Regular Joe's Guide

Latest visit: Jan 2026 First visit: Jun 2009 Leaving Wichita, we now enter into very familiar territory. Driving north on I-135 to Salina, followed by I-70 into Limon. We've done this journey many times, especially since we had the Denver townhome between 2009 and 2012. As with Highland Super Submarine, Gella's was a destination spot. It's also one of those I-can't-believe-I-haven't-documented-this-yet places. We've been here a few times over the years, though it's now been 12 years since our last visit. It was always crowded, and it appears they've expanded to the building next door. It was a slow Sunday night, despite the NFL playoffs, which was fine with us. There's a saying out there, and my parents were one to repeat it, that states "You can never go back". That means an experience you had in the past cannot be replicated and always ends up in disappointment. I've long maintained that was a bunch of bunk. If there's ever been a...

Latest visit: Sep 2023 (Hays) First visit: Jul 1981 (Abilene) Locations: Best I can tell there are only three locations of this chain left that carry the name: Hays, Concordia, and Wichita. There's also The Original Grande. More to come on that post. We had good success thrifting in Colby, but it was very time consuming, and we needed to get further east, as we did have to be in Kansas City by Sunday night. So the next stop was Hays, a town we're very familiar with. The big decision was do we stop here and eat/drink at one of our favorite brewpubs (Gella's Diner), or press on to Salina? We chose the latter. But we decided on a quick snack before leaving. This will be one of a few "didn't I write about this chain already?" posts. I remember the first date of this chain well because it was at the time of Prince Charles and Diana's wedding. As noted before, Dad was a traveling salesman in the industrial uniform business. It was a garden variety summer Wednesd...

First visit: Jun 2009 Over at Urbanspoon, I wish they offered a middle grade between "I like it" and "I don't like it". Judging from the relatively low score for Gutierrez, I'm thinking most of the "don't" votes may be more towards the middle. That's where we sit. This is fairly bland, safe, Mexican food. Gutierrez makes a big deal out of not being a chain. I think they do that because they ACT like a chain. Give us some spicy options! Put tequila in the margarita for crying out loud! But to say we didn't like it isn't fair either, as their basic salsa's are tasty - one containing that smooth texture that the Kansas taco chains are known for. The ground beef was heavily seasoned, though not overly tasty. The chicken is all white meat, and prepared very well. Hays is a great place to stop on the long journey to and from our other home in Denver on I-70. But I would recommend Taco Grande over Gutierrez. Next time, though, we...