Updated: January 18, 2022
Do you have a podcast?
Probably coming in 2022!
How long have you lived in Kansas City?
I grew up in South Kansas City, lived elsewhere from 1989-2003, and then returned.
What is an ovo-lacto vegetarian?
A vegetarian who eats eggs and milk. Chuck has been one since 1989.
What is a “near vegan”?
Chuck considers his current diet to be near vegan. He doesn’t adhere to a strict vegan diet, but his de facto daily diet is near vegan. He does eat seafood occasionally and has done so for the past 3-4 years. Prior to that, he was a strict ovo-lacto vegetarian.
Does Chuck receive free food and stuff from restaurants or anybody you review?
No. There may be the rare exception, as when he reviews food at a client’s restaurant, but in those instances, the relationship will be clearly stated up front.
What is “JoCo Mexican”?
This describes a style of sadly drowning a Mexican entree with a plate full of yellow cheese. You took perfectly good food and assaulted it with a lake of cheese. Save this approach for nachos. A style preferred by unadventurous American suburbanites.
Kansas City is the capital of BBQ. How can you review food if you don’t eat meat?
While I don’t eat meat, I do visit and dine at BBQ restaurants with friends and family. I have my favorites like Q30 and Char Bar. I’m considering adding the opinions from family and friends to any reviews of BBQ restaurants.
Who are the Dining Companions?
Dining Companion #1: A long time friend and Kansas City resident. Excellent cook, food lover and restaurant enthusiast. Appreciates vegetarian foods.
Dining Companions Kids: Our younger culinary experts. Helping you find kid friendly food around Kansas City that isn’t cheese quesadillas or $8 Kraft macaroni and cheese.
What are your favorite foodie things?
I enjoy watching lots of cooking shows, especially the Food Network, while I work. Favorite shows include Chopped, Worse Cooks in America, Beat Bobby Flay, Pioneer Woman and especially The Great British Baking Show.
Why don’t you list websites for each restaurant in your guides?
Many restaurants, unfortunately, don’t have websites. Others only have a presence on Facebook or social media. As an independent media website, we don’t link to walled social media. Other restaurants foolishly use “websites” made for them by exploitative food delivery companies. We find it unethical to link to shoddy websites made by these companies. There are also restaurant “websites” out there that have been illegally created by Google and third party delivery app services. There are many delivery services out there which create listings for restaurants without permission. When in doubt, call a restaurant to get info or find out how to order.
Do you enjoy cooking?
I love to cook! Pretty good cook when it comes to utilizing ingredients on hand. Love to collect cookbooks and my only New Year’s resolution for 2019 and 2020 was to cook more from recipes (haven’t done that yet). Haven’t cooked much in recent months for medical reasons.
Do you work with local restaurants?
I’ve worked with the Blue Nile Cafe for the past decade, as their web developer, designer, digital marketing expert, and consultant. Always open to working with other restaurants.
Why don’t you have a Facebook page? Why not more active on social media?
We are supporters of the Open Web, so we are part of the growing movement that is re-building an independent Internet that is free of corporate fiefdoms like Facebook.
Restaurant Listings (New October 2022)
Can you link to a restaurant’s Grubhub, Menufy, or Ubereats ordering link?
Absolutely not! These companies are bad for customers, horrible for restaurant owners, and highly exploitative of workers. We provide at least the phone number of each restaurant. We do provide ordering links for some restaurants when independent or co-operative ordering services exist for that restaurant (like Slice for pizzerias).
Why don’t you provide links to a restaurant’s Facebook page or Google website?
These “websites” are not anything of the sort and businesses sabotage themselves when they solely rely on these “services.” Facebook is bad for small businesses, often lying about reach and advertising metrics. Google creates “listings” with an algorithm which often gets basic details wrong like phone numbers, hours and menu items and prices.
Can I improve my listing here?
We will soon have a paid plan where you can have us expand listing information for a reasonable cost. We also will have higher tier plans where we write long descriptions about your business. Reviews are independent of these listings. We will not take any comp meals or services in exchange for reviews.
Do you make restaurant websites? Can you help us with our digital marketing?
As one of the oldest web developer agencies in Kansas City, we love to work with small businesses, especially restaurants. We can produce excellent marketing results for your restaurant or food-related business.