Grandma's Soda Shop & Diner in Ellsworth County

There was a sign on the front door that stated something along the lines of “the world is understaffed and we should be kind to the folks who show up to work”.As far as we could tell, there were only two people working altogether. The man that served us was friendly, but he never came to check on us without us waving him down. Despite being one of the only two occupied tables, we had to call him to the table to get silverware (after the food was delivered - he was very apologetic about it though because they didn’t have any clean dishes due to losing all water pressure shortly before we got thereand refills on our drinks. We had to approach him again when we were ready for dessert and yet again we had to go find him when we were ready to pay.The lady working there did not seem to want to be there at all. When we walked in, she was clearing a table and told us there were only 2 clean tables because they just had a big party leave. Ok, no big deal at all. However, she was so slow and unenthusiastic in her efforts that she still hadn’t cleaned all the tables even after we ate our meal, consumed our dessert, and paid for the lunch. I’m guessing she was just tired because she said she does all the cooking.The beirocks were good although slightly bland, the homemade chips were ok (we tried both the ranch and the seasoned and we both preferred the seasoned), the butter rum and peach sodas were delicious, and the kalaches were not something we’d try again (but we’d never had them before so we have no idea if they were made well or not - could be the best ones in America for all we know!).We would try this place again in the future when they have more staff. Hopefully it was just a bad day for them and not something that happens all the time.

So we walked in and asked if they were open. There were no other customers and we were from out of town. They said yes. We asked if we should find our own table they said yes. This poor kid who waited on us really doesnt want to be there. I got the chicken fried steak and my husband got the Ruben pizza. It was food and we were hungry. Nothing o would go out of my way to get. Note chicken fried steak comes with nothing. Just a sad plate. We werent checked on and had to go to them for our check. They just seemed tired and customers are a burden. On a good note the cherry limeade was delicious!Would not recommend.

A sign on the door in 2022 says everyplace is short-staffed and to be nice to the people who showed up to work. OK. But this place is obviously a family affair and when theres only one or two customers, service shouldnt be a problem, even for the teenaged son assigned to table duty. But it was. Just no interest in finding out what customers are there for.Once pushed, we got our order taken and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time. I got the Reuben pizza based on reviews here and the fact that I love Reubens. It was OK. Definitely not the bees knees as suggested by some. My wife said the cherry limeade from their soda fountain was very good. Overall, not a horrible experience but nothing to get off the interstate for.

Good taste, friendly host, and very reasonable prices. I’m full and happy. Nice 1950’s style restaurant. Homemade sodas adds to the authenticity as well. Food presentation isn’t a 5 star, but still nice enough for a diner style.

Food wasnt great, no music or background noise of any sort, dim lighting made it seem very unwelcoming, we couldnt really tell if they were open or not when we first pulled up. The waitress didnt even try to pretend to be happy to be there or to help us. None of the food comes with a side (ex. Burger and fries, it was JUST a burgerand sides were expensive. Over all, I do not recommend.

Best root beer float I have ever had!!

Great little place to grab a bite before heading to a wedding at the lake. Hope to be back again.

The real deal!One Soda, one awesome Malt Shake, and 2 bierock. Perfect.Loved the town Czech history.Hungry? Eat here.

This is the greatest shop weve stumbled upon! Original soda machine with the most delicious sodas. The guy that waited on us was great, super nice, full of information about the town. The food.. the food was not your normal mom and pop shop... it was so so good! The rueben was delicious. The pizza dough and the pizza sauce is made in shop and its better than any pizza youve had lately! They are known for their reibocks and kolaches and they hit the spot for sure! Theyve got burgers, pizza, even prime rib! Dont get me started on the shakes! Truly cant wait for life to bring us back in this direction because we WILL be making a stop!

Great little place we love to stop at when driving on I70

Good food, friendly staff, lots of options for soda drinks. Service was a little slow.

This place was amazing! Ill definitely be going back with the grandkids. They loved seeing and making their own sodas!

If you ever are driving along I70 and are near Wilson, KS. This place is a must stop for a genuine soda fountain and Kolaches experience. Recommend a phone call to verify their hours due to the workforce shortage. Regardless, a small town experience with a very friendly atmosphere will not disappoint. Enjoy!

Neat little downtown business. They also have ice-cream and food.

We had dinner here on our way back to CO while we were staying overnight at the Midland Railroad Hotel. We had the house specialty homemade brieroch, made in house orange cream soda and chocolate malt. All were excellent as was the service. Was a fun place to dine!

One of the best places I have eaten at. All soda are old fashioned and freshly made. The bierocks was amazing and made fresh. Very friendly staff. And cant wait to go back.

Found this gem on a road trip across the country. The service was very friendly and the sodas were so good! At their recommendation We had a bierochs and a butter scotch soda and it was excellent. We got to know the server and cook and they offered to show us the old jail out back which was quite a unique surprise! Then we bought a mug which he filled with his cherry cordial special flavor.

