Famous KCK diner changes hands after 50 years: ‘We just loved it’
For days, a line has snaked outside a beloved diner famous for their pork tenderloin sandwiches in Kansas City, Kansas, after the restaurant announced it was changing ownership.
Christy’s Tasty Queen owners Lowell Christy and Marla Christy, both 79, have worked out of the 1405 S. 55th St. location for 43 years. Before that, they had a drive-in in Windsor for eight years, just under two hours southeast of Kansas City.
The diner serves the famous pork tenderloin sandwiches, along with cheeseburgers, malts, milkshakes, burritos, tacos, bowls and more.
“It was our passion. We just loved it,” Marla Christy said.
The Christys initially announced their retirement on Facebook on Sunday. Initially, they announced their last day would be Wednesday, but it got pushed back to Monday Feb. 23. Since the Facebook post, Marla Christy said, they had been running out of pork tenderloin every day. Business has been booming.
“It’s just been wonderful. Everybody’s supported us all these years and I hope they continue to support her, and I’m sure they will,” she said.
Starting Monday, new owner, 29-year-old Kim Rowland, will take over. Rowland has helped out with the diner and the food truck over the years and had expressed to both Marla and Lowell Christy her dream to take over the restaurant.
For all of her loyal customers, Marla Christy promises that Rowland and her family have been given the recipes and taught the secrets on how to make the famous sandwich and other fan favorites, except for one return to the menu: chocolate milkshakes.
Lines have snaked outside of Christy’s Tasty Queen all week, full of people hoping to get their hands on a few final pork tenderloin sandwiches. So much so, according to their Facebook, the diner sold out of their famous sandwiches early Monday and Tuesday.
Several members of the Christy family where there Wednesday afternoon to grab lunch and celebrate the retirement, including nieces Vicky Morgan and Lori Mapel. Vicky Morgan’s husband, Mike Morgan, has been loving the pork tenderloin for decades. The nieces are huge fans of the chicken salad.
“I think it’s their breading,” Mike Morgan said about what makes the sandwich stand above the rest. “I eat around the edges first, and then I go right into the middle.”
Lowell Christy is known for coming in at 4 a.m. to beat and tenderize the pork.
“They’re so tender,” Mike Morgan said. “I mean, you can get at least two meals out of it.”
Others in line had been eating the Christys’ food since they were teenagers. One of them was Jeni Sampel, who worked out of the restaurant in 1998 with her best friend while they were in high school. Now 44, Sampel stood in line waiting for the milkshakes she once made.
“We’d open on Saturdays until 6 p.m. and we had homecoming, so we both work and then go home, shower, get all the grease off of us and go to homecoming,” Sampel said, smiling.
Another patron, Joe Morgan (no relation), used to come to Christy’s Tasty Queen when he was a teenager. Back then, his go-to order was burgers, but now he raves about the pork tenderloin sandwich like everyone else.
“I hate seeing staples like these go away, there’s not many of them left,“ he said, adding he hoped the new owner will keep the recipe.
During Marla’s interview with The Star, Joe Morgan came around the side of the restaurant to say a quick word to her.
“Thank you for all the years,” he said. “I’ve been coming here since I was 18 years old.”
The Christy’s family describes the Christys as salt of the earth people, who are very involved in the community and genuinely loved cooking for them.
“Everything should stay the same. My husband’s teaching her father-in-law to cut tenders and my son tenderizes them now, so he’s teaching her husband to tenderize,” she said.
Rowland’s family learning how to help run the joint reminds Marla Christy of her own family. Her daughters, she said, used to help out and came back even this week with the uptick in demand.
“My two granddaughters, I had them up here at 12 years old trying to learn how to make drinks and ice cream cones,” she said smiling. “It’s amazing.”
Marla Christy said she looks forward to relaxing and spending more time with her family and friends.
“I’m gonna miss the people; I’ve got a good crew,” Marla Christy said. “It’ll be different going in the front door now instead of the back door, but I’m ready.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 1:38 PM.
