Chiefs’ Andy Reid reveals why he loves KC (including a certain milkshake and burger)

Your Guide to KC: Star sports columnist Vahe Gregorian is changing uniforms this spring and summer, acting as a tour guide of sorts to some well-known and hidden gems of Kansas City. Send your ideas to vgregorian@kcstar.com.

Chances are you know Andy Reid best by his stoic sideline demeanor, the typically “name, rank, serial number” tone of his news conferences (lest he betray any secrets) and for being the behind-the-scenes genius who has animated Patrick Mahomes’ considerable talents.

He encourages his players to let their personalities show … only to mostly cloak his own in favor of a self-possessed command presence.

But Reid, who has guided the Chiefs to three Super Bowl victories in the last five seasons on his way to certain induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is engaging and versatile in ways we seldom see — including keen emotional intelligence and a deft sense of humor accentuated by how sparingly he flashes it.

All of that has made him a Kansas City treasure they’ll build a statue for one day. Uniquely KC, you could say, and such a part of our landscape now that he recently was willing to share a little of what makes Kansas City unique to him.

‘Down to earth people’

Reid relishes an absurd work schedule that typically has him in the office by 3/3:30 a.m. during the season. So he prefaced what he has to say about Kansas City by suggesting he doesn’t get out much.

Still, he’s been out enough over the last 11 years to have a feel for the community and know what he likes about it.

And it’s not just barbecue, though he’s got a thing or two to say about that.

And it’s not simply that GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium “should be on everybody’s bucket list.”

It’s the “down to earth people,” he tells friends, who make Kansas City special. Something he had a sense of when he was an assistant coach at the University of Missouri from 1989-1991.

Part of that feeling is because it remains the sort of place where someone of his high-profile status can be out in public and chat with people but also be treated respectfully and given room.

In fact, he said, going out to meals is where he meets most people.

“Even though it’s a big city, it’s still got kind of a small-town presence,” Reid said in a recent phone interview with The Star (shortly before the Harrison Butker controversy erupted). “That’s a neat appeal. But there’s also a lot of things to do here.”

Much of that revolves around the events and games of his grandchildren. Most of the 12 live in the area.

But if he’s not quite Mahomes, who appears here, there and everywhere, he hardly is sequestered.

At least not in the offseason.

Reid and his wife, Tammy, have been to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts several times, including to see the Kansas City Symphony perform with an ABBA tribute band. He has such an affinity for its work that he once participated in the symphony’s podcast and encouraged people from all walks of life to attend since “the entertainment value is spectacular.”

When Lionel Messi was here for Inter Miami’s MLS game against Sporting KC at Arrowhead in April, Reid was there. He plans soon to attend a Kansas City Current game.

Earlier this month, he went to the rodeo at the American Royal to see assistant coach Porter Ellett’s daughter Piper ride a sheep — and win what Reid called “a trophy bigger than her.”

Speaking of larger-than-life trophies, Reid toted a Lombardi Trophy for winning the Super Bowl (or perhaps a replica) to the field with him on his way to throwing out the opening day first pitch at Kauffman Stadium. (He also was back at The K over the weekend during the celebration of the Royals’ 2014 American League championship team, chatting with genuine friend Ned Yost.)

Albeit from in front of the mound, Reid threw a opening day-strike to Hall of Famer George Brett — a fine fresh symbol of his entrenchment here.

‘I can cook you some Armenian food’

Then there’s what Reid likes to call Kansas City’s enticements for “forktarians,” a word he calls a “Madden-ism” since it was concocted by the late John Madden.

Best known as a dynamic voice of the NFL, Madden was a mentor to Reid in more ways than one.

That includes a reverence for food underscored by Reid’s frequent analogies and references to about everything you can imagine and dabbling in cooking a variety of dishes himself.

“I can cook you some Armenian food,” Reid said, presumably joking even as he appealed to my heritage by mentioning cabbage rolls. “Would you like some Armenian food?”

When Madden died in 2021, Reid told both of how Madden had encouraged him at a career crossroads and educated him in leaving nothing to chance in fine dining:

Because at a high-end restaurant during the NFL Combine in Indianapolis one year, Reid left the meal decision up to the waitress and ended up with … duck confit.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that in itself.

But Madden deemed it unbecoming of a forktarian: “ ‘You just blew that …,’” Reid recalled him saying. “‘What are you doing?’”

That was a surprising slip for Reid, who has always favored more conventional fare … and plenty of it.

“Listen, a lot of the guys with girth (will say), ‘Well, I don’t know how I got this big,’” he said, laughing. “And I say that I know through every bite why I’m this big. It was enjoyable getting there.”

Still, he’s long been sensitive to portion control.

Just not always for himself.

As a teen back in Los Angeles, his first job at the Nicola Twins Market included helping cater local television shows such as “The Tonight Show.”

Once, Reid was in charge of the sweet-and-sour meatballs and stuck with the mandate to only give out three per person.

Even when legendary actor John Wayne wanted a fourth.

The trick, he said, was just not looking at him.

“You just go, ‘three meatballs, three meatballs,’” Reid said, laughing. “I didn’t have the full appreciation of John Wayne at the time.”

‘You can’t go wrong’

One thing Reid appreciated at the time — and ever since — was the burgers at Original Tommy’s World-Famous Hamburgers, typically the double chili cheeseburger. He’s been known to have them sent here from Los Angeles.

For that matter, Reid loves cheeseburgers of all sorts — which helps explain why he evidently ad-libbed taking Mahomes’ burger in a State Farm commercial filmed at the Independence Hi-Boy Drive-In.

Locally, though, Reid is most quick to speak about the Town Topic version.

“I love places like that; I sneak in and sneak out,” he said. “It’s just a good cheeseburger, and the black-and-white milkshake is awesome. Vanilla with chocolate syrup. In a blender. They actually do it the old-fashioned way.”

As for his favorite restaurants, Reid said he loves Eddie V’s and the Capital Grille steakhouses and Stock Hill.

He’s also a fan of Pigwich in the River Market, which he called the “greatest sandwich shop you’ve ever eaten at” during a 2019 episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

While Reid didn’t go out to eat upon the team’s return to Kansas City from winning Super Bowl LVIII in February, he celebrated the previous two at a couple of his go-tos:

After Super Bowl LVII, Reid went to Pizza 51 for a mushroom-and-sausage pizza.

“And a salad,” he said then, “just to make my chubbiness feel good.”

After Super Bowl LIV, Reid went to Q39, where the “Andy Reid special” features burnt ends, spiced onion straws and macaroni and cheese. It doesn’t appear on the current menu, but you can ask for it.

Reid raves about Q39, but he also tells friends this about the barbecue scene here:

“Every one of the places is great …,” he said. “So you can’t go wrong.”

Not at Fiorella’s Jack Stack, Joe’s Kansas City or LC’s, among others. And certainly not at Arthur Bryant’s or Gates, which Reid said often caters for visiting teams at Arrowhead.

“They always have a big platter for me when I come out,” he said. “Which I take home and just destroy.”

Just another way Reid is entwined with Kansas City, where he’s become an institution in himself.

Star sports columnist Vahe Gregorian is changing uniforms this spring and summer, acting as a tour guide of sorts to some well-known and hidden gems of Kansas City. Send your ideas to vgregorian@kcstar.com.