by William Crum
There’s a new kid on the block. The new kid is called Gus’s World-Famous Hot Spicy Fried Chicken located at 2816 W. 47th Ave. in Kansas City, Kan. It gets five stars.
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Gus’s coming to Kansas City, Kan., including at the Missouri Restaurant Association dinner. A lot of my friends have tried Gus’s in other parts of the country. They told me it is the best fried chicken they’ve ever had.
After hearing so much about it I thought I would give them a try. Normally I do not review restaurants during the lunch hour but this is the exception to the rule. Boy was I surprised! It has got to be some the best chicken I’ve ever had in my life, and mind you, I like fried chicken. It’s not too hot nor is it too spicy. I was raised on fried chicken, especially Southern style.
As you enter the restaurant it is very, very clean, including the kitchen, which surprised me since it was lunch hour. Restaurants sometimes aren’t clean, particularly during the lunch period. The service was phenomenal.
The menu was also very easy to read and understand as well. Have you ever been to a restaurant where it takes you about an hour to understand it? In fact, I’ve been to restaurants where the menu is so large that you lose your appetite. Not in this case, what I found out is the menu is not only easy to read, the prices are reasonable as well. For example the plates start off at $8 and they go up to $11. All plates include baked beans, slaw and white bread.
Another thing I found very interesting, was the starters, pickles with ranch sauce, fried green tomatoes and fried okra, an all-time Southern favorite. They even have greens, mac and cheese and seasoned fries and, of course, baked beans, slaw and potato salad made fresh every day.
For dessert they have cheese pie, chocolate chess pie, coconut pie, pecan pie and sweet potato pie, and you can get the pie à la mode with vanilla ice cream.
For younger members of the family, kids 12 and under, they have grilled cheese, which includes French fries or macaroni and cheese and a drink or two, tenders, two wings, or even two legs. And for you root beer enthusiasts they have IBC root beer floats. IBC started making beer before prohibition. During the prohibition they decided to make root beer. That is why the bottle looks like a beer bottle. They even have a good selection of wine and beer to choose from.
One thing I did find out which really astounded me is that a lot of the people who work there, live nearby. This is very rare. My server told me that she has been a server for 20 years and this is the best she has ever been treated, the owner really treats her like family. This really surprised me.
Overall I give this restaurant five stars in all categories, food service and cleanliness. If you asked me if I recommend this restaurant I would say definitely yes. After doing the review I decided to introduce myself to the owner, Steve Zanone.
“We decided to choose this location because of the work ethic that Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., are noted for. We’re really excited to be a part of the community. We only serve fresh, never frozen chicken,” Zanone said. The restaurant fries everything in peanut oil, he added.
I give Gus’s World-Famous Hot Spicy Fried chicken located at 2816 W. 47th Ave. in Kansas City, Kan., five stars in every category. I plan to go back there.
Hours are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Call them at 913-232-7091 for more information.
