French Dip

From TheKCGuy

I recently toured a collection of Kansas City Restaurants in search of the best French dip sandwich in Kansas City. I tried a bunch of them, and I don't think I'm done yet by any means, but here's my roundup. Bear in mind that I prefer some non-standard additions, such as cheese or an occasional mustard or horseradish sauce. So, my particular taste may not match yours.

These are in alphabetical order, so don't consider this a ranking.

• 75th Street Brewery - served with horseradish sauce, which is great. The sauce could have a bit more flavor to it, but is one of the better ones I've tried. You can get this with sweet potato fries if you want, which is a great addition.
• Arby's - surprisingly not deadly. That's about all I have to say.
• Exchequer in Chicago - pretty good. I was in a bit of a hurry, though. I threw this one in there just because it's what started off the whole French dip tour, not because it's in Kansas City.
• Harry's Country Club - Served with optional swiss cheese. Comes with really good fries. They're the little, skinny fries that I dig, but weren't really seasoned. The sandwich itself was generous, but not too big. The roast beef in it was not the most tender I've had, and was cooked all the way through with no reddish to it. I had to ask for au jus, but I suspect that it's typically served with it automatically and the server just forgot. I was offered horseradish, but turned it down.
• Houston's - My personal favorite. I split it with my date and it was still plenty for both of us. (What a girl!) If I hadn't split it, I would have taken half home. The beef was pretty red, which I really like, but may put off those who are not really into rare meat. Comes with horseradish sauce. The fries are super, too. They're one of my favorite parts of Houston's, even if I'm not getting the French Dip. I've been back for it since then, and ate the whole thing.
• Longbranch - really good, possibly my second favorite. It's the favorite of my co-tester, whose opinion I respect very much. They called it a "Western Dip Roast Beef" over there, and it comes with crinkly fries.
• One80 - pretty darn good. Great fries! They're the skinny, crunchy, seasoned kind. I particularly dig the atmosphere on this one since One80 is one of my favorite stomping grounds.
• The Other Place in Overland Park - This was a big sandwich, not thick like many french dips, but long. If the two halves were reassembled, it would have been over a foot long. It's always great to get lots of food, but that's a pretty high bun to beef ratio. The au jus was probably the most flavorful I've ever had, which was a welcome surprise. The fries that it came with were pretty good crinkly fries. I couldn't tell what kind of spices they were lightly covered with, but it was good.
• Johnny's in Prairie Village serves a pretty good French Dip. It was served topped with swiss cheese and accompanied by some pretty good fries. I think the waitress was in a bit of a hurry on her way to my table, though, spilling the au jus out of the cup and all over the plate. This rendered the bottom bun of my sandwich pretty soggy and cold by the time I got to much of it.

Not tried yet

• Phillips ChopHouse - I bet they have one
• First Watch has one on their menu, but I almost never go there except for breakfast. Am I allowed to get a French dip for breakfast?
• I think that Charlie Hooper's "BCB" counts since it's served with Au Jus, even though the sandwich has Cheddar and Bacon on it. Bacon?
• Jason's Deli - Hot Blog on a Sick gives it a thumbs down. I'm not surprised.