Guy and Mae’s earns ‘8 Wonders’ title

WILLIAMSBURG — Guy & Mae’s Tavern won’t have to wonder any longer.

The popular Williamsburg eating establishment was named one of the “8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine” Friday by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for the folks at Guy and Mae’s Tavern that they won this prestigious honor,” Kristi K. Lee, Franklin County Convention & Visitors Bureau director, said in a press release.

“I think it’s quite an honor,” Judy Simpson, who co-owns the restaurant with her daughter, Lori Thompson, said.

“We’ve been telling people to vote for us, but you never know,” Simpson, whose parents opened the tavern at 119 William St. in 1973, said.

Simpson said she had told her mother the news, and she was “thrilled.”

Customers had been congratulating her Friday, she said.

“[Guy & Mae’s] really [is] the spotlight of Williamsburg. People come from all over and out of state to eat there,” Lisa Dasinger, Williamsburg city clerk, said.

“The food is wonderful. My office is literally next door, so I smell it all day,” she said.

Being recognized already has had an effect. Business increased after Guy & Mae’s was named to the list of 24 finalists, Simpson said.

Friday brought even more to the table.

A couple had read about the “8 Wonders” in a Wichita newspaper Friday morning and stopped in for lunch on their way to Kansas City, Simpson said.

“They enjoyed it,” she said about how the couple liked the food, “and that’s the name of the game.”

Lawrence restaurants Free State Brewery and Wheatfield’s Bakery Cafe also were named “8 Wonders.”

The other winners were:

• Bobo’s Drive In, Topeka.

• Brookville Hotel, Abilene.

• Cozy Inn, Salina.

• Crawford County Fried Chicken (i.e. Barto’s Idle Hour, Chicken Annie’s,  Chicken Annie’s Girard, Chicken Annie’s Pichler’s, Chicken Mary’s, Gebhardt’s).

• Hays House 1857 Restaurant & Tavern, Council Grove.

A “Guide to the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine” can be printed off at www.8wonders.org or people can call (620)585-2374 for the brochure.