Why Kitty’s Cafe remains a staple + Coffee crafted with history
Welcome back to Let’s Dish — your one-stop shop for all things eats in Kansas City. I’m Alison Booth, an audience development strategist at The Star.
If you’re a Kansas City native, there’s a good chance you’ve stopped in Kitty’s Cafe, the stout, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has gained national acclaim for its tenderloins. That is, unless you’re like my colleague Joseph, who waited 26 years to try his first bite.
Plus, meet the owners behind a new Cuban coffee shop that opened recently in KCK, and find out why a popular holiday pop-up bar isn’t returning this year.
You won’t get this newsletter in your inbox next week as my colleagues and I celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy your turkey (and ham and casseroles, if you’re like my family) — and check out these recipes from some KC-connected stars.
Now, let’s dig in.
Pork tenderloin sandwich at Kitty’s Cafe
Kitty’s Cafe is a Kansas City staple.
The tiny restaurant, which sits in midtown Kansas City, is easy to miss when you’re driving through the area. The exterior makes it look like a tiny house, blending in with the neighborhood.
The cafe has been Asian-owned since it was founded in 1951 by a Japanese American couple, Paul and Kitty Kawakami, who had been confined to a U.S. internment camp out West during World War II, although they were born in the U.S.
Their restaurant quickly gained a following for its tenderloins — three thin pieces of pork, chicken or catfish deep-fried in Japanese-style tempura batter, and topped with lettuce, pickles and house-made hot sauce.
After closing for an expansion in April that never came to fruition, the acclaimed restaurant reopened last month to start serving its iconic tenderloin again. The meal was featured on The Star’s top 10 dishes to try in the metro area in 2022 and named one of the nation’s top 50 restaurants by The New York Times that same year.
Despite having grown up in Kansas City and now living just a few blocks away, my colleague Joseph Hernandez has never been — a fact that co-owner Jinna Soulivong could hardly believe.
It was time to change that — and so he did. Here’s how the iconic spot holds up, seven decades in.
From political refugees to coffee shop owners
There’s a “big, big Cuban community now” in the Kansas City area, according to the owners of Cortadito Cuban Cafe, a new coffee shop that opened last weekend in Kansas City, Kansas.
In recent years, Cuban immigrants have been coming into the U.S. and Kansas City, amid Cuba’s largest migration wave in history. One million people exited the island from 2022 to 2023.
Despite that, there aren’t many Cuban restaurants in the metro. There’s La Cubana in Kansas City, and Romeito in Olathe.
And then there’s Posada’s Pizzeria Cubana in KCK. The newly opened pizzeria supplies bread to Cortadito.
Cortadito offers a spread of Latin American coffees and pastries, along with a variety of sandwiches. Since opening last week, a steady stream of customers have looked upon the framed ration cards, “la libreta,” and read a printed note about Cubans’ struggle for freedom.
“We’ve had a lot of community support,” co-owner Nubia Gomez told my colleague Jenna Thompson.
Read more about the new spot and its owners’ journey to open it.
À la carte
✴️ This counterculture sub shop that served streams of Mizzou students for nearly 50 years has shut its doors for good. “Stay grateful, eat bread, play the Dead,” its owner said online.
✴️ Winter Skies, the rotating holiday pop-up bar atop Crown Center, won’t return this year after tickets sold out in seconds the past two years. Here’s what we know.
✴️ The largest wine store in the country has added another Kansas City location, which opened yesterday in midtown.
✴️ A family-owned doughnut shop with three spots in Olathe just opened its first in another Johnson County city.
✴️ You heard about KC’s newest Chipotle from my colleague David last week. Well, another one opened in the KC area this week — and it’s a “milestone” location for the burrito chain.
My standout dish of the week
One thing about me: I’m a creature of habit. If I find a restaurant I like, you can bet I’ll be coming back, and often. That’s surely the case with Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop, the cozy, noodle-slinging restaurant that’s a go-to for any occasion.
The Star’s executive editor Greg Farmer is on the same page — he wrote about the spot for a Let’s Dish column last year, raving about its calming energy and fantastic green curry.
I dropped in with a date this week and was again thrilled by the warm ambience and colorful disposition. We noshed on some Lulu’s rolls — Thai-style spring rolls, fried ultra-crispy and stuffed with pork and cabbage, served with a tangy sweet chili sauce. It’s street food at its best, served up in a restaurant that just feels like home.
Hungry for more?
Check out all the restaurants we’ve covered in the Let’s Dish series here.
Looking for the latest industry news? Here’s what spots have opened and closed in the KC area lately.
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Happy eating! We’ll see you next week.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Why Kitty’s Cafe remains a staple + Coffee crafted with history."