In-A-Tub ~ Kansas City, Missouri

Latest visit: Oct 2023

First visit: Jul 2007

I may have mentioned this before, but to me nothing feels more like total freedom than a garden variety Monday (not an official holiday) - when you don't have to go to work or school. And you have the whole week to yourself. To me it's the greatest feeling in the world. I suppose once I'm retired, it will be routine. But since I'm still a working stiff, I enjoy the heck out of it. Reminds me of my childhood during summer vacation.

We had a full day of thrifting ahead. I decided we'd canvass North Kansas City and Independence. And what drove me to go to the northern reaches of this great city? Well you just had to know we were going here even before the trip started. I'm not quite sure when I first heard about In-A-Tub, but it's likely I was doing some research on fried tacos many years ago. As you can see, I'd been here before, and it was at this same location (they have one other in KC). At that time I was here on business and made a point to have lunch at In-A-Tub.

Apparently they started in the 1950s as an ice cream shop and expanded into burgers and tacos later on. Today all of their ingredients are locally sourced, and they've bucked the fast food trend of cheap food for cheap prices. So what's the big deal here anyway? Fried tacos. Essentially in a tub of hot boiling oil. These are miles beyond the fried tacos you're familiar with, which likely would have come from Jack in the Box (or Jimboy's if you're lucky). And these bad boys come out steaming hot, so be prepared. Super crispy shells. They have the usual array of excellent hot sauces, including X-Hot which is what we got. The one quirk is the use of cheese powder rather than melted (or shredded) cheese. It's more like a popcorn topping. Mrs. RJG didn't care for that, but otherwise she loved them. Bring your copay card though...

Yet another cool logo.

7/31/07; 10/2/23 (new entry)