I have had wood floors in my past three kitchens and love them. But, the kitchen before that we had a horrible experience. What I've learned is you have to install solid wood 3/4" floors in the kitchen. If you choose a pre-finished, cheaper wood floor, there will be water damage, buckling, etc. But I am just the consumer. ;-)

I would suggest a harder wood such as hickory, white oak, or hard maple. They will preform better in such a high traffic area. Stay away from Birch, american cherry and american walnut. You can't go wrong with exotic woods, they are very hard but cost 2-3 times more than the average wood!

I love my maple floors in my kitchen...........if there is some wear over time we can live with that and then refinish (I have friends with ten year old wood floors in their kitchen and they have had no issues).......some suggested doing hardwood everywhere but the kitchen.........the way I figure it, if there was a major water issue (ie dishwasher leak).............the water would not stay just in the kitchen anyways and I would have a problem no matter what. No regrets so far with mine and I love how they look and how they warm up the space...........

We have white oak in ours and love it. No problems at all. One way to increase peace-of-mind is to make sure your fridge water service hose is a higher quality braided stainless steel one and ensure that it has been installed well. The plastic hoses are susceptible to leaks, and that is the one thing I fear with, really, any flooring -- not just wood. I say go for it.

i have bamboo and love it!
will take a wood floor in the kitchen over tile any day!! no breakage! :)

thanks for the tip AMN.....I had not considered that and know that we have the plastic ........

If your worried it will seperate quickly, which it probably will, due to the dishwasher. You should get a white oak engineered floor. More often then not the problem with hardwood in the kitchen is the movement is greater, leaving bigger and bigger gaps every year that passes.
You can beat this with engineered wood, and a quality product can be sanded many times. Finish with a 2 part water based finish and you will be set for life.
Here is the product I speak of-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecooptions/8095484552/in/photostream

I have Lauzon hard maple floors in my kitchen, and so far I love them. The only thing I dislike is that because they are dark, every spot, drip, crumb and spec shows, especially in the main work area of the kitchen.