Stroud’s Independence

Not sure what anyone see’s in this place. Chicken was tasteless and dry and barley edible. Green beans mushy straight out of the can. Potatoes were pasty and the gravy was floury and grainy. Worst cinnamon rolls I have ever had. Extremely over priced. Way to many good places to eat don’t wast your money here.

A little pricey but you get alot of food. Best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Service is good. And the cinnamon biscuits are wonderful.

I love Stroud’s but the service and ambiance at the Independence location isn’t as nice as the one on Oak Ridge. Waitress was loud and interrupted our family’s conversation to talk about sports and her vacation to Mexico. We didn’t notice until later but we were billed someone else’s check as well.

Came here for the first time today with my son, he has many food allergies. I did talk to the kitchen manager. awesome man and one of the male managers, another awesome guy… of the restaurant first though a week ago and they reassured me this was a place I could feel safe about taking my son so I was really pumped to visit today.
First off when I entered and explained my son’s allergies and our requests due to those anaphylactic allergies a female manager gave me the typical look and attitude. Well, once we got our table we got one of the worst non accomodating unfriendly noncompassionate waitresses ever… two hours. saw her 3 times.
???
In a nutshell to the positive, food was great, kitchen manager rocks, male restaurant manager rocks
Negative, poor service, rudeness, felt ignored and forgotten most of the time, unfriendliness, I was at first charged for food my son couldn’t even eat.
Although the two managers with there awesome kindness and sense of compassion towards our allergy issues was comforting I don’t think the serving staff can make up for the rest of our experience. And yes it is a big deal.
I will have to rethink hard about visiting again.

Great service, takes a little while to get the chicken, but worth every moment of the wait. I’ll be back often.

I fell for the hype.
I rarely eat fried foods and when I do it needs to be worthy of the calories. How could I go wrong at the place everyone raves about for fried chicken and family style sides? Here’s how:
For $ 18.95 I ordered the dark meat option — one leg and one thigh. After 20 minutes my bagged salad starter arrived. Not impressive but who cares. I was not at Strouds for salad. An hour later the food that I had come for arrived. Family style our waitress reminded us. Just let me know what you need more of…
I plucked a thigh off of the platter. It was barely warm. Are you kidding me? I sit for an hour and 20 mins waiting for pan fried chicken and it’s cold. Others at my table plucked their chicken from the same plate, steamy and hot. Luckily the waitress came by and swapped out for a fresh steamy piece for me, which took about 5 mins.
So finally I sink my teeth into a hot, greasy piece of … jerky. Turns out some of the pieces were very dry while others were ok. Someone at our table had the tenders which were reportedly good. Another had the liver and gizzard mix up — livers good while gizzards were very chewy. The ok sides were not replenished until I went to the hostess and asked. Our waitress had completely disappeared.
Eventually she showed up with our bill and offered to send food home with us. We packaged up potatoes and green beans and leftover chicken.
Last night I asked myself why I bothered with the to go. The food certainly did not improve overnight in the fridge and if it wasn’t worth the calories the first time it certainly wasn’t going to be the second time.
I made myself fish for dinner.

I love love love this place! Great chicken, chicken fried chicken, and chicken livers! Smother anything in their gravy… Yum!

The chicken was awesome! You can have refills on the side dishes. Friendly staff. There was a long wait to be seated and for food but it’s worth it. Grab a drink from the bar and check out the game on the tvs while you wait.

NOT RECOMMENDED
OK, yesterday Sunday, FEB 21^st I visited this restaurant in Indepedence, MO. I’ve wanted to visit one of these KC institutions since I initially moved here 3.5 years ago. While drivibg to the Costco, I passed this Strouds & planned to return after Costco & Sams (on the other side of I-​70 so I made a return trip) I wish I didn’t! Here are 3 things worth note:
1– Female bartender w/​Blonde hair was very rude. Told her this was my first visit & she took my take out order acting as though I should know what to order. I asked for the 4 piece dark meat chicken. She said, «Potato»? I said no, just wanted the chicken. At this point she simply needed to say you get a choice of a potato & veggie. Instead she continued, sarcastically, «potato»? In time I understood & got a loaded baked (the best part of the meal, which is sad).
2– It took over an hour for my order. Thank God for Guinness. The surly bartender continued her ignorant ways muttering under her breath about stupid customers (her estimate) @ the end of the bar. She ibviously needs an attitude adjustment or a pink slip.
3– The chicken sucked. No flavor in the covering and the chicken was mushy (a sign of quickly unfrozen rather than fresh chicken).
In conclusion, better to get a fryer chicken from one of the big box stores @ less than 10% of what you’ll pay here. I will never return.

