INFOCUS

RETHINKING FOOD

REDISCOVERING THE BEAUTY OF KC THROUGH FOOD

WRITTEN BY JULIE BURTON / PHOTOS BY JAMI BOWMAN

Kansas City is a city of change. Winters are bitter. Summers are scorchers. Spring and fall are a respective warm and cool relief. And sometimes, you’ll get all four seasons in one day. That’s the beauty of Kansas City—it’s never boring. And Kansas City’s taste in food? Unforked knows tastes shouldn’t be boring either. Variety is always a good thing in the restaurant business. Hearty soups and chilies in the winter. Fresh salads and burgers in the summer. And tacos? Come on, those are acceptable year-round. Unforked’s menu changes with Kansas City seasons. The menu changes approximately six times a year rather than four times because of the earth below our feet. The soil that makes up Kansas City and the regions surrounding it determine what is good eating. Lucky for us, the city of change becomes the city of variety at Unforked.

Fresh, local, quality ingredients are what set Unforked apart from other fast-casual restaurants. That’s exactly what Jim Sheridan, founder of Unforked, had in mind when he opened a location in Overland Park in 2011. He says, “Growing up here, I wanted to incubate an idea about getting healthy, locally sourced foods, great ingredients, and use it to support local farmers. I wanted people to know exactly what is in the food. We don’t have a freezer here. We make everything from scratch.” Of course, making everything from scratch doesn’t start when the doors open. It starts at 7:30 am when the kitchen fires up. The fries, a crowd favorite, are cut by hand and take 24 hours to make. The barking pig taco is braised in the oven for hours and hand-shredded. The nutrient-rich kale salad has been a crowd favorite even before the kale craze. And the KC Q taco uses Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que sauce.

“The difference is the quality of where we get our food. We go to great lengths to get what we use.”

Kansas City knows barbecue, and so does the New York Times. The New

Bobby Shaw - COO, Stephanie Sheridan - Owner, Jim Sheridan - Owner/Founder

York Times Taco Trail discovered Unforked’s KC Q taco and wrote, “Smoked carnitas slathered in sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, folded into a soft corn tortilla and topped with blistered onions and a fried pickle. Close your eyes and you may think you’re holding a wellsauced rib.”

Bobby Shaw is the chief operating officer of Unforked. His long career working in the food and restaurant business gives Unforked’s menu its own uniqueness when it comes to seasonal, diverse dishes. “Quality defines our seasonal menu. For instance, you won’t see corn in the winter. Corn isn’t good in the winter. The seasons determine what is good. We know March is Lent—our specials will be a calamari or shrimp basket. We try to offer a salad, a taco, a bowl, enough variety for people to choose,” Shaw explains. Menu ideas come from chefs, cooks, farmers, and even Shaw and Sheridan. Dishes start with an idea or a recipe and Unforked puts their spin on it. “We take an idea and simply make it better,” Sheridan explains. “The difference is the quality of where we get our food. We go to great lengths to get what we use.” Shaw recalls the time they launched a new noodle bowl. Unfortunately, the wrong noodles arrived. Instead of using the noodles they were sent, the manager went out herself to purchase the right noodles. “We go get the right thing. Sure, we can get buns for half the price, but we want the really great stuff,” Shaw says. As much as Unforked cares about the quality of the food, they care just as much about the people. Unforked never lost its core team after 2020, the year all restaurants took a hit from the impact of a global pandemic. Sheridan even went as far as to make up jobs for his employees to keep them employed. And the regulars who kept Unforked in business through 2020—there’s something about good food that makes everyone happy. Everyone needs to eat. But when you find a special place like Unforked to get those 24-hour-made-from-scratch fries or a New York Times-approved barbecue taco from the earth below your feet … well, you know you’re in Kansas City and it’s good eating. Download Unforked’s new app on iOS or Android and get the tacos. Tacos are always in season.

Unforked • Unforked.com Overland Park / 7337 W. 119th St., Overland Park, KS • 913.661.9887 Crown Center / 2450 Grand Blvd., #113, Kansas City, MO • 816.283.3675 Westwood / *Coming in March 2022* 4719 Rainbow Blvd., Westwood, KS