The Most Delicious Comfort Food in Kansas City

Bob Evans

★★★☆☆ 2.5 (120) • $

"Let me start with the bad. The host/hostess needs some training. We went to breakfast on Sunday 6/5/22 and she could not manage the wait time and was totally overwhelmed. There were tons of tables and she had us waiting for 35 minutes. That is the only negative comment I will make about the restaurant. (This could also be a management/staffing issue. Now for the good the waitress we had was totally personable and on top of everything. She was quick to take our orders, our order came out correctly and our drinks never ran out. For a chain the food was excellent the biscuits and gravy were great and the skillet I ordered was a good amount of food and tasty."

Scratch Gourmet Kitchen

★★★★★ 4.6 (91) • $$

"There's a reason why Kansas City is called Cowtown. We have some of the best steaks in the cosmos. If there's flesh of a dead cow on a menu, I'm apt to order it before anything else. (Yes, even skrimps.)Case in point, Scratch Gourmet Kitchen's Steak au Pavé, which caused me--briefly--to step outside my body in foodie ecstasy this weekend. In fact, I think it might be the best preparation in town--complete with its garlic cream demi-glace and perfectly executed, thinly sliced potato pavé. How good was it? I'm writing an entire Yelp post about this dish, for God's sake. And you're reading it. If you haven't been to this tiny-but-mighty, upscale eatery in a while, it's time. I'll join you."

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen

★★★☆☆ 2.5 (249) • $$

"Maybe I just haven't been to this location in awhile but man this place gotten better over the years! First of all nothing can beat the honey butter croissants, they were sooooo good and always served hot!I ordered a sirloin medium rare and it did come out more on the rare side, however that being said its not a steakhouse so overall if you lower your expectations before coming here the food will be outstanding!I will be back in the near future!"

The Jayhawker

★★★★☆ 3.6 (8)

"I used to work for the Olivia collection, left the company right before they started remodeling The Jayhawker. I am proud to be the first reviewer, and announce that they have put some nice touches on this bar/restaurant. It's a 50's vibe from the music, to the red leather seats, to how the drinks are made, to the outfit the staff is wearing, without the racism(:I ordered the bourbon apple mule, and it was strong. *please note* I am a light weight so moist drinks with alcohol will be fairly strong. The bourbon apple mule was sweet with a big kick. It's made with bourbon and apple butter, so if you don't like whiskey this isn't the drink for you. This place is more for mature crowd in Lawrence, except $5 Martini Thursday's brings a crowd of all into the bar. This is definitely a high quality bar to taste the flavor of the drinks you order. You'll savor the flavor of the martinis, and surprise your taste buds with the bold twist they put on their drinks."

Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen

★★★☆☆ 2.6 (345) • $$

"Our waiter, Kayla was awesome! Funny, responsive and very attentive! I have to give to anyone who keeps my Coke Zero full! We love the fish tank! The restaurant was busy, but we had great seating! The cheddar bites were rather oily/greasy, so I skipped that. The rest of our crew enjoyed them.The complementary croissants are always a hit!"

O'Neill's Restaurant and Bar

★★★★☆ 3.6 (151) • $$

"We were doing that thing where you drive around until a place looks good. Do you do that? We just couldn't decide what we wanted. It was Saturday before noon, it wasn't super busy and the people there seemed like they might be regulars. A few people came in for pick up orders.We ordered fish and chips and a Reuben with a fruit cup as the side.It took awhile for the food, but not a horrible amount of time. You could hear a lot of yakking in the back, not saying that contributed to the wait, but it could have.The fish was very tasty. It didn't look like much, kind of more the size of chicken tenders, but I appreciated the delicate breading and ended up really enjoying them. The "chips" were fine, freezer bag fries. The coleslaw wasn't bad, but quite bland. There was something refreshing about it, but disappointing at the same time. I left most of it.The fruit cup that came with the Reuben had a few pieces of brown sad fruit right on top, which is sad that they would even serve something like that and didn't even say anything about the fact when they picked up the plates. The Reuben was more of a chopped meat sandwich than nice slices of meat. This made for it being quite dry and messy to eat.While the fish was really tasty, the rest of the experience was ho-hum enough that I doubt we'd go back."

