November 11, 2024
“You’ve been to The Cozy Inn in Salina, Kansas haven’t you The Kansas Gastronomist!!” Doug’s wife (my sister) shrieked at me. “I can smell it on you. Why do you even go to that place?” she went on.
“Well first of all Doug’s wife, it’s been running for 102-years and only had four owners, so they must be doing something right.” I was only beginning. “And second, you should hear the stories I’ve heard. When I was a young gastronomist I heard the story about how decades and decades ago the owner (at that time) tried to replace the grill. But customers complained the Cozy burgers tasted different and they went to the dump and retrieved the old grill. Or the story that during the Vietnam War, the restaurant would ship Cozy burgers to troops stationed overseas!!!”
“And third?” I was getting ready to figuratively KO this convo. “What’s better than sitting in a restaurant with 6-bar stools and ordering the same damn thing people ordered during the Great Depression? The burgers are great and so is the history.”
With that, I karate chopped my way down to Doug’s basement.
