RC's Restaurant & Lounge - Kansas City, Mo

While visiting family in Kansas City this weekend we picked up chicken dinners to go for 12 from RC's Restaurant & Lounge. I have been wanting to eat at Stroud's again but for various reasons it is difficult to accomplish when I am on short visits. My sister suggested RC's Restaurant and Lounge and said she heard it was good. Well, for once in her life opinion was off mark. RC's was excellent, even with the carry out order and delayed eating which I'm sure had an effect. I will definitely be back to eat their excellent crispy pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes, THICK (as it should be) chicken gravy, green beans, and very good biscuits.. Peach cobbler was pretty good with canned peaches, and would be excellent with fresh peaches. Definitely worth a try for those wanting a switch from BBQ. RC's Restaurant and Lounge has a full menu of chicken, seafood, steaks, and sandwiches. I'm looking forward to trying other menu options if I can bet past the fried chicken.

We picked up our dinner about 5:00 pm and the early crowd began coming in such a manner I'm sure they were going to fill up quickly.

I have tried to find their website but have been unable to locate it. Here is a link to some information from another site and includes a menu.

RC's Restaurant & Lounge
330 E 135th St
Kansas City, MO 64145
(816) 942-4999

We had an opposite experience at RC's. It was some years back, so details are a vague memory. I just remember thinking that I wished we had gone to Stroud's. The food, the ambiance, the service, none of it measured up to our favorite. We've never been back after that first visit.

I'm glad you had a good dinner there. With the limited number of meals I get in Kansas City on an annual basis, I'm going to stick with Stroud's.

Buddy

Thanks for the tip, Bruce.

I've heard a surprising amount about various area fried chicken (not Stroud's) since being here, and it sure seems that there may be a lot of good options that get sort of overwhelmed by Stroud's legendary reputation. (Martin City (south KC suburb) is also someplace I've never been, nor have much reason to head, but for the food, it seems, which includes the original Jack Stack/Smoke Stack, and an old school steakhouse Jess & Jim's.)

I really haven't had much of a chance to get out and sample the chickens, but it's certainly worth having a list. Among the other places I can recall off the top of my head:

--Go Chicken Go (more fast food, I think, several locations)
--Chicken Mary's and Chicken Annie's, unrelated to one another, a couple hours south in Pittsburg, KS (read more)
--Granny's Chicken Ranch (new, corporate perhaps, mixed reviews but some quite (unreliably) good)
--Niecie's, two locations I believe, known for chicken and waffles

Any others?

Jack Stack
13441 Holmes Road
Kansas City, MO 64145 (Martin City)
(816) 942-9141
http://www.jackstackbbq.com/

Jess and Jim's Steak House
517 East 135th. Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64145 (Martin City)
http://www.jessandjims.com/

Go Chicken Go
(several locations)
http://www.gochickengo.com/

Chicken Mary's
1133 East 600th Avenue, RR 1
Pittsburg, KS 66762
620-231-9510

Chicken Annie's
1143 E. 600th Ave.
Pittsburg, KS
620-231-9460

Granny's Chicken Ranch
1340 Village West Parkway
Kansas City, KS 66111
913-788-4777
http://www.grannyschickenranch.com/

Niecie's
5932 Prospect
Kansas City, MO
816-444-6006

(second location)
8686 E 63rd St
Kansas City, MO 64133 (Raytown)
816-358-8100

There's another one on the Boulevard that I remember seeing. It has prominent signage on a corner building, but I am blanking on the name right now.

Aaron Deacon wrote: an old school steakhouse Jess & Jim's.)

My time is generally very limited while in KC and since my parents are in a retirement community and my mother is in assisted living we can't go out to eat. We usually dine there and may pick up a meal to go for the evenings so we can include her in the family meals. When in KC I'm based in Raymore so the the Martin City area is pretty accessible vs. getting directly in to KC.

My understanding is that Jess & Jim's and RC's are owned by the same guys. I didn't follow up that much with the hostess while picking up our order. I've ate at Jackstack multiple times. In fact it usually the choice of family and extended family when visiting for one family meal. Everyone did say they enjoyed the food and the change. RC's will at least be on the rotation. I would like to try more items on RC's menu and try out Jess & Jim's for a steak at least once.

Like most restaurants a couple of visits are necessary. I'll be going back later this year and will hit it up again. I do like fried chicken and would enjoy checking some of these places out. Frankly, while I enjoy BBQ I prefer to cook it myself vs. eating in a restaurant. Arthur Bryant's is on the BBQ list.

Aaron Deacon wrote:I really haven't had much of a chance to get out and sample the chickens, but it's certainly worth having a list. Among the other places I can recall off the top of my head...

--Niecie's, two locations I believe, known for chicken and waffles

Niecie's
5932 Prospect
Kansas City, MO
816-444-6006

(second location)
8686 E 63rd St
Kansas City, MO 64133 (Raytown)
816-358-8100

Mrs. Roadhouse and I had the opportunity to visit the Niecie's location in Raytown last Christmas season and found it to be underwhelming. Over seasoned, dry fried catfish and uninspired food in general left us wondering if this place was owned and operated by the same people who started the original Prospect location, of which, I have heard raves from reliable sources who I know and trust. We'll try to hit that spot next time we're in town.

Buddy

Yeah, the praise I've heard has always been in reference to the Prospect location, and when I looked up the Raytown address for this post, I noticed some reviewers who were rather underwhelmed.