Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant

Decent burgers and tenderloins. It’s a fiber sort of burger, and good fries. Basic stuff but satisfying. They have a unique kind of cool train system I there where you order from a phone at you table, and your order is delivered by a train that had tracks around the perimeter of the ceiling. Great for the kids. Goo mom and pop type burger joint

Super cool and fun place. Great for kids and family and brings back that old school feel. Burgers were good, too!

You don’t come to Fritz’s for the great burgers. .. you come for the nostalgic experience. The reviews that gripe about the greasy, crappy food? Well, duh, it’s like going to Taco Via and thinking you’re going to get a great Mexican meal…only to get a tortilla with taco sauce and melted cheddar has been promoted as a «nacho.» I grew up in the «sketch» neighborhood referenced in a prior review, and my parents as well as hundreds of others who have lived here for 40+ years still feel perfectly safe walking to Fritz’s for a coke or a shake. I grew up hanging out at Fritz’s after school with friends, ordering from the «phone» only to hear the server taking my order on the other side of the wall, and eating greasy burgers with grilled onions and hot sauce. The train? Awesome that it is still the ORIGINAL from back in the 70s when train service began. Same orange booths, same décor, and same delicious homemade vanilla shakes. As for the workers who do not care, they are locals who have worked here for decades because they love what they do. Don’t knock them. I have made sure my daughter and all my close friends have been here at least once to experience a pretty cool part of my KCK childhood. If you are a snob and cannot get that this is about the experience, you will want to stay away and head to the shiny squeaky clean version at Crown Center or in Shawnee, but it will be void of meaning. If you like to observe people and things and wonder about stories that make up history, then you will enjoy it. Little kids always love it. Bring them.

A perfect combination of mostly crappy diner burgers and fries, and an awesome gimmick in the form of the food delivery system.
The kids were enthralled every time the train click-​clacked by, but the food was closer to White Castle in quality than your favorite local burger joint. Shakes were decent, though. Staff was super friendly, though. Very nice people.

Chili was not very good. Most of the sides were grease. Disappointed but entertaining for the kids.

We were up in the KC area from NW Arkansas to buy a car and decided to eat at Fritz’s because our son loves trains. We were going to eat at the Crown Center location, but the finance guy at the dealership told us to go here, both because it is the original one and because he said it would not be as busy. (He was right about the busy part, this one – we were one of five or six parties; we did end up by the one in the Crown Center – 45 minute wait.)
The burger was delicious, and I did like the touch of making the kid’s meals plain. The flavorings in the sodas were spot on. The only thing we didn’t like was my wife’s tenderloin sandwich was a little dry.
We loved all of the train decorations and especially loved the delivery system by train. If we are back in the KC area again, we will definitely be back.

You just gotta love Fritz’s… This is the original (I think)… there are several sites now, but I think this is the best… OKAY… I haven’t actually been to any of the others…
The food is greasy… the shakes are delicious… the rings are crispy… But best of all… the food comes over to your table on a train …
If I live to be a hundred, I will not get tired of this place…
Yea, Yea, I’m just giving it 4 stars… the food is a three, the train is a 5… 4 is the middle.

Food was greasy, fries were overdone. The place is run by a staff that is either too busy of just do not care. The prices are high and the value isn’t there.
The place does have a lot of train stuff to look at but the prices and food quality are not up to snuff.
We got caught, just like a whole bunch of other tourists. Not worth it!

Classic since I was a kid! A few unique burgers but mostly old school.
Agreed that Shawnee location is the nicest… it’s the newest. KCK is the original. Try the shakes and ask for hats.

I am not sure what people usually eat to say this place is even close to 3 stars… We paid nearly $ 40 for lunch for our family, and the food was completely microwaved warmed, soggy fries, and horrible service. We usually dine in nice restaurants in Kansas City, and I would have rather paid double the price at the Plaza for better food, and service. Save your time and money it’s not worth it… I still have a bad taste about it and it’s been weeks since we have been there.

My boyfriend’s daughter had been begging us to take her here for a long time so we finally caved. Unless you really like trains or are a kid you probably won’t get much out of it. The food is nothing special but it’s really cheap. His daughter seemed to get a kick out of the train bringing us our food even though it went to the wrong table. And she enjoyed her ice cream sundae So I guess that’s all that matters.