Lula Southern Cookhouse

★★★★☆ 4.1 (500) • $$

"We were in the mood for Southern Comfort Food and found Lulu Southern Cookhouse to satisfy our appetite. Lulu's had a beautiful comforting environment with soft music, low lighting in the evening, a patio, large windows, brick walls, wooden ceilings and flooring. Although the tables are next to each other, we felt that we had enough space and was not crammed. I reserved through their portal on their website and when we showed up, our table was ready and we were quickly seated.Our waiter was polite and we had a good discussion about the city and activities. The menu had a good variety of Southern Food and our food started arriving 10-15 minutes after ordering. Our favorite was the Okra, Cheese Curds & Spam because of its tangy sweetness and how well combined the ingredients just felt like fireworks in our mouth. Their Gumbo was good but I've had homemade gumbo and it doesn't compare. Their Chicken Fried Steak was probably my least favorite of the dishes we ordered because I've just had better elsewhere.THE BEE KEEPERlavender & peach tea, Tom's Town gin, smoked hot honey, lemon, lavender sugarOKRA, CHEESE CURDS & SPAM crispy fried medley of okra, cheese curds, & chicken fried spam, toasted garlic, sweet & smokey ham jamSMOTHERED CHICKEN FRIED STEAK fried beef tenderloin, crawfish etouffee, trinity salsa, mashed potatoes, bacon braised collard greensAWARD WINNING GUMBOcreole chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, crawfish, holy trinity, gumbo roux, white rice, crispy okra, crawfish salsa, chilled marinated crab claws"

Anousone

★★★★★ 4.5 (69) • $$

"I've been enjoying Anousone since the days of the food truck on Southwest Boulevard, and am so happy they're here and have survived the worst of the pandemic. There's a lot of great food to like here. Laotian cuisine is fun, and this is one of the only and by far the best options that I've had in KC. The pork curry is excellent. I've been spending a lot of time cooking over the past couple years. That dish is a reminder of just how darn far I have to go- it's so good! Great balance. Also really enjoy the brunch options. I think it was a breakfast sandwich that was just vibrant with flavor. I hope that's still on the menu, I want you to have that in your life. Like don't get me wrong, I appreciate the rich simplicity of a basic sausage and egg breakfast, but what if you layered in a carrot slaw with cilantro and some kind of world-opening sauce that hits some of the best neuroreceptors in your brain on a molecular level? It's a neat trick, I want to learn how to do that. In the many times we've been, not everything has always completely dazzled us... sometimes it's only been good instead of amazing. But the food is consistently good- and often much, much more. Service is great. Chef is wonderful- sharp and professional, while also kind and inviting. Recommend giving them a couple tries - there's a lot of great options to choose from."

OP 1906

★★★☆☆ 3.2 (27) • $$

"John Taffer could really help this place. I bought a mango martini for my wife that came in a wine glass with two cherries instead of a martini glass. She's said it was really good and got me one. The second martini did come in a martini glass, instead of a wine glass but was garnished with an orange slice. My wife ordered a second martini at the same time and it was served in a champaign flute with no garnish at all. I want consistency in what I order. Two drinks on the same menu should be the same regardless of which mixologist makes it. Also, martini's should be served in martini glasses, wine in a wine glass, etc...The drinks were really good, just not consistently the same.The drink menu was very long, pages. It had one entire page just for martini's. I would like a simplified drink menu, one-two pages both front and back. If they have 50 "signature" drinks there is no consistency and if I walk up to a bar in a hotel for a mixed drink, I want it to be quick and easy. The last thing you want after a long day is to make even more decisions. Just give me something that tastes good (they did) and if I want a second one make it the same as the first (they did not).I know very little about mixed drinks. Don't make them at home and very rarely order them. The easier they make the process and product the better. I do know that."

Mission Bowl

★★☆☆☆ 2.2 (21)

"If you want to bowl in the Olathe area, you go to Mission Bowl. The place is a true bowling alley! In the day and age of frilled out, expensive bowling alleys I love coming back to an establishment that actually has the characteristics of a bowling alley. Serving quintessential food (fries, nachos, etc.), and having great prices on beer and bowling; I make a point to bowl here whenever I'm back in town in the KC metro area. Here is to many more years of bowling at mission bowl."

Flint Hills Saloon & Eatery

★★★★☆ 3.8 (9)

"I ended up at the Flint Hills Saloon through the recommendation of the coffee shop owner down the street. I admit the outside/front door of this place looks shady, but once you are in you discover a bunch of the locals are there too, and locals are there because they know the place is great. The food was fantastic. Service was very friendly but a bit slow. I'm going back."

European Market and Cafe

★★★★☆ 4 (15)

"Vey cozy place , clean and reliable. Food is excellent. They have pelmeni and others staf. They have live music on weekends. Highly recommend this place"

Marigold's Food Truck

★★★★☆ 4 (1)

"I liked the fast two minute service, and the unique sandwich menu, but not the relatively high prices.My side salad ($5 including tax) was fairly sized in a 6" x 5" x 1.5" container, and fresh, with feta, blackberries, pecans, and a good dressing. The sandwiches were priced at $12.Overall, I'm thinking 3.5 stars and rounding up because of the unique menu items."

