It’s the kind of place with a following, long lines out the door, and home to one of Kansas City’s unique food traditions. The pork tenderloin has been reviewed extensively by food critics locally for several years.
Charles Ferruzza, a long-time food critic, is a fan.
“It’s hard to find the perfect pork tenderloin that is soft and not too chewy and perfectly seasoned and a little bit crunchy and this has all those things,” Ferruzza says.
Paul Kawakami and his wife Kitty, who the place was named after, opened Kitty’s Café in 1951. They were Japanese-Americans who moved to Kansas City from California after having spent time in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. The business has been in continuous operation since then, but has changed hands several times, with some of the history lost over the years. Check out the full story
By Michelle Tyrene Johnson, KCUR
