20 Comments
Oct 6, 2021Liked by Liz Cook

I love Runza but also acknowledge that last time I had lunch there the average age of the customer base was 72, and that's after accounting for my being 34.

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The amount of joy it brings me that you included taverns is immense. My family are some of the only people I’ve met that call them that!

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I grew up in central Iowa and weirdly didn’t hear them called “taverns” until I moved to Missouri! And “canteens” was totally new to me before I started researching this piece. I kind of love the county-specific loose meat lingo!

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I grew up an hour north of Sioux City and we usually called them taverns or sloppy joes, but no one else I've run into has called them taverns! I also love the weird regional foods that pop up. Whenever I meet someone else from IA/NE/SD/MN I always quiz them on if they grew up eating cinnamon rolls and chili in the same meal.

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Oct 7, 2021Liked by Liz Cook

Well, believe it or not I actually just had a conversation with a friend about the Grand Island Runza a couple of hours before reading this. I love a Runza, but agreed with my friend that they need to be strictly limited to one per day (I have violated this rule of thumb many times)

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Paul, if I had to guess whether anyone in my life had eaten at the Grand Island Runza, I would have chosen you. I have no idea why. It just feels right. Do you add ketchup?

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Hah! I take that a high compliment! No, I would never add ketchup to a Runza.

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One other thought, every time I am at Runza I am vaguely surprised that they even offer hamburgers and even more surprised when someone orders one. Why!? You are at a Runza.

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Oct 6, 2021Liked by Liz Cook

1) "radical candor and canned rancor" - In a just world, everyone who reads that phrase owes you $5.

2) My spouse is from Grand Island, so this post resonated more than most, since I'm obligated to spend at least one holiday a year there. One note, if I may: Grand Island stinks. Literally, because of the feed lots/rendering plants. Maybe that's why residents can choke down these execrable "sandwiches"? If I sound bitter, it's because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite meals of the year, and one time I had to have it at a truck stop (Grandma Max's) in Grand Island.

3) I'm PayPal-ing you now because I don't have Venmo/CashApp. Keep up the excellent writing as you see fit.

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Thank you, Jason! At this point, I think I have to mail you a tote bag for being a ~sustaining member~

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Huh, I guess this is NPR for food weirdos! I know you aren't likely to do a pledge drive, but I'd love to read it if you did:

"Our investigative reports on mouse tape and disgusting regional cuisine are only possible with help from you, Internet Wingnuts."

But we moved recently, so your plan to send me a tote bag or an umbrella overflowing with soggy, unflavored ground beef and cold cheese has been thwarted.

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A Runza is very similar to something both my grandmothers made often and I ate a lot of growing up, always referred to as 'krautburgers'. I don't think I knew there was a chain restaurant based on the concept. I couldn't say if they were objectively good or not since I was eating them from before I was making memories. But a quick google shows it is still a thing in the area: https://www.greeleytribune.com/2018/08/28/the-humble-krautburger-is-a-pocketful-of-local-history/

Loose meat is everywhere.

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I successfully got Sloppy Joe's banned from the house as a child. I wasn't much of a fit-thrower or boat-rocker, so the successive fits that I threw whenever it was served were enough that no one DARED put that nonsense on my plate by about second grade or so.

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Runza is the worst restaurant food I've had in my life. I took one bite and threw it away. My wife did the same. Just awful

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Disappointment not to see kolaches on this chart. I think they would be as convenient as hot pockets but tastier and less likely to have you awkwardly running for the toilet with your buttocks clenched.

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Kolaches have evolved into about anything stuffed into a bun though, so I could see that it's more loose-meat adjacent.

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My mom exclusively made sweet kolaches with canned pie filling! I've heard the meat-filled versions called klobasneks, but maybe that's not a hard distinction.

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Kolache Factory in Overland Park as a potential follow-up junket / investigative report? https://locations.kolachefactory.com/kolache-factory-20bcb7f6be76

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We have one here in STL and coworkers will bring in the savory breakfast versions in the morning.

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I was in NE a few years ago and saw the mysterious Runza, but couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on trying it out. Now I don't have to!

I'll stick with Mugs Up for my loose meat goodness.

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