Fritz's

GeoTagged, [N39.08325, E94.58183]

A few weeks ago while in Kansas City for LTC, we ate at Fritz's in Crown Center. Fritz's is a train-themed burger joint, with a black old time corded telephone for customers to "call" in a food order, and each booth was decorated with a train car-looking window that shows paintings of scenery, I guess to simulate what it might look like if you were on a real train and looked out the window or something (I've never been on a train, so I'm wildly guessing here). Anyway, the cutest part is that instead of people, an actual mini-train brings the food (people still bring drinks--they're not completely insane). It's on an overhead track that goes around the perimeter of the restaurant, and a little mechanical arm drops down in front of your table stop when the food is for you. Then, when the train passes by over head, the arm drags the food off the train and on to a tray, which is lowered down to your table. The boys couldn't stop staring at the process of each table getting their food. One box of food nearly fell off the tray while it was still in midair because the train went by kind of fast, and we jokingly wondered to each other if any of the trays ever topple over and pelt people with burgers and fries. The Hajicek family ate at Fritz's the same night, and I guess when you're both lawyers, you don't just wonder things and move on, you verify with people who know. So they asked the waitress if the food ever actually spills on unsuspecting customers, and she told them that, no, it didn't happen very often, only about once a week. We all agreed once a week represented a high incidence rate of food falling from the ceiling, not a low one, but even though we went back once more during the weekend, we never got to see anyone wearing a burger hat or fries for hair. But wouldn't that have been so cool?