The food was 3 starts but the service was incredible. Ask for Kelly. She was on top of everything.

I love Strouds, it has been my family’s «go to» restaurant for 30 years. My past 6 experiences at Strouds makes me think the quality is going down. The chicken is usually good, but the sides are suffering. The green beans have lost a lot of ham & onion and flavor they used to contain. The chicken noodle soup is sometimes cool, and the cottage fries, which are our favorite side, have not been cooked enough. It seems to me that this Stroud’s location is not as good as the others. Too bad for me as it is closest to my home!
I have noticed the quality dropping at the 135^th street location in OP as well. Maybe that is why I don’t have to wait in line when I arrive at the restaurant.

Growing up on 83^rd Street and State Line Road in the 1950’s, Stroud’s was where the family went for Sunday Dinner when we could afford it (it was just over the city limits so my father could slip out and pick up Sunday Beer). I watched with dismay as the original Stroud’s was torn down to make way for a new overpass for Troost Ave. over 85^th Street. I remember my first of many meals at their then new location at the former Oak Wood Manor with good feelings. Much of the original «character» had made the move up north, and I learned that along with amazing pan fried chicken (you had to buy a tee shirt that said, «We Choke Our Own Chickens»), they had one of best filet mignons in steak famous Kansas City.
Later, the Fairway location opened. Bowing to its truly suburban location, the prices were a bit higher, and the character remained with just a touch of Johnson County suburban bland. The menu remained the same and the food and service still retained that perfect match for their heritage. I know that there is now an Overland Park location, but it has not felt «right» to look for «real» Stroud’s out there.
The Independence restaurant was such a dream-​come-​true to us Lee’s Summit dwellers! Great pan fried chicken and those wonderful filets about 15 minutes from home!
At first glance the building easily conforms to the «new» Independence /​Lee’s Summit chic. Neither flashy nor rustic on the outside, and «stick on Lincoln Logs» rustic inside.
We did find a few «changes» that surprised us. The first was the «home fries» that we had grown to love over the year had become something more like «home made» potato chips! Gone were those thick cut home fries of yesteryear. When asked, our server said they had always been like that, and she had worked at their Overland Park restaurant. Hmmm, a bit too suburban for me.
My daughter and son-​in-​law both ordered pan fried chicken. His was perfect, but my daughter’s was a bit over cooked (breading was dry and tough). The one time I had eaten here was for lunch and my chicken came out that way too. But my rare filet mignon came out perfect! Sides like fries, green beans, and that wonderful cream gravy still kept to Stroud’s amazing standards.
Considering it was «Black Friday» the service was efficient and friendly, a pleasure to experience. Prices seem to be in line with the Fairway restaurant. One word of caution, sadly due to some State driven red tape, the «Chicken Choaker Ale» is not available in Independence. The rest of the «drinks support» is up to just about anyone’s standards.
If you have never eaten at Stroud’s then prepare yourself for an amazing treat — Stroud’s cinnamon rolls can be the high point of your meal! They complete the Stroud’s experience.
On balance, the Independence Stroud’s can fill your Stroud’s craving. Interestingly, like Windstead’s and Gates, the faster you travel from their main locations the more the «original» bleeds off and is replaced by urban bland. Will I return? Oh yes. There is still enough «real» Stroud’s left and it is right down the street!

First of all, the chicken strips are amazing. Bring your patience, unless you have a reservation you might wait a while for a table. Appetizers are a great idea. I highly reccomend the split dinner feature for adults. The chicken was moist inside and just crispy enough outside. Green beans, gravy, and mashed potatoes were plentiful and decent. Our service was attentive and awesome. Our drinks were never empty and the waitress communicated directly with our kids, which is always a bonus. She even secured us fresh cinnamon rolls!

The last time I had Strouds it was several years ago at the Shawnee Mission Parkway location and the food was absolutely amazing. When I saw this location opened I was very excited since it’s close to home. My wife had never eaten at a Strouds before so I was excited to take her for some delicious fried chicken.
The evening we went it wasn’t busy and we were seated right away.
We ordered the all dark dinner to split with a half order of chicken livers. Although it wasn’t busy, it took a while for the livers to come out. One of the reasons I’m giving them a second star instead of just one is for the portion sizes. The half order was more than enough for one person as a meal. However, they were just ok. My wife loves her livers and she was unimpressed. According to her they were better than KFC. I don’t care for them but I’d have to agree, they didn’t taste much different.
After about 45 minutes, the dining room was less than half full and we were still waiting for our chicken. Not sure what’s taking so long since the kitchen shouldn’t be that busy. When the chicken did finally come out, it was over cooked (maybe that’s what took so long) and the breading was bland. Again, KFC is just as good, costs ¼ as much, and takes an hour less time. Yes the mashed potatoes and green beans were good but that’s not why you eat at Strouds and that’s not a big accomplishment anyway.
The highlight was the cinnamon rolls at the end. Not worth the price of the meal but at least it was something.
Maybe it was an off night for the kitchen, but I won’t be going back to this location.