Pretty fun experience (food is only ⁷⁄₁₀). The ordering system and delivery system is pretty dope
TWIN GENDAR IS WHERE ITS AT

I have come to Fritz’s for as long as I can remember. This original location is THEY best. Breakfast sandwiches are very good. Their onion rings are the standard that I measure all other onion rings to.

Go for the trains, not the food. Of the locations in KC, this one feels original and authentic to the idea, but a little dirty and very dated (but hey, that probably adds to the original/​authentic to the idea feel).
Cherry shake is the best.

My friend and I, both in our late 20’s, visited here and had a blast! I know there is a newer, nice one in Crown Center but I really wanted to go to the original location. You place your order over the phone and it comes directly to your table via little train. There are even fun conductor hats to wear. Great for all ages!
Now, you come here for the fun NOT the food. The menu is mostly just greasy burgers and fries. Good burgers and fries, but there’s nothing fancy going on here! But that’s what I loved about it. Sure it looks pretty run down outside and in, it’s old, but it’s awesome! For our meal, we had fried mushrooms, french fries and burgers with hash browns. Terribly unhealthy but sometimes that’s just what you need.

OH. MY. GOD. I don’t see where any of these positive reviews are coming from unless the reviewers are mistakenly reviewing the Crown Center location. First off, it is in a SKETCHY neighborhood. I suppose this problem is on me. I am from out of town and have taken my kids to Fritz’s at Crown Center in the past. We were on our way home and this location was closer to us and the prices were cheaper, not to mention that we could avoid downtown parking hassles. MISTAKE. This restaurant is on a sketchy looking street corner across the street from a 7 – 11 and some run down city housing. The building literally looks like a converted gas station (except that your average Quick Trip is much brighter and cleaner inside than this place). Except for the obligatory railroad nostalgia, the dingy, cramped interior met the expectation set by the exterior. Speaking of the interior, the men’s room was abysmal. A tiny cramped room with rusting sheet metal patchwork on the wall and a broken towel dispenser. Again, reminiscent of a run down gas station. The 4 person booth we sat in fit more like 1.5 people on each side.
The food was low end diner quality at best. The burgers must use low quality fatty meat because my ¼ pound burger seemed awfully small. My wife’s onion rings were dry and greasy. The fries, though generously portioned, were bland and tasteless. I tried a piece of hot dog my child left behind and it just tasted «off».
At least the prices MUST be cheap at a diner of this quality, right? Not so fast my friend. A ¹⁄₈^th pound burger (WOW, talk about small) is $ 2.09, including no sides. A side of fries will set you back 2 bucks, onion rings almost three. They even charge extra to put chocolate in my kids’ milk.
The prices are cheaper here (by about 50 cents an item) than at Crown Center, but it is worth the price to eat downtown. This diner had one delivery train and one model train. That’s it. The restaurant at crown center is much bigger and much brighter, with several operating decorative trains besides the one that delivers food. They also offer salads on their menu, unlike this location. The food at Crown Center is still generally awful, but if your kids are looking for their train fix, I beg you to go to Crown Center and avoid this dive.

My children always love this place. The employees are great, the people are nice. Keep it up

Really fun place for the kids! You can’t expect gourmet burgers, but my sandwich was tasty and they have a burger with hash browns on it, that’s sorta fun. But the real attraction here is the train that delivers your food. It delighted the adults and children alike. Very, very fun. Very friendly staff as well. This is the original Fritz’s and is in desperate need of renovation, but I’m still so glad we went.
TIP: Do research the menu’s online before trying a new location, the prices DO vary between locations.

This is a such a fun restaurant! Placing an order over a phone then having a little train chug around a track and lower your food right on the table is a delight! My dad used to take my sister and I when we were younger and it is as much fun now as it is was then! The food is good, but the milkshakes are great!
This is a must see, way better than the new Crown Center version!

I probably won’t come back here again. There are too many burger joints to eat substandard fare. I’ve eaten here before and loved the home-​cooked, true-​burger flavor and the texture of the burger. What I got this time was a slapped-​together burger that was sliding apart inside a greezy wrapper. The fries are crinkle-​cut and they were ok. I didn’t have to wait unreasonably long. I was disappointed. Probably won’t do it again.