Helen’s Hilltop

Despite having grown up in the area, my bar-​hopping era didn’t really come until I had moved far, far away. But after some leisurely drives through the old ‘hood, we stopped in here a couple separate times for a drink and some reminiscing.
Not much about the place has changed in 20 years, Staff is super friendly, food is cheap and tasty (typical fried bar fare with great steak specials), there is space to spare inside and out.
Our first visit back, a group was hanging out on the front patio. Apparently one of the guys had a few too many and mouthed off to someone, promptly getting laid out on the concrete before his buddies took him home. But no one flinched (except the poor bartender who had to bolt outside and make sure it didn’t turn in to a thing), everyone else was calm, and no one seemed to harbor any grudges. We all went back to our drinks & steaks and put some more music on the jukebox.
I know from others that their rallies can be pretty epic, and they are often a stop for various motorcycle runs. But it is as much a neighborhood bar (on a corner by itself out in the country) as it is a biker destination.

Ideal Roadhouse. The fella on the grill is a genius.

Helen’s Hilltop is a popular biker par located on a… wait for it… … hilltop … just off 24 Hwy west of Tonganoxie. The bar’s location near a popular biker route makes it a big hit on summer weekends.
The problem with being a bar’s first customer of the day is that it makes it hard to get a good read on how much fun a particular bar is. After all, the biggest portion of a bar’s personality comes from the people that hang out there. But we still managed to get a feel for the place during our Saturday morning visit.
Our bartender was cheerful and friendly, with our drinks nice and inexpensive. The bar features multiple pool tables, video games, and the video poker type machines that are popular in dive bars out this way. There’s outdoor seating on the front porch, I didn’t check out the back door to see what was back there.
Overall, this looks like a really fun biker-​friendly hangout.