Spudley's Family Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.6 (18) • $

"We came here the other day for lunch. We shared the corn fritters and the dessert (choc cookie dough) --both were really good. I had the special of the day chicken salad sandwich and we shared Curley fires. The bf had a double bacon cheeseburger. he thought that overall it was a good burger. 3 stars for the service. We walked in and there was a young girl (hs or college age) sitting at the bar texting or doing something on her phone and obviously saw us. Then a woman walked through the door and asked how many there were and told her to seat us. The girl sat us in a booth and then got us waters. She wasn't rude, but seemed like she could care less about being there. I asked her a question about the menu and she didn't know the answer and started to walk away and I asked her to find out for me and she then went and asked the other woman working with her who asked her if she had read the menu regarding the description (in a nice way). She never came and asked us how our meal was or offered to fill up our waters. I would've asked for more water, but it wasn't easy to get her attention. Overall the meal was decent and very reasonably priced, but the service was lacking. The woman who was the boss/manager was also bussing tables and taking orders and she seemed very customer service oriented and seemed to know people walking in through the door/regulars."

Big Chief Drive In

★★★★☆ 3.7 (3) • $

"I love most of the food on their menu. Great small town restaurant that cooks comfort food and is delicious! It is privately owned, even so the staff is professional and nice to the customers most of the time. The only bad thing is they are slower getting the food out so plan on being there for a while."

Peachtree Cafe'teria

★★★★☆ 3.7 (87) • $$

"I came here because I love the macaroni so much at the Eastwood location. They didn't have any macaroni at this location today so I tried new items. WOW!! I was blown away by how delicious the neck bones, corn, and cabbage were. They were all so well seasoned and the corn is probably the butteriest most savory corn I've had in years, seriously. The neck bones had a lot of good fatty meat and not too many small bony pieces. The cabbage was delicious. The meatloaf was also super juicy. I am really pleased with every item I've ever had both times I've been to these places now."

P & J Family Restaurant

★★★☆☆ 3.4 (5) • $

"For the price and the incredible homemade pie, I'm adding a star. For being in the middle of someplace I didn't know exists, this was a really great lunch spot. I'd typically give this 4 stars, but the price, service and the homemade meringue PIE bump this up to 5, especially because this place is way better than the current 3.5 star rating. I mean, you're not in the midst of epic food eateries in De Kalb MO. Lunch was chicken salad on a croissant, and a big bowl of homemade creamy potato soup. The chicken salad was large, tasty, and had onions, celery and grapes in perfect proportions. The soup was hot and thick, with very tiny bits of carrot and other veggies. I had the chocolate meringue pie. The crust is light and buttery. The meringue is old fashioned goodness. The chocolate is dark and rich and not overly sweet. The coconut meringue looked really awesome and everyone said the coconut was incredible. I was part of a group of over 25 people and the owner made and served all the food and drinks. She did a superb job cooking and serving this meal. Water, tea (sweet or unsweetened) and coffee was included. Lunch was $13.75 including tax. That's sandwich, soup, PIE and a drink! Great place for a large gathering. I didn't have my phone handy so I couldn't grab pics. But the next time I'm close, I'll be stopping by for some coconut meringue pie!"

Rye Leawood

★★★★☆ 3.8 (826) • $$

"Great ambiance! Very nice menu .. my dad had the squash soup which looked amazing. I had the salmon toast, it came with a side salad. It was very good. The desserts looked incredible. Will be back for sure"

Conroy's Public House

★★★★☆ 3.5 (6)

"Very excited to have Conroy's take over this awesome old church. This place has such a vibe. We went for lunch and no matter how much I tell myself I will order something other than the chicken tenders, I ordered the chicken tenders. They are just that good. Looking forward to going again soon for dinner and drinks."

Big Creek Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.4 (5)

"We enjoyed the new restaurant in town for our weekly date. The food was tasty, with some typical midwestern cafe options, plus a few nice surprises, and our server was attentive. Since the hours aren't posted on Yelp yet, I would like to mention that it is only open for breakfast and lunch. It closes at 2 pm, which seems to work for the locals, but evening freeway traffic might like to know. Also, it's closed on Monday."

Granny B's Family Diner

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (7)

"This location is now called Granny B's and everything was great! Service was super fast and friendly. Breakfast cooked perfectly. And a good value. We will be back!"

Mahi's Ethiopian Kitchen

★★★★★ 5 (6)

"I had never had Ethiopian food before, so I was not sure what to expect. It was amazing! My partner and I shared the sample platter that serves 2. It came with a variety of different meat and non-meat options and they were all delicious. It comes on top of a fermented flatbread that you can use to pick up and eat the dishes. The prices were quite reasonable. We will for sure be back."

