Founders' Lounge, Dining at Kauffman Center

The Kauffman Center outdoor lighting was spectacular, and set the perfect holiday mood! Everything about the special holiday Winter Wonderland "pop up" experience here was wonderful! The restaurant decor was sparkly and beautiful, the menu was enticing, the food looked and tasted as good as it sounded (try the cranberry whipped feta dip!), and the service was outstanding! Both versions of the housemade eggnog, w&w/o a splash of alcohol, were yummy, and it just isn't Christmas to me without good eggnog! Kudos to the welcoming staff and superb service both times I've been to the Founders Lounge!

Perfect location to eat before a show. The grilled endive was very nice.The ribeye had some sort of weird marinade or something. Would not recommend it.Our server Kailee was amazing!! Ask for her.

I would have given more stars, but we weren't allowed to go look at the views from the top as the 'Christmas pop- up' advertisement insinuated. That's why we went! The service was fantastic and the drinks were delicious. I wish we had asked before leaving to try to see the view, if they would have escorted us upstairs, but we left & assumed that they would let us up the escalator. They wouldn't let us even go up for a photo! You had to have a ticket. I even offered to pay. They said you could take a daytime tour! But It's much prettier at night. We are from out of town-DC & Colorado, hopefully next time we can see the views. Do better KC.

Food was spectacular & inspired, truly deserves 5stars. To be honest and thorough the service was slow, however she knew we weren't in a hurry based on our show time. I suspect if our show had been starting sooner that would have made a difference. For as classy as Kauffman is I was surprised to find the Founders lounge to be clinical/stark, too bright to be cozy. Much more of a "ladies who lunch" atmosphere than a classy date night out.But again the food was spectacular & inspired so don't count it out.

The Dining Experience is beautifully decorated with white and turquoise tress and ornaments. They had a Chi Olathe Polar Express Train with a variety of ingredients for a hot cup.The good and drinks were good and filling. The drunks we ordered were: Red RiderHousemade Cinnamon Infused Whiskey, Brown Butter SugarRudolph's Shiny New YearKetel One Vodka, Elderflower, Ginger Beer, Orange Juice, PomegranateThe food we ordered was Pigs in a Blanket | $15Local Sausage, Croissant Pastry, Housemade Beer Mustard, Onion Raisin JamGrilled Cheese Panini | $10Tillamook Cheddar and Provolone on Farm to Market SourdoughParmesan Garlic Frites | $8Sriracha Aioli, KetchupFantasia was out waiter. She was on it and the food came out quickly. It was an enjoyable experience with good company and conversation.

I gave this establishment of 4star The service was accommodating and friendly. The food was really good, but the portions were extremely small. I also felt like it was fairly pricey, but what's not anymore!!!!!! I felt that it looked like a cafeteria someplace you'd see in a company or a hospital. It was real simple and sterile like. There was only a handful of seats, so it's best to make reservations, but the view was gorgeous. :). I'm really glad I got to experience this once. Don't know if I'd go back, but it is beautiful.

Don't you know there's a virus going round? So why you gotta Kauff, man? Right in my direction, too? Wear a mask FFS!I love this place and have nothing bad to say about it... Kauff Kauff.In the center of Kansas City you will find some great buildings, such as this one at Kauffman Center, which is an amazing shell of a building (though not in a negative sense) with amazing art projects here and lots of music, mainly classics.There's a bunch of good stuff there and they do a good job with all the different things and they offer a lot of reasons to visit the center.One of many gorgeous and underrated buildings in the beautiful city of Kansas City. One of many reasons why I come to the city whenever I can - to see beautiful sights and eat amazing foods.It's one of the most underrated cities in the whole country and buildings like these are part of the reason why. Gorgeous.

What a fun experience! We came around 7 and it was surprisingly not as busy as I expected it to. There was a $25 deposit that is put towards your bill. The staff was so friendly and it was overall a great experience. The pigs in a blanket were tasty in a flaky croissant. The drinks were festive. The interior was festively decorated. I plan on coming back.

I ate a pre-show meal here at 5:45 PM last night during restaurant week. First I would say, I didn't think the Restaurant Week deal was particularly good - I saved $2, big whoop. However, that means their nightly menu is really quite affordable for a 3 course menu at $35/person. It was a bit of an odd experience eating there by myself, because I was waited on by the hostess. She was very nice and did a really good job, but it took a little while to get going and I was confused why none of the waitstaff was coming up to take my order. Once she came and took my order, it was a really beautifully paced meal. I ordered a glass of Fume Blanc which arrived along side a bread basket with the yummiest soft rolls and butter with black salt on top. I might have pulled back a smidge on the salt, because it was a lot piled on top, but I was able to scrape some of it off so it was more balanced. The basket also had homemade lavash-type crackers that were quite peppery. I'm not really a fan of that kind of "bread" but it was good for what it was. For my first course, I had the Boulevard Rye on Rye Smokestack Series Cheddar Soup. It was a cold night, otherwise I probably wouldn't have ordered it. For me, it was the weakest part of the meal. It would have been VERY good if I were more of a beer person, but you could definitely taste the beer. Second course was the Duck Fat Seared Scallops. OMG this was SO good. I nearly licked my plate! I'm always a sucker for scallops and I thought the apple risotto, crispy fennel, and scallops together were a perfect bite. I'm not a huge fan of fennel seeds but I really enjoy cooked fennel bulb, and this was fried crispy, kind of like high-end onion straws. Ugh, drooling thinking about it again! And to the piece de resistance - the dessert! I had the Baked Alaska and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! Frankly, I don't know when I last had a dessert that good. The hazelnut ice cream with the meringue was to die for. Again, with all the components together, it was the perfect bite. The only critique I could make is that the flourless cake was bordering on bitter. That worked relatively well with everything together, but I would have like it pulled back from the bitter edge just a bit. With that my meal was over, the hostess brought my check along with a St Luke's sponsored chocolate from Annedore's. Perfect end to a terrific meal.Note: as the website states, be sure to give yourself an hour and a half to "experience" your meal. I was by myself and I was in there about an hour and twenty-five minutes. It's well-timed, and I was glad that when I was done, I could go find my seat for the Color Purple.

Awesome meal, great view and great price. Three courses for $37.The duck was tasty and cooked to perfection. My husband had short rib which was a tad dry but full of flavor!!Pictured below, peppermint chocolate mousse to die for. Banana dessert had a brilliant combo of flavors.