Dixon’s Chili Parlor

This is one of those iconic Independence/​KC places. If you grew up here, you know about Dixons. The all you can eat tacos are legendary. Served four at a time, with meat and lettuce and cheese piled into thin and crispy shells. No words are necessary. Just eat. Order your extra condiments like tomatoes or sour cream and they come heaping to you. It’s fast, efficient and friendly service. The Chilli is legendary and served to you just the way you ask. But you gotta know how you like it. Dry, wet, beans no beans, soupy… just come if you haven’t then I don’t know what your waiting for!

I guess I just don’t get it. It was simply ground beef with a couple kidney beans in it. No tomato base. No chili powder or any seasoning besides salt. Nothing that would make my brain associate this with chili. Maybe I should have gotten it on a hot dog or the spaghetti. I just can’t wrap my head around how this qualifies as anything other than a plate of boring tasteless ground beef

What is wrong with everyone? This is not chili! Plain ground beef, then you have to add all the ingredients you want. Onions, ketchup, sour cream, cheese… and they charge you for each one! And there’s no chili seasoning, except for vinegar. Worst chili imitation ever!

It’s just meat and they give u a bunch of stuff to put on it that I don’t like. Like cheese and sour cream

What a fun lively place with great all American atmosphere. The food is custom per your order. Pitchers of beer are $ 9 for 5 glasses. The Jalapeño Relish is very good! They have spaghetti, burgers, taco, salad, custom blend chili with or without fixings and beans. Fun! i love the pickles!

This has been a favorite place since childhood. Nothing like a bowl of chili on a cool night or a pregame chili dog. Lots of great choices and the people are always friendly.

Well let’s just say .1.they blatantly microwave all food. 2. If that is chili then call me confused, do they taste this stuff? A pile of ground beef with no seasoning is not chili. 3. Service was great, 4. Food was disgusting

I get the unlimited tacos. There’s a chili powder/​chili pepper vinegar on the table, pair that along with their hot sauce, and you have some of the better tacos I’ve ever had. The vinegar, chili powder and hot sauce made the tacos very unique! And unlimited for 8 bucks, can’t beat it with a stick!

Hands down a must-​do in KC. 90 years of history, nothing fancy just great chili and quick service with great prices. You can order it dry, juicy or soupy, with or without beans. I’m a huge fan of the tamale spread. Absolutely one of my favorite lunch spots in the east side of town. No frills, just good good chili and waitresses that seem like they’ve been there forever. Lots of historic photos and old time ambiance.

If you like Americanized tacos — and there’s nothing wrong with that — then Dixon’s is the king! The meat is seasoned and dry with shredded lettuce, and ton’s of shredded cheese in a thin light taco shell. Then you create your masterpiece with the condiments at the table. They offer chili seasoning, vinegar, hot vinegar, taco sauce, hot sauce… I like to sloppily eat mine so I have a mess in the basket, then I can add more hot vinegar, and seasoning and do it again as a taco salad, then order another round! All you can eat for $ 7.99. One of Kansas City’s simple treasures and a bargain!

Love their taco special and don’t forget to add sour cream, onions and jalapeño relish!

I’ve been going here since I was a child. The food is unconventional but in a good way. Most of the customers are regulars and Dixon’s is always packed at night. I would give five stars, but I really think that some remodeling needs to happen soon. I’m pretty sure the tables are the same ones from the 2000s, not to mention the chairs. They need to repaint, get new furniture, new tile, and a good bathroom. I really see no reason that they can’t buy the empty office spaces next door, tear the wall down, remodel, and then reopen with more room for diners and new bathrooms. If they did that, then their business would go through the roof. Its a bit unsightly on the inside, so if they worked on their façade, this business would have one heck of a 100^th anniversary.
This is my tried and true comfort food location, but I know the age of this place considering our family has had 2 generations eat here, and things are starting to get run down.

I went here again for lunch today. Much better! I found out the problem was not knowing that they put ketchup in the chili for chili dogs! So the waitress told me I could get a chili dog without the ketchup (as I don’t like tomatoes) and I was pleased. I will now come back for sure.

