KC to Colorado trip - Best restaurants along I-70 between Topeka and Denver?

[KCRoadFan]

Sometime after COVID subsides (July 2022 is when I'm planning on making the trip), I'm thinking about driving to Colorado to visit some friends (Fort Collins, about an hour north of Denver, is where they live). Given that it's a 9-hour drive from Kansas City (where I live), I know I'll be eating lunch or supper somewhere en route, depending on when I set out, and I don't just want to settle for the fast-food chains. My question is as follows: based on your personal experience, what restaurants do you recommend along I-70 through Kansas and eastern Colorado? Any good places you can think of in Junction City, Abilene, Salina, Russell, Hays, WaKeeney, Oakley, Colby, Goodland, Burlington, Limon, or any of the other, smaller towns that dot that 540-mile stretch across the plains between Topeka and Denver? Thanks.

[JayhawkCO]

Driven that drive probably 40 times.  Still going with Wendy's in Hays.  This is not the thoroughfare of gastronomy.

Chris

[Alps]

Best bet is to check Yelp for each city. If the top few results aren't fast food, you've got something.

[corco]

That is the heart and soul of Pizza Hut territory and probably not much else, though I recall somebody at some point mentioning they had a good meal at some restaurant in Salina at some point.

[TravelingBethelite]

Crazy R's in Goodland was at least halfway decent but don't expect much in the way of culinary innovation there.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Village Inn in Colny.

[hotdogPi]

Best bet is to check Yelp for each city. If the top few results aren't fast food, you've got something.

Google reviews are better. Yelp reviews are partly based on whether the restaurant owner paid Yelp for better reviews.

[kphoger]

Village Inn in Colny.

I grew up 30 miles north of Colby, from 1990 through 1999.  My opinion of the Village Inn there:  it's really good, so long as you don't mind waiting an hour for your meal to come out.  I was always pleased with the food, and I was always disappointed in how much time was wasted waiting for it.  Maybe things have changed since then, who knows?

The best restaurant in Colby used to be the Ramada Inn, but I see that hotel no longer exists, or it has turned into something else.

Looking at the map, I see there is a new restaurant called City Limits Bar & Grill right by Village Inn, attached to the Comfort Inn.  Judging by what I see on Google, I'd go there.

[halork]

Billy Sims Barbecue in Hays, north of I-70.