Grandmas building is charming and the food is good, but the service was rough. We saw several adults behind the counter and in the “post master” room, but we were served start to finish by a 10 year old girl. We didn’t get one of our entrees, yet they still charged us for it. Poor little girl was flustered, adults were very little help.

Another win for small town cooking. Sodas are made to order. I had orange cream, it was wonderful. And best part for me are the people, they were down to earth, friendly and spent time talking to me.

Great food, pretty cool place to visit. Lots of Nostalgia. Ice cream, old fashioned soda, friendly staff. Very reasonable price too.

The food was ok but everything seemed to be deep fried and my wife got sick later because of it. Staff was friendly though.

5 stars, just because this is the only restaurant in Wilson that is open during the week. I had a burger and a shake, and they didnt disappoint. Unfortunately they were out of Bierochs, which allegedly were invented here by Czech immigrants. Friendly service, the good atmosphere in a historic building, and the solid comfort food make this well worth a visit (you might also not have a choice, depending on the day of the week)

Found this place with a Google search for food on a cross country trip. I am really glad we stopped. The food was delicious. The sweet potato fries were the best Ive ever had. The beirock was tasty. The Reuben pizza was the star of the show though. I had seen it on the menu online and it had to be tried. Ill just say incredible and leave it that. Its a great little place with good food and a large drink menu. Take the time and turn off the highway youll be glad you did.

Awesome Stop!! 50s Diner Type.

Great good! Really neat environment. This gem is a must see if you find yourself near Wilson

Food was good, not great. Everything was ala carte. So, if you order a chicken fried steak with gravy, thats all you get. Sides were separate, so kind of pricey.Could be a really cute little place...needed some tidying up.

My dad and I stopped by after seeing road signs saying home of the largest Czech egg. We werent expecting to stumble upon this place but Im glad we did! We got 3 kolache, one peach one poppy one cottage cheese. The poppy and peach one were by far the best ones. Definitely taste like home. The cottage cheese one was eh. The beiroh (? The spelling was a bit off XDwas also good, it could have used a bit more salt. Definitely a nice place for the kolache though, and the service was pretty good! Especially for a roadside attraction type stop, it was very great.

Ive never been to Kansas and was on a wild road trip...happened upon this little gem by accident and was the first visitor who had the pleasure of trying the strawberry cheesecake flavored soda. Absolutely fantastic. I loved the soda so much...and I ordered a burger and fries. Let me say the burger was amazing...and the fries...oh my God. Not even salted, they were amazing and crisped to perfection. I will definitely seek this place out on my way to the East Coast from Colorado again. 100% recommend!!!

This is small town charm and good food. I had the ham and cheese pot it was the best . Staff was charming sat and talked for over an hour on Wilson and some historical things. Definitely hope to be back.

The service here is extremely slow. Listen to the other reviewers. My wife went in and ordered food while I waited in the car with our kids . She ordered 2 ice creams, 2 milkshakes, a bierock and a homemade soda that only had to be heated up. She was the only person in there and it took them 45 min to get her our order. The ice cream tasted pretty good but it was partially melted by the time we received it. The beirock had good flavor and the soda was not something my wife or I particularly liked. If you are extremely hungry I would find somewhere else. The service is just too slow.

Small town diner. Friendly staff. Good selection of food and great selection of desserts.Good place to stop if youre traveling on I-70. Only a couple of miles from the highway.

I really wanted to give them 5* but their staff wasnt very on top of things. I went and got my own water refills too. No one was in there and still took an hour for our food . Another half hour before we could get our ice cream scoops as well. The food was really yummy though zero complaints about that. Just dont come in expecting to get out any time soon. Shouldnt have taken 2 hours for chicken nuggets and ice cream for 4 of us.

The BEST homemade bierocks in Wilson KS!! This is a very quaint sodashop with very delicious food & soda fountain drinks & ice cream

Great place to visit!Homemade Czech food! Delicious. Antiques inside with history...

We were in the area and wanted to try Grandma soda shop we werent disappointed I had black cow float with chocolate and vanilla ice cream . our waiter was very friendly and courteous,

Stopped at Grandmas for lunch. Excellent food hot and fresh. Bierocks and Ham and Cheese pockets were wonderful. Fresh chips and potato barrels are great sides. Enjoyed the meal very much. Want to try something form the Soda fountain for dessert but the Waitress never came back. Disappointed after a while we went to the register and got our ticket and paid. Left wanting more but nobody ask.

I really wanted to like this place. I came just to try it. It was pretty pricy for two people and the famous soda was so diluted it had no flavor. The girl used her finger to get the ice cream off the scoop 🤢. The food took 40 minutes, and it was okay. There surely needed to be more staff. I may revise my review after trying again.

