KCRW 2024 in Review
Published January 26, 2024
For a Fountain City Foodie, nothing brings home the arrival of a new year quite like the onset of Kansas City Restaurant Week (KCRW)!
For those who are unfamiliar, every January, this ten day long promotion from restaurants all over the metro brings many out of hibernation to explore the best that this city’s culinary scene has to offer. Billed as “affordable, adventurous dining”, restaurants, bars, gastropubs, diners, cafes, and all sorts of eateries offer multi-course meals at a discounted rate. Brunches and lunches are $20 each while dinners range from $40 to $55. A portion of all proceeds go to benefit the Guadalupe Centers.
Often, restaurants will use the added attention that KCRW brings to showcase their most popular items knowing they are likely to see an onslaught of new customers. In some cases, restaurants choose to experiment and offer entrées, desserts, and meals that are exclusive to this yearly promotion. There are even a few that see the chance to beta test potential future specials or menu offerings.
All the possibilities and the notion of affordable dining always makes this an exciting time at a point in the year that restaurants typically struggle for business. With 245 participants in 2024, this was the largest Kansas City Restaurant Week ever. That, combined with me coming off a year where I did an incredibly deep dive into barbeque, had me excited to get out and try a wide variety of new spots.
But then, reality hit. Then, so did the weather.
The timing was not right in my own life. A number of pressing obligations left me strapped for time. Typically, I budget my time and money to hit five to six restaurants over these ten days. At one point during the week, it looked as if I might not even get in one. Combined with subzero temperatures and icy conditions, several were warded away from getting out to explore these restaurant deals.
Luckily, I was able to make the time and sneak in a pair of lunches and one dinner as I continued my streak of enjoying this annual tradition.
This year, understanding the need to push my own horizons and knowing that I would be hitting fewer places than usual, I made it a point to NOT hit up my normal KCRW favorites but make sure I did things that were “new-to-me”. While I did not get to push the boundaries as much as I would have liked in this regard, I still made it happen.
But then as I noticed the emptier restaurants, I found myself asking. What was happening? Were the arctic temperatures really chasing people away? Or was something bigger at play.
As I noticed this particular trend, as did the local news, I enjoyed some great meals. In chronological order, this was my week.
Union on the Hill
2976 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Missouri
The Caveman Crispy Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Corn. PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
Opened in 2022, the aptly named Union on the Hill is part of a recent resurgence in 175 year old Union Hill neighborhood. Their carefully-curated features an array of elevated comfort food favorites with a southeastern flair. In their short time of being open, they have garnered quite the reputation. As someone who is frequently downtown, I was eager for an excuse to get to Union Hill and this seemed a fine place to take advantage of a KCRW dinner deal.
Opting to share the appetizers, I had the chance to sample both the Deviled Eggs (a mixture of the smoked bacon and smoked salmon varieties), as well as the Pork Belly Bites which came heavily recommended by my server.
The Pork Belly Bites were not what I expected but were fantastic! PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
The chilled Deviled Eggs were wonderfully plated and had an ideal texture and a flavor that was bold without being overpowering. The smoky bacon had a chewy crunch to it that bordered on playful. The smokiness of the tender salmon made those deviled eggs as perfect as one could ask. The Pork Belly Bites were not what i expected but lived up to the hype. They were a breaded bite with a mashed pork belly mixture within. The outside was so crispy and the innards so melty. Still the flavor was wonderful and in different ways it worked with all three sauces. The barbeque was sassy and sweet. The orange sauce was almost brooding but with a signature and lasting zip. The verde was mellow but bold, and had almost an earthy quality that built into a subtle spice. As great as the Deviled Eggs were, these bites surely won the day.
For my main course, I opted for the Caveman Crispy Chicken. It was hard to define the preparation of this dish as it almost seemed broasted. The skin was lightly crisp, well-seasoned, and full of flavor. There was a tanginess to the sauce that worked well with the richness of the chicken and the seasonings on the shell. The juiciness of the chicken was perfection. The mashed potatoes were whipped and wonderful. The fire roasted corn on the cob was flawless with a mix of buttery and fire-kissed flavor. The only negative thing I can say about this corn is I wish there was more on the plate.
For the dessert, I opted for Limoncello Cheesecake. The limoncello flavor came from a thin gelatin-like layer that adorned a cube of cheesecake. The flavor almost felt like more like a cannoli as, unless mistaken in my identification, it was very Ricotta forward. The cookie crust at the bottom was firm. The specific delineation of the flavors and layers seemed detrimental but when combined, played together in a way that was quite nice and made for a solid enough dessert.
