Diner Review: Skaets - Hutchinson, KS

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Skaets in Hutchinson, KS is 30min down K-61 from my home in McPherson. I’m in town on work business, having just launched Hutchinson coverage in my fledgling digital local news startup, citizen journal. I like diners, and the internet was clear that Skaets was the place to go for breakfast in Hutchinson. After wondering about its odd name, I learned that Skaets is “s-t-e-a-k-s” spelled backwards, a code that fooled me but probably wouldn’t hold up to government cryptographic analysis. Skaets first opened in 1949 at 113 South Main Street in downtown Hutchinson. It quickly became known as a diner/steak shop with a local following. Sometime in the 1970s, Skaets relocated from the downtown area to its present address at 2300 North Main Street. The decor is 1950s Americana and the clientele looks like they were adults in the 1950s.

The waitress offers my business partner and I coffee immediately, which I politely turn down having already had my caffeine earlier preparing the US citizen journal at 4am. The menu is classic diner fare with an emphasis on steaks. I asked the waitress if the pancakes were good and as I feared, she said they were excellent (I’m trying to eat fewer carbs). I ordered a Mexican omelet and pancake. I noticed the coffee cups said “Moon it” so I asked our waitress what that meant. It turns out that the slogan came from the diner during American moon landing in 1969, and reflected the cultural moment. I’m a space nerd, having attended space camp at the nearby Cosmosphere twice in middle school in the 2000s, so I loved this. The food was excellent, validating all the positive Google and TripAdvisor reviews. If you find yourself in Hutchinson, make your way to Skaets. It reflects the best of Hutchinson, diners, and America’s Heartland.

In case you missed it: Hutchinson - Week of March 9, 2025

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