Showcasing the Sunflower State one burger at a time
By Tim Schrag '12
Steven Kimmi ’05 is on a quest to find the best of what Kansas has to offer.
He’s made hundreds of videos which he posts to his various channels as a content creator promoting what he finds in the Sunflower State. He’s racked up more than 20,000 miles traveling over five years.
“I decided to start traveling throughout the state and sharing the unique things that we have to offer that most people don't take the time to recognize,” he said.
Along the way he’s showed followers all sorts of Kansas attractions: Big Brutus in West Mineral; Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park in Logan County; the many mini-Statues of Liberty across the state; the murals in Clay Center; the folk art in Lucas; Mushroom Rock; the Hot and Cold water towers in Pratt; the La Salsa Man statue in Dodge City; the Cathedral of the Plains in Victoria; the Davis Memorial in Hiawatha; and many other spots.
In one of his most popular videos, he postulates where does Western Kansas begin. His conclusion is to not engage, because it’s an unwinnable argument.
“In my travels, Western Kansas is relative,” he said. “For me and the adventures that we've gone on, I would say most likely it's like around the Hays area when you start heading west of Hays. It really kind of depends on how you define what stipulates Western Kansas – and for me, that's where you really see the geography change. You've now moved basically out of the hilly outreaches of the Flint Hills area and you start moving into more of a flat land. But those are fighting words.”
The post has more than 800 comments, 300 reshares on Instagram alone.
At some point Kimmi’s partner suggested they go make a video about a Salina hamburger staple, The Cozy Inn.
“It was something that she enjoyed,” he said. “And so we decided, let's go try it again and let's make a video about it. When we posted that video, it elicited just so many responses of either pure love and enjoyment of that burger or the people who can't stand the smell.”
Kimmi also started getting other burger recommendations across the state. So he set out to try them and find the best in Kansas.
“It grew organically of this combination of being able to like crowdsource everybody's favorite burger throughout the state,” he said. “I live in a small rural community. And that's where most of these places were coming from. There are these special, unique places in these small communities that most people are going to overlook. That's really where it came from, trying to showcase not only these restaurants and their communities, but that they have a spot on social media.”
In addition to burgers, Kimmi has ranked the best – in his opinion – pizzas, State Fair foods, beers and more. And for the record a burger joint in Manhattan does make the list: Ana’s Burger Shack.
Of all his travels, his favorite burger so far has been from Shooters Neighborhood Grill and Bar in Frontenac. It’s called the 1106er.
At the end of the day Kimmi is doing this to spread positivity and knowledge about the state.
“Sometimes Kansans are our own worst critics,” he said. “When you actually get down to those communities and you start talking about restaurants or the high school football team and things like that, there's a lot of pride. And people do actually appreciate being recognized and seeing themselves represented on social media. Every town has a story that's more interesting than we're willing to give it credit for. And if you take the time to visit and learn more, you'll be surprised.”