Dixon’s is a staple in Kansas City, it’s been in the same location years. President Truman used to eat there.
Their chili is not like the chili most people cook. It has many options, and many variations. You can get it with onions, with beans and onions, without beans (I think without beans and onions is a bowl of ground beef), soupy, dry,. With cheese, etc. I don’t recall a tomato option.
But cause I’d rather eat my own chili, I go for tacos. 3 tacos are $ 5.79. All you can eat tacos are around $ 7.50. The tacos are basic, not too small, with ground beef, lettuce and cheese. The sauce is pretty good, but sometimes flat tasting.
They even have spaghetti chili. They have burritos the size of a dinner plate which I happened to see them microwave to warm up. And they have tamales. What nips it in the bud are home made pies. So if you go don’t skip the pie. The pieces are huge, and the waitress, if you tell her you are splitting the pie, you receive it on 2 plates.
I like Dixons, except for the bathroom. Just, take my advice and do bladder emptying before you go. The bathroom isn’t the cleanest in the city. Infact, they could do way better. I got stories, in the past about that bathroom, and I know to avoid it, at all costs. I go there for tacos, I don’t attempt the bathrooms. I order and eat tacos, order and eat pie. Pay and leave.
On game nights or days, there can be either a crowd in red or a crowd in blue. And on game nights it can be hellacious to make a left turn on 40 highway. Dixsons is good, and ti’s cool that it still stands.

This is been my go to chili place for the past 12years, amazing food quality customer service an excellent product.

Always good!
Been eating chili at Dixion’s for over 50 years. I remember my Dad and I would visit Dixion’s when it was located off of Truman Road. Same great taste then as Now! Very few restaurants are in business over 50 years plus keep the same great food consistently!
Your will not be disappointed!

When is chili not really chili, or just not recognizable to be chili as you know it? When it’s Dixon’s chili, which doesn’t resemble the thick paste that most people picture when they think of chili. Which is strange, because Dixon’s is an original, using the same recipe since they opened in 1919.
Dixon’s chili looks and tastes similar to mild taco seasoned ground beef. By itself (with or without beans — I strongly prefer without) it doesn’t look like much, and it really doesn’t have a very strong flavor. But select your favorite version («Soupy“with bean broth, «Juicy» with natural meat juices, or «Dry») pour this chili over spaghetti, tamales, or a hot dog; or inside a burrito or hardshell crispy taco; drop a fistful of their light, soft, and fluffy shredded cheese on top — and it becomes something magical.
There are many entertaining legends about Dixon’s. The original owner was so proud of his chili that he wouldn’t permit ketchup in the restaurant for fear a customer would «ruin» it, although many customers tried to sneak it in. When the «Grand Nephew» of the original owner took over he abolished the no ketchup policy in 1963, but continued the tradition by «fining» customers 10 cents if they requested a small container of ketchup with their chili. I believe this «fine» has been increased to a whopping 15 cents today.
Harry Truman, a KC area native, frequented Dixon’s Chili and Life magazine noted this fact during a story in 1952 that referenced the President’s visit accompanied by a number of Secret Service agents. The restaurant is located a mile from the Truman Sports Complex and remains a popular spot for pregame meals before Royals and Chiefs games when the dining room will be covered up in either Blue or Red jerseys.
If you’re visiting Kansas City or attending a ball game, Dixon’s is a great place to sample a true Kansas City tradition, and maybe start a tradition of your own.

Simple chili done right. My standard is the all-​meat with cheese, onions, and sour cream served juicy. Add some mustard and we are good to go.
There is absolutely nothing fancy about this place. Old style diner, bathroom in the way back through some storage area. Good value, great people.

Friends have told me that I need to try this old-​school road-​side café that specializes in chili. On a cool and rainy evening, on the way home from a trip, my dining companion and I stopped in. He had eaten at Dixons before and could advise that «juice» included the meat cookin’ juices and that all was served separate and was to be mixed to personal liking.
I ordered the large chili with beans, juicy, with onion, cheese and sour cream. This huge plate was set in front of me… not what i expected, but it was very enjoyable. I prefer a sauce-​based chili, with a little heat and a little sweet, so this is not my traditional chili preference, but it was good and the experience was worth it. Mixing your own onion and cheese in to a large plate of meat and beans, served with saltines made me think of 1950s car travel… pretty fun!

The best way to describe the Chili here is deconstructed. The meat comes on a plate separated from the onions, cheese and ketchup (which are in ramekins). Then you mix the ingredients together and season it to your liking with the chili powder on the table. Now they make this no secret that this is how their chili is served. The menu as well as our waitress explained this process. After reading and hearing this I decided on the foot long chili dog, no assembly required! The two other guys I was with gave the build-​your-​own chili a shot and they both said it was good and I really enjoyed my chili dog. Great service as well, but I will not be rushing back here because it does not seem like my kind of chili. Just personal opinion I guess because this place has been around since 1919 so someone must love it!