Rye Plaza

★★★★☆ 4 (403) • $$

"We had fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Some of the best fried chicken I've had in KC. The meat was tender and juicy and the crust had just the right crunch and seasoning. We stopped in for lunch on Christmas Eve and were seated immediately. Great service and good food. The manager visited all the tables to check on everyone's meal and was friendly and personable. The ambiance was perfect for a Plaza restaurant, upscale but not fancy. Casual attire."

The Hungry Hatch

★★★★☆ 3.9 (30)

"We had the hungry hatch at an event they were at! The service was unbelievably quick! Where they fall short is they don't take Apple Pay, and our two wraps were $30 before tip. We had the Thai and the one with shrimp in it. The Thai was heavy on the greens and the meat was dry. The shrimp one had maybe 4 pieces of shrimp in the whole wrap which was quite disappointing. I like the idea you can do the menu in salad, bowl or wrap form but disappointed with the final result."

Conroy's Public House

★★★★☆ 3.9 (164) • $$

"Food - Consistently good Service - Good Ambiance - very dark Irish pub vibeWent back here on 5/21/24 - got the Steak & Guinness Pie, let that sink in for a second, just the name is tempting, right? There are only a select few dishes/cuisines/selections that impress on Bite ONE - this is one of them! The sauce is really good and tastes delicious. Pair that with some potato chunks, carrot pieces, small onion shards, celery and mushrooms.....OMG my tastebuds said. Seriously I would nearly risk using this @ Thanksgiving dinner like my dad eats gravy - as a MOAT around it all!Pair this with either a regular Guinness, or even an NA Guinness, and you "should" be in for a treat!"

True Food Kitchen

★★★★☆ 4.2 (365) • $$

"Food is fresh, high quality and always delicious. The head Chef there is fantastic. Had brunch on Saturday and food was terrific, service great. The Chef sent out complimentary app & sweets for our table acknowledging our long time patronage to the restaurant, which was truly appreciated. Highly recommend the Breakfast Tacos, Guacamole and Avocado Toast. Honestly never had a bad meal here. Everything is delicious. We dove into our food immediately...this was the only picture I was able to get before these were gone in a flash too."

Pioneer Restaurant

★★★★☆ 4.2 (24)

"Super great attentive service. Food fresh tasting. Small town booths with a great ambiance."

The Brass Onion

★★★★☆ 4.1 (375) • $$

"Lovely spot for a first date Reservations required on a Friday night for sure. When a place is packed you know it's good. Vibe was open concept, lovely bar and outdoor space with fire pit. Valet parking available. Food was delicious. I had the salmon salad and a mocktail. My date had salmon as well."

Santa Fe Cafe

★★★★☆ 3.7 (175) • $$

"I went to Santa Fe Cafe a few years ago and we had a less than ideal encounter. Last weekend we went again and there was a total 360 in our experience. I'm not sure if this business changed ownership or what implementations were made, but we were all very impressed. We were met with a friendly greeting when we arrived, good service, amazing food, and appreciation upon leaving. This is definitely going to be a new breakfast tradition when we are in the area. If you want a recommendation, the Taos Breakfast Tacos were AMAZING! We also had a cinnamon roll to share as an appetiser to bring out before our meal and it was very good. So glad to see a change for the better with this restaurant!"

The Fix KC

★★★★★ 4.6 (119) • $$

"Let me start off by saying YUM! I'm not even Vegan & this place has easily became a new spot for me! I got the Loaded Fries & my daughter got the Mac & Cheese... it was soo yummy!The spot is nice & chill. Everything is plant based & the service was great. I recommend this spot!"

Granny Shaffer's Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.7 (60) • $

"Decided to try granny Schaefer's last night got there about 8:00 they closed at 8:30 p.m. . Not a very big crowd but one thing I was extremely surprised to see they actually still have a smoking section. The wait staff at cashiers were overly friendly really enjoyed the atmosphere. Ordered the spaghetti with garlic bread in the salad was quite impressed the garlic bread wasn't like a brick and the spaghetti had plenty of meat sauce and the salad was actually a well-dressed salad. They're blue cheese chunky dressing was exactly that and from what I understand very delicious. Chicken fried steak they offer an option for a couple dollars double the meat and it was a large portion of the chicken fried steak covered in a white country gravy. It was enough to make your mouth water. The mac and cheese well restaurant mac and cheese but it did taste like cheese. Mashed potatoes for homemade mashed potatoes the gravy the brown gravy was a little salty. They have a micro brewery where they grind their own coffee beans and I must say the coffee was extremely good, just could have been a little hotter they bring you a whole coffee pot to your table.My only complaint and I understand it was later in the evening but their homemade dinner rolls were a little hard on the bottom where they had sent in a warmer too long but they actually give you real butter. They also have a very large selection of homemade pies got one to take home but haven't tried it yet but it is a huge slice of peanut butter chiffon pie."