Michael Forbes Bar & Grille
128 W. 63rd Street, Kansas City, Missouri
The Hollywood Sandwich with a side of Sweet Potato Fries. PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
It may be hard to believe but it is true. Prior to this month, I had never been to Michael Forbes Bar and Grille. The restaurant is an institution in many way. Heck, it’s as old as I am! Originally a Waldo landmark, Michael Forbes relocated to Brookside over a decade ago. Part of why Michael Forbes is so beloved is not only their collection of great, local flavors, but the diversity of offerings in terms of food variety and types. It can be a great place for a soup and salad, a burger, to grab a drink, or to get a nice steak dinner. It is also a spot that is lauded for its affordability.
I have always heard about the Onion Strings at Michael Forbes, and they did not disappoint. PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
I decided to grab lunch at Michael Forbes. For as long as I can remember, I have heard about the Onion Strings so when I saw that was a first course option, I knew what I was doing. (Although, the Chorizo Corn Chowder was quite tempting!). Before I could even place my order, the server treated me to a bowl of house-made potato chips and onion dip, compliments of the house. Clearly these marvelous chips and the dip are a part of the standard Michael Forbes experience.
When my Onion Strings did arrive, I felt I had already had my appetizer. The generous serving of breaded and fried onion pieces lived up to the billing. They were precisely breaded, well seasoned, and had a perfect pinch of saltiness on the end. The crispiness of the breading works well with a well-cooked onion that somehow maintains a semblance of its raw crunch. The kiss of salt on the back end and the lack of greasiness made for a marvelous treat. My only qualm is that they were served with a side of ketchup. While fantastic, I do wonder if there is not a more signature dipping sauce that would have worked better here. Something to explore in future visits for certain but not something that will keep me from ordering them again. (It is simply a matter of personal preference).
For my main course, I went with the Hollywood Sandwich with a side of Sweet Potato Fries. Although, by the time the main event arrived, I was already through my chips and Onion Strings, and practically full. The fries were hand-cut with some nice big flakes of sea salt. The flavor and texture were exactly what one would expect. The sandwich was fantastic. The warm, medium sliced turkey was ideally cooked. The basil pesto worked so nicely on this handheld. The freshness of the red bell pepper and the artichokes was apparent. The pepper jack cheese was on the milder end and held it all together. There were a lot of flavors happening here but somehow between two slices of multigrain toast, it all found a way to work. Understanding the way that all these ingredients came together, I made a point to perfectly stack that last bite of a marvelous sandwich. It is unfortunate that I still had to find a way to be productive the rest of the afternoon after a meal as terrific, and filling, as this one.
Tenderloin Grill
25 E. 3rd Street, Kansas City, Missouri
A top-notch Pork Tenderloin sandwich, a basket of onion rings, and a soda for $10 is tough to beat. PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
First of all, take a breath. I know my lack of visiting one Kansas City restaurant institution was shocking but there is no need for concern this time around. Of course I have visited the Tenderloin Grill before! Opened in 1932, not only is this is a Kansas City must for generations, the Pig Snoot (which they describe as a “rite of passage”) is one of the most iconic sandwiches in the city! That being said, the Tenderloin Grill was new to me in that I have not had a chance to visit since they left Southwest Boulevard and took over the old Taste of Brazil space in the City Market last spring.
With it being my first time in the space, I was delighted to see how much of the original tile work and signage had made its way to the new location. I loved all the ways the restaurant has chosen to pay homage to their Southwest Boulevard roots in a new location that seems better fits their business. Beyond the location, not much has changed, down to the grease-spotted brown paper bags.
This tile sign is one of many homages that the Tenderloin Grill pays to their original location. PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
As a place that has always been affordable, the Tenderloin Grill has no way to reasonably build a $20 meal deal for one person so instead, they opt to have a meal for two! As has become their standard deal, for $10 each, two people can go to lunch and enjoy their choice of a Tenderloin Sandwich or a Cheeseburger with an order of Onion Rings or Hand-Cut Fries. While not listed, the meal deal also included a complimentary can of soda or bottle of water making this a real value meal. This is an option tailor-made for foodies to mix and match.
The Pork Tenderloin was as good as it's ever been. The almost Tempura-style breading seals in the juices of a loin filet that is well tenderized and large without being obnoxiously wide or thin. It has a nice thickness and flavor that makes this one of the best pork tenderloins in town. No matter how you choose to dress your tenderloin, the horseradish is a must. It just works so perfectly in this sandwich.
