Barto's Idle Hour Steakhouse & Lounge — Restaurant in Frontenac

The Morning Sun Nov. 11, 2011

PITTSBURG —by John T. Sulllivan 

As a newcomer to SE Kansas, I was delighted recently when some friends of mine came to visit from Eugene, Ore. I got a chance to show them the area, and to become a tourist in my own new hometown and to savor and experience for myself some of the highlights of the region that I had not really focused on until now. I have meandered through the lobby of the Stillwell Hotel, and looked at the inscriptions on the wall of the miner’s pavilion, but I have not been a real student of local history, until now. I am almost ashamed to admit that I have been to Big Brutus twice, but never actually entered the museum or climbed onto the big rig itself. Once I went just to see it, and another time to attend a polka festival. But this time, I explored it with my fellow tourists, and it was an amazing experience. I was fascinated to learn more about the history of the region, and even bought a book on the history of coal mining in SE Kansas. I was amazed to find out that at one time, shortly after the turn of the century, Scammon had a population of 10,000, and boasted 25 saloons, and Weir had a similar population and had 35 such watering holes. It is hard to image those places as once thriving coal mine camp towns. I had been to Scammon to visit Josie’s Ristorante, the only “saloon” left in town, and had been to Weir to visit a butcher shop that has since gone out of business. But I would not have imagined either place boasting a population which would equal that of Pittsburg today, Nor could I have imagined the hardscrabble lives those miners and their families lead. I read about the company store, and how the miners had to buy their groceries and dry goods from the company store, and how the company would charge a 20 percent premium, on the script that the miners were paid. Talk about corporate greed! Unless you look beneath the surface of modern day Pittsburg, it is hard to imagine the late 19th Century boom town that this area once was. You don’t get a sense of history here by going to the local Walmart, or out to dinner at Applebee’s or Chili’s, but you do get a whole different flavor when you go out to a local legendary haunt like Barto’s Idle Hour in Frontenac. My immersion on SE Kansas culture was complete after spending an evening at Barto’s, replete with Accordion band, dancing and fried chicken dinners. (Not to mention a few legal refreshments as well! ) I've been to Carnie Smith and seen Pitt State win and lose, and I've even gone to Arrowhead to see them shellack NW Missouri in a second-half comeback, but nothing matches the kind of spirit evident when the band strikes up “All my exes live in Texas” and “In Heaven there is no beer”, as septuagenarians polka it out on the shuffleboard slick dance floor on a Saturday night! Andy Rooney would have loved this place! I may not understand 20 mph speed limits in downtown, too many traffic lights, and building new arts centers when you already have one, but I do understand the transformational experience of a good polka band and the meaning of deep roots and a sense of local history. I mistook our waitress for the owner of the place, and when I asked if she was, she said no, but she had been working there for 45 years! She said the current owner was 4 or 5 years old when she started working there! Add to that the sweet couple I talked to who have been going there to dance for 50 years, and the delightful smile on the face of a 92-year-old woman with perfectly coiffed hair who I had previously seen “out and about” around Pittsburg auctions, enjoying the lively accordion band, and nothing could be much sweeter! In New York, we have a saying: "Only in NY...only in NY.” Well, ”Only in SE Kansas, folks! Only in SE Kansas.” — By John...

A group of friends and I went to the Idle Hour this past Tuesday evening for our monthly dinner. We have been going there for this for the past several years on the last Tuesday of the month from March through November. Same time, same place every month. (I will say that last year, it was more hit and miss due to COVID. )

The food was delicious last night as always and we were all pleased with what we had to eat. I have to say, however, the the service has gotten worse every month. Last month and this month, the waitress that we had was slow, forgot to bring us bread, silverware, and drinks. Once we all had our first drink, she would come back to get more drink orders but never bring them. I finally went to get mine from the bar and she had not even placed the drink orders! She was the only waitress and we had a large group of about 10 - 12 people. Besides us, there were only about 5 other tables. What used to take us about 1 1/2 hours, took us almost 2 hours! When we asked to order after we had been there for almost 45 minutes, she waited another 15 minutes to get our orders.

We may decide to go somewhere else next month to try something else out because we just don't need that...

I have been eating Barto's Idle Hour on the restaurant side since I was born in 1971. I grew up eating fried chicken, German Patato salad, and Cole Slaw. We would always get a large order of onion rings, Fried Chicken Livers and fried chicken Gizzards. Oh, and the Frontenac Bread. My family always looked forward to going to Barto's Chicken House. Every time we went there, the food was awesome and hot, the service was great, and I don't care what anyone says about the atmosphere, I love it! I live in Wichita, Kansas, and all of my family is now gone, so I don't get down to Frontenac, Kansas anymore. How I would love to eat there now. I have never had such good fried chicken before or since. There is nowhere in Wichita, Kansas, to get food like that. Keep up the great work. May God bless you always! Love peace and Light Bily Curless 😇 Update I ordered a T-shirt from here and they mailed it to me. I'm so excited. Thank...