First visit to Independence location. On this Wednesday night, the crowds have subsided so we were able to get a table for 6 at 6:00 after just a couple of minutes. Restaurant was busy, but never full. So if you’ve been afraid of the crowds, it’s safe to go now.
The food was good and up to expectations set at the original location. Our group had livers, pork chops, chicken fried steak, and of course chicken. It’s a tough choice between their chicken noodle soup or salad. So we had three so each and shared. At times at other locations, the food wasn’t seasoned quite right. It was good tonight.
Our server was very personable and took great care of us. It was our parents’ 65^th anniversary and she gave them special attention.
We all left with our take home containers and will enjoy our leftovers tomorrow.
Prices have gone up but so has beef and chicken at the grocery store.

Oh my goodness. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and never judge a restaurant based on the building it’s in.
From the outside, Stroud’s is your everyday eatery. Not very fancy, somewhat inviting, but not very eye catching. Inside, the restaurant is inviting, and very comfy and homey.
This is the home of pan fried chicken and boy did it show. Portions are large. My half order of fried gizzards was a full plate. They were wonderfully breaded and fried to perfection. Very crispy on the outside and surprisingly juicy on the inside. Same thing could be said for the chicken fingers, delicately crispy outside and juicy inside.
My two piece lunch consisted of two thighs, (you can choose any two pieces, up to one breast), chicken gravy (my goodness was this stuff delicious), green beans, and an order of fries.
There was simply too much to eat, we ended up taking more than half of it home.
All in all, I definitely recommend this place to anyone.

Had the fried chicken dinner. The chicken was way underseasoned and had very little flavor.
After the first piece I wished I had just gone to the Popeye’s a half mile away. I would have saved some money and would have had better chicken.
Green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy were pretty unremarkable. The chicken soup was decent and the only part of the meal I liked.
I don’t plan on going back.

This was my first experience to try their new take out service. I got a regular chicken dinner w/​soup. The chicken was not good. I have never seen a thigh will so little meat on it and the breast was hard and DRY! The soup seems to have been made with those square cubes you get at the store with some chicken and noodles thrown in. Everything could have used a little salt.
I guess I’ll have to go back to the chicken livers which have always been good.

Short version
Blah. Not impressed.
Long version
Food: Very good. The level of Stroud’s cooking we have come to expect from the original location in the Northland is here in Independence. Huge portions, well-​prepared, quality food.
Service
This is where it goes down hill. All of the staff with whom we talked had no personality. No smiles, no «How ya doin’?» When our server came over, she asked, «How are you this evening?» and without waiting for a reply — and pretty much showing how her level of service would be — asked us for our drink order.
Granted, I’m not trying to make new friends or spend 30 minutes telling them about Aunt Edna’s bunion, but everything seemed scripted and very mechanical. It was barely better than ordering at a counter in McDonald’s.
Wait times for everything were far longer than we were used to at the Northland location, and we went off-​peak times (we arrived at 4:15 pm).
Trying to get refills on anything was difficult, and the server seemed far more preoccupied with stocking the server station than actually waiting on customers.
Atmosphere
It’s the pits. It’s like someone pushed a button on a machine and said, «Build generic home-​style restaurant.» Where the original location has warmth and atmosphere, this is like eating in a hospital cafeteria that’s trying to be «homey.» Granted, it’s hard to duplicate the decades of wear of the original location, but the Independence location is so generic that, unless you look at the menu or the staff’s t-​shirts, it could be any chain restaurant in any town in America.
It’s almost like a Stepford Wives’ version of Strouds.
Yeah, the food is good, and that’s the only reason I gave it 3 stars.

What can be said about Strouds in Kansas City that has not been said. FRIED CHICKEN! FRIED PORK CHOPS! CINNAMON ROLLS. All served up family style. Just dig in and walk out bloated. Even the mashed potatoes and gravy are awesome. Loved Strouds north now there is a Strouds on the east side of KC to soothe the masses.