I had never had a bad enough experience in a restaurant to post a negative review until my family visited this place last week.My wife and her parents all ordered bierocks. My mother-in-law’s was cold inside so she sent it back. My wife started eating hers and it was cold inside. The waitress acted like we had wronged her after we sent the second one back. My nephew found a fly cooked into his pizza crust. Not even an apology offered.The kids wanted ice cream so we sat for about 20 minutes after finishing eating waiting for someone to come over. Three employees were sitting at a table chatting away completely ignoring us, we were the only ones in the restaurant. My father-in-law got up and said something to them and someone came over. It took them about 15 minutes to get us a couple snow cones and a couple scoops of ice cream.The food was not great and the staff was terrible. I would never go back to this restaurant.

Fantastic homemade food! It was nice to visit a family-run business after a day on the road. The soda and milkshake were delicious and the bieroch was full of flavor with amazingly soft bread.

You will automatically see the Czech support of the town in Wilson, KS. I stumbled across a gem of a place to eat and an old fashioned soda machine behind the counter. I had a made from scratch bier rock, side salad and kolache for desert. The gentlemen that owned the place let me take pictures of what use to be the post office of Wilson. The aroma of food filled the air. The bier rock was very good a fluffy outside slightly sweet and salty with just the right amount of cabbage, hamburger and onion in each bite. The salad was simple but delicious with green peppers and cheese. Finally the desert hit the spot. The cherry filling surrounded by a fluffy outside made a wonderful finish. Would highly recommend this place and look forward to trying more of your food.

The food was okay. We probably wont go back. The bieroc was fine was expecting it to be better.

Just left. After I was given my menu, I was completely ignored by staff for upwards of 15 minutes. The restaurant was not busy; another family that had arrived later than me got their food and drinks STILL no one came over to ask for my order, despite the waitstaff constantly passing by, making eye contact. I understand people can be forgetful, but something about how the staff was treating me seemed ... intentionally rude, like they were going out of their way to ignore me. Sad to see from a family owned business. Others from out of town in their reviews have mentioned getting the cold shoulder and I should have heeded their warnings ... do not recommend stopping by.

We decided to go in for ice cream after reading several reviews on a limited menu. We looked at the menu and there were burgers, chicken, seafood, a variety of sides and several signature items they make, we had the homemade bedrock and homemade ham and cheese pocket. Then we had ice cream and sodas. Great food and quick service at a reasonable price.

Fantastic diner with old fashioned soda fountain and Czech specialities, the cottage cheese kolache is highly recommended.

Our family stopped here on our cross country road trip! We love a place that is unique to it’s area and provides a memory making opportunity! Grandma’s was perfect! Our party of 14 was served with smiles! Many of us tries their famed, bieroch, and were pleased to add another new dining experience with it! We ordered old fashioned soda jerk drinks and shakes that were delish! We walked around the cute town of Wilson and saw the World’s Largest Czech Egg! Fun!

Wow what a treasure! Everything was fantastic..... Crispy sweet potato fries, scrumptious Reuben, and perfectly creamy peach vanilla float! A real step back in time at this soda shop and diner!

Some really excellent kolaches and bieroche and fries. Decent service. Bathroom was ghastly, though that was probably due to the large party before us.

It always makes me a little sad to give a negative review to a small town place, mostly because I love to visit small towns and want to help support the locals, but this one was the worst experience I have had in a small town diner. A group of 4 and we were so disappointed. The young kid who waited on us hates his job and he made that very clear. He didnt greet us he didnt even ask if we wanted to order we finally asked him if he worked here and if they were open. He said yes and yes. He didnt recommend anything. We finally got an order in of French fries which a tall nice young man brought out ten min after we sat down. 20 min later we went up and asked if our drinks were ready he said Im working on it. We had a cookie dough shake that finally arrived and tasted like plain ice cream with a few choc chips mixed in. Then the grandsons shake came out ten min later tasting and looking like vanilla ice cream at that point my daughter asked if hers was made and he said Im working on it and she said forget it. I asked for my pastry and soda he said Ill get it. Sad part is 30 min into this disaster I got a pastry that was delicious. No one ever came back and asked if we wanted anything else or if everything was okay, didnt bring us a check. When I went to pay and my check was rang up the kid who waited on us was gone and the guy who rang us up had to have someone from the back come and fix it as we were charged for the malt we didnt get. Such a sad experience in a cute little place. Wish now we had read the reviews before we visited we would have saved the time and gas.

Fantastic people! Great food! Good prices! Bierochs were awesome!

Food was excellent! The kitchen staff did a fantastic job. Our waitress couldnt be bothered to do her job. We had to get her attention to get menus, she did come get our order without us getting her attention. Our hot food came out correct. Our dessert did not.