The burgers are straightforward, no-frills smash burgers. The beef does all the talking and it’s the simplicity of the sandwich that makes it so wonderful. The fries are hand-cut with a subtle crisp and a mealy interior. The onion rings are crunchy, well-breaded, and have a nice tinge of sweetness that puts them over the top. Throwing one or two rings on top of the smash burger goes a long way towards a memorable meal.
As I enjoyed this fantastic value, I was thrilled to see that the only thing that has changed about the Tenderloin Grill is their address.
There was a lot of chatter this year as KC Restaurant Week forged on that many restaurants were seeing much less participation than they typically expected. When I was out and about, it was quite noticeable.
Now perhaps, this could be accounted for by weather conditions or the fact that so many more options meant that diners were not as concentrated in certain places. While the promotion did see a noticeable upswing near the end of the period, (i am a prime example of this) it does seem that this year’s KCRW saw one of their lowest turnouts ever. This is surprising given that it was a year where there was record restaurant participation. Some restaurants were clearly so hard hit from the lack of participation that they sent out emails extending their KCRW deals for another week, or even through the end of the month.
Every theory about why participation was so low does have an air of validity to it. Undoubtedly, the number of restaurants included and the below freezing conditions kept people away. However, there does seem to be a much simpler answer as to why fewer people took part. It’s an easy truth to identify but one that no wants to say. It can be hard to hear the truth but here goes:
Kansas City Restaurant Week is not the value that it used to be.
Allow me to say it again for those in the back, KCRW is simply not the incredible value that it once was.
For years, I have championed the cause of supporting local and the need to give business to small businesses, especially restaurants. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation, it has been an especially tough time to own and operate a restaurant.
It is a brutal industry and I have long been sympathetic to the plight of those business owners. I still am. What I am about to say does not change that.
While I recognize the challenges of the industry, and rapidly rising costs, there are small changes to Restaurant Week that have not gone unnoticed. Instead, many diners accepted them because of our sympathy to the industry and our desire to support it. It is why we sat silently as more places levied an upcharge for using a credit card or every kind of business imaginable started shoving a tablet with a tip screen in front of us. As consumers we were sympathetic to the current landscape. Yet, there seems to be a few places that have taken advantage of public sentiment.
Restaurant Week also changed. First of all, there was the increase in prices a couple years back. Lunches that were once $15 rose to $20. Dinners that were $35 - $45 rose to $40 - $55. While five to ten dollars may not seem like much, this represented a 33% increase in the lunches and as much as a 22% increase in the cost of the dinners. Shrinkflation (the practice of charging the same price for a lower quantity) even reared its ugly head at times. Still, as the price of everything else went up, it only seemed warranted.
The price would not even be an issue with many, if the value was still there. Sadly, there are too many cases where it isn’t. In fact, it seems there are several restaurants who are too willing to take advantage of both public sentiment towards the industry and the popularity of Kansas City Restaurant Week in order to provide experiences that don’t meet the value.
One way businesses do this is by refusing to make any changes to their run-of-show during this promotional time, especially as it pertains to staffing. Last year, I decided to visit Bar Central as part of KCRW. Bar Central is located in the lobby of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. My friend and I had tickets to opening night of Hadestown at the Kansas City Music Hall, just one block away. The opportunity to take advantage of a $20 dinner deal and walk to the show was too good to pass up. And yet on opening night for a show a block away during Restaurant Week, the large restaurant space in the Marriott’s lobby could not be bothered to staff more than one server. I remember the bartender telling my friend and I how they were always slammed when there was a show. That alone, beyond advertising Restaurant Week, should have been enough for them to have more staff but alas, no. The average wait time for a drink, even a draft beer, was over 15 minutes. The first course took over 45 minutes to arrive. Failure to staff for the demands of KC Restaurant Week has become a commonplace problem in recent years.
The even bigger issue is places that are willing to align themselves with the reputation of KC Restaurant Week to provide “meal deals” that aren’t really special at all.
Take for example one of the places I highlighted in this piece, Union on the Hill. Now the meal I had was fantastic, but was it really a good deal? I opted for the Pork Belly Bites, the Caveman Crispy Chicken, and the Limoncello Cheesecake. Was this a good value at $40?
“One could say that Union on the Hill overcharged me as their KCRW