Baylee's

Freshman burger phenom.

The very day we were trying to figure out a spot for Guys’ Night in April, I found a menu for Baylee’s in my mailbox. Printed on lime green paper with extensive use of a scripty pixilated mystery font, how could we resist its charms? Plus, the menu promised Cincinnati Chili. Sold.

We put Guys’ Night on the calendar for the evening of the NCAA 2009 Men’s Tournament championship game, so we could mourn our busted brackets over some cheap beers. Even though domestics were on special for $2, pitchers turned out to be a better deal -- and they had the kind of pitcher that has the built-in icy core, too. Pitcher technology has come a long way since I had a fake ID.

Baylee’s is so new, the sign says "Est. 2009." When we walked through the door, the waitress seemed genuinely surprised to see us -- in fact, we were the only paying customers all night. I’m guessing that’s mostly because the place just opened. The waitress told us Baylee’s gets pretty busy on the weekends.

The Monday food special is 50 cent wings, and we ordered a bunch of those. McHugh made a clutch call and also ordered some pepper jack fried cheese sticks, which were spicy, melty fantastic. Alas, the wings were fine, but indistinguishable from those elsewhere.

Dorsett hadn’t read the description of the fried cheese on the menu, so we were all impressed when he took a bite of the crunchy breadcrumb coating and asked, “Is that Panko?” For his keen observation, Dorsett is hereby nominated for Iron Chef Bar Food.

For the Cincinnati Chili, we ordered it 5 Way, which is chili, angel hair, grated cheese, onion and pinto beans. When we got it, we saw that Baylee’s actually uses spaghetti -- only after some online sleuthing did I learn this is the traditional way to make Cincinnati Chili.

While it had a good cinnamon-nony taste, and even though I really wanted to be a fan of the Cincinnati Chili, ultimately I can’t say that I am. What it comes down to is that there isn’t enough thickness and meat to the chili portion. And yes, I understand that Cincinnati Chili is supposed to have a thin consistency, but this was more like spaghetti soup.

I will concede that the problem may not be Baylee’s take on Cincinnati Chili -- it is completely within the realm of possibility that I have fundamental issues with Cincinnati Chili overall. Maybe I’m just a rookie. Maybe a true connoisseur would dig the Cincinnati Chili at Baylee’s. Maybe to try Cincinnati Chili proper I actually need to go to Cincinnati.

The Baylee Burger, however, was a slam dunk. According to the menu, it’s hand pattied thin and cooked on a flat top. The burger came on a grilled bun with super-fresh toppings, and when we put it all together it was total burger harmony. Probably the closest I’ve come to Whataburger around here, which I mean as a compliment. Really good fries, too. Kind of a combination of the fries at Oklahoma Joe’s and Long John Silvers. Yes, that is a compliment as well.

For the burger alone, I’ll cut Baylee’s some slack and plan on checking it out again in a couple of months to see what the bar is like after it’s been lived in a little. I mean, compared to some other places, there are barely even any neon beer signs or other paraphernalia cluttering up the walls here yet, which kind of gives Baylee’s a strange vibe that’s more like a showroom where you can go and pick out fixtures for your bar rather than a bar itself.

As for the game, due to being mathematically eliminated from all my March Madness pools, I was pulling for Michigan State since they beat KU and if we’re going to get knocked out of the tournament, we might as well get knocked out by the best, right? I like the way Wendy Molyneux sums up that line of thinking -- “Like getting punched in the face and being like, ‘But that guy punches everyone in the face! It's okay!’”

March Madness 2009 has been over for a week. Only 333 days until Selection Sunday for March Madness 2010.
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13023 Holmes Road | Kansas City, MO 64145

NCAA Opening Round Munchies: Sprint Center 1/2 Lb. KC BBQ Dog + Grinders Tacos

March Madness -- it’s not always pretty.

Went to the first day of the 2009 NCAA Tournament's opening round at the Sprint Center with some friends on Thursday, and grabbed lunch while I was there. Now I don’t know for sure that during the construction of the Sprint Center there was an ongoing top-secret development process underway to create a signature Kansas City-related menu item, but I like to think there was. And whoever said “let’s just throw some brisket on an unnecessarily large hot dog” deserves a raise.

The 1/2 Lb. KC BBQ Dog is a ridiculously huge all beef hot dog, topped with brisket plus onion straws and “famous” barbecue sauce. About the only thing that could make it more Kansas City is if the sauce was from Arthur Bryant’s or Gates or one of the other estimated 17 gazillion barbecue joints here in town, rather than being a sauce vaguely called “famous.” Which I’m pretty sure is code for “we buy it by the vatful.” Keeping in mind that arena food is always overpriced, at $8 I don’t feel like I got fleeced too bad, either. Not so much with my $4 soda.

Between sessions we went to Grinders, and I got the Thursday special of three for a dollar tacos. I knew they’d be fantastic when the waitress told me they were taking a while because they were “still on the grill.” Grilled tacos!

Sure enough, they were way delicious. Even though the tacos are grilled, they actually come out pretty soft, filled with seasoned taco meat and melted cheese -- picture a floppy quesadilla. This is about the closest I’ve come to Amigos soft tacos since that outfit closed up shop around here.

Finally, here is some expert Lunch Blog tournament commentary -- and by “expert,” we mean it’s all about the mascots and pep bands.

• There was no way the Maryland Terrapins weren’t going to win -- they had turtle power! Seriously, Testudo the Diamondback Turtle busted out some sweet moves every time the pep band played the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” theme. Meanwhile, the California Golden Bear was just kind of aimlessly meandering around with his hands behind his back. Lame. I hate the California Golden Bear.
• Pep Band of the Day goes to the Morgan State Bear Pep Band -- they turned up the funk and went band camp all over Estelle’s “American Boy” and others. Mad grooves and so much fun to watch, especially the guys rocking the cymbals. If I was in a kung fu movie, I’d want them to be my soundtrack. The Morgan State Bear even breakdanced. (Brokedanced?)
• In a fight between Pouncer the Tiger from Memphis and the Clemson Tiger, the Clemson Tiger would win. However, in a dance-off, it’s Pouncer, no contest.
• Note to the CSU Northridge pep band: “Handlebars” by Flobots is an intriguing choice, but it’s not working for you guys. Also, your mascot Matty the Matador and Jay Leno are one and the same.
  

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Grinders: 417 East 18th St. | Kansas City, MO 64108