It doesn’t matter the time of day, what you’re craving, if you’re wrestling a toddler in the crook of your arm or if you’re on a Shawnee brew crawl from Friction Beer to Servaes Brew Co.—the town’s newest restaurant Hank’s Garage and Grill is probably for you.
There’s a lot to love at this neighborhood spot, including its diverse menu. I’m not kidding when I say you could be in the mood for some homemade fettucini while your mother-in-law wants shrimp cocktail and your toddler is yelling for deep-fried spam—incredibly, Hank’s can satiate everyone’s craving.
The restaurant is a cross between a retro soda fountain and your grandparents’ wood-paneled basement. There’s also an outdoor patio that features a container bar and some turf for a few rounds of cornhole. It’s a lot, yet somehow it works. The casual-cool digs fit into the Shawnee suburb well, but there’s no denying Hank’s is unique—both for Shawnee and the metro.
Hank’s (5801 Nieman Rd, Shawnee, KS) is the third establishment to open under Eric Flanagan, who also owns and operates King G and Jim’s Alley Bar, both in the Crossroads. The latter two have small food menus. Hank’s is Flanagan’s first full-service restaurant venture. It’s also his first business outside of the city. It’s easy to appeal to Shawnee’s family crowd, but it’s a little harder to entice the late-night drinkers, he says. But his aim is to cater to both. That’s why there’s a kids’ meal consisting of hot dogs made to look like octopi as well as a late night bar (open until midnight Wednesdays, Thursday and Sundays, and 1 am Fridays and Saturdays.)
Shop Class
Before Flanagan bolted baby-blue vinyl seats to the wall, Hank’s was Shawnee Automotive, a car repair shop run by the Kwon family, which has inspired the current space’s design and decor. This seems to be the secret to historic downtown Shawnee’s renaissance. New business owners, like Brent Anderson and Nathan Ryerson of Friction Beer Co., for example, are maintaining their historic building’s integrity by paying respect to its former iterations while also creating something new for the townie locals. It’s more of an integration rather than complete renovation. Flanagan has kept some of the patina of Shawnee Automotive at Hank’s, something you can see along the ceilings and walls. The Kwons’ grandson, Alex, now works there as a server.
Old-school Miller High Life beer signs, vintage 1960 Chrysler posters and chrome diner chairs make Hank’s feel quintessentially American.
Good Eats
The fried cherry pie excepted, Hank’s dishes take a more new age approach. Notable chef Howard Hanna, whose influence on KC’s restaurant scene cannot be understated with his restaurants like the late The Rieger and Ça Va, is the culinary director of all of Flanagan’s establishments. Despite a professional background largely existing within the fine dining sphere, Hanna seems to be enjoying creating a menu alongside chef and kitchen manager Zac Sachs that involves frito pie and a “Weenie of the Week,” the restaurant’s regularly rotating hot dog flavor.
“This is the stuff that chefs actually cook, and this is stuff that we all like to eat,” Hanna says.
With Sonoran-style hot dogs, an East Coast-inspired roast pork sandwich, a shrimp po’boy and housemade pastas, Hanna and Sachs are clearly having fun, using a chef’s approach to elevate satisfying comforts.
At Hank’s, it’s not a matter of whether you’ll like the food or not. You will like it. It’s about knowing what to get.
The appetizers double as conversation starters. There’s Italian sliders made with flattened Italian sausage from Scimeca’s, and the frito pie is a fun take on the usual nacho platter. For those unaware, Frito pie is a declassé indulgence, common in the Midwest and Southwest regions, where you put chili and shredded cheese in a bag of Fritos, shake it all together and eat from the bag with a fork. For ten bucks, Hank’s nacho-style variation is a great way to fill your belly if you plan on prioritizing drinks. The Mexican shrimp cocktail is more like a ceviche of sorts, refreshing and served thoughtfully with saltine crackers and a tiny bottle of tabasco sauce. The spam fries and banana ketchup are a fun and interesting flavor combination that I probably don’t need to order again. You don’t have to get it, but it makes for an eye-catching Instagram story.
As for entrees, you can’t go wrong with the burgers, hot dogs or pastas. Had Hank’s been open when I was scouting bars, grills and other dives in pursuit of KC’s best smash burgers for our March issue, it would have been a top contender. A hefty third of a pound of grass-fed beef from Butler, Missouri, is dashed with a bit of spice and served with the usual—cheese, lettuce and pickles—on a fantastic brioche potato roll. It’s a thing of beauty, and I didn’t even care that it didn’t come with onions.
I hesitantly ordered the Weenie of the Week, a New York-style “Dirty Water Dog” boiled in spices then topped with mustard and diced onions, over the menu’s regular surefire hots dog such as the Chicago dog or Sonoran-style dog laden with bacon, beans and pico de gallo. But my goodness, the New Yorker hit the spot. As for the pasta, the lasagna may have sat under the heat lamp just a bit too long, but the flavor was outstanding and certainly as good as one you’d get from Zero Zero in the West Side.
My only gripe upon my two visits was the pork tenderloin sandwich. The tempura fried pork was slightly undercooked, and its crispy integrity was undone at first bite. A few more bites in and the sandwich became a wet mess, slippery with a soggy bun and mayonnaise.
On the lighter side of the menu, there are three salads, which I found difficult to prioritize, but based on the other menu items, it’s hard to believe they’re anything but perfectly satisfying.
If you’re looking to cool off, order the zesty michelada or the American lager brewed in partnership with Alma Mater. As a self-proclaimed “beer guy,” Flanagan is proud of this beer as an easy sipper, and it’s nicely crisp. Hank’s and Jim’s are the only spots in town you can snag it. The blueberry mojito and pink pegasus made with a homemade strawberry cream soda are also great thirst quenchers.
With great service, affordable prices and a menu that appeals to the early-bird diners in veteran caps, kid-touting families and casual drinkers, it’s hard to find where Hank’s is lacking. Maybe the parking.
“Most negative reviews are because of the parking,” Flanagan says. “A lot of these downtown businesses don’t have designated parking, so there’s not much we can do. But there’s public parking at City Hall, behind City Hall, and we also have parking at Vita Craft just catty-corner to Hank’s.”
