waiting for their white paper bags stained with oil and packed with food. The gray tiled walls are lined with decades of accolades, including a framed article celebrating Kitty’s spot on The New York Times’ 2022 list of the top 50 restaurants.
Souvilong said the honor led to hour-long wait times — but when I visited, it was just a 15-minute turnaround.
After peeling back the red-and-white checkered wrapper of my pork tenderloin, I paused to admire the colossal sandwich as its crisp, golden coating glistened — a signal the tenderloins had just come out of the fryer.
The three pork slices — with an ideal proportion of equal parts batter and meat — sat atop a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced raw onions and a few dill pickles.
And while the vegetables are largely there to appease your guilty conscience about consuming three fried pieces of meat for lunch, the best bites came when the pickles and onions met the salty, battered meat, adding a tangy, sour punch.
The house-made hot sauce tied a bow atop the sandwich, providing just enough heat to liven up each mouthful.
Souvilong said the restaurant gets about 100 orders per day — and most of them are pork tenderloin sandwiches.
Before The New York Times put a national spotlight on the restaurant, Souvillong said most customers didn’t know Kitty’s offered chicken and catfish tenderloins. Now, she said the restaurant sells the three varieties at about the same rate. Kitty’s also offers burgers and a smattering of breakfast sandwiches.
A family affair
While there’s no indoor seating beyond the two stools, there’s an adjoining covered patio with six tables and chairs. Kitty’s closed for six months last year to try to expand its kitchen into the patio and build an indoor dining area in an adjacent gravel lot. But due to permit issues, the plans fell through.
“We paid a lot of money and never got anything done, never got anything approved, never got refunded,” Souvilong said. “So we just took the loss and remodeled what we could.”
Souvilong said they hired new contractors to add new countertops and upgrade the kitchen equipment. She said Kitty’s may try to expand again in the future, but for now, she’s focused on keeping business as usual.
When Kitty’s reopened in October 2024, Souvilong said the line stretched two blocks long with hour wait times once again. The restaurant’s consistency — both in quality and atmosphere — is what keeps customers coming back, Souvilong said.
Dawson Jones, a professional musician, said he’s been coming to Kitty’s monthly since 2019, shortly after moving to Kansas City. Jones always orders the same thing: a cheeseburger and tater tots.
“There are burger places closer to my house, but I’d much rather come here instead,” Jones said. “Neighborhood spots like these are important.”
As her dad gets older, Souvilong said they’ve started discussing her taking over the restaurant on her own. Souvilong doesn’t plan on making any changes, except maybe accepting credit cards. But with high fees, Souvilong said it’s unlikely.
For now, Souvilong said she’s sticking to keeping things simple.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t want to change anything,” Souvilong said. “It’s always been working.”
This meal is perfect for: a grab-and-go lunch on a day you don’t want to be productive for the afternoon.
Even on a boiling summer day, with sweat beading down my face, I polished off my sandwich in minutes. Kitty’s is a quick meal that slows you down, both due to the satisfaction and the sheer size of the towering sandwich. It’s best followed by a nap — and then, a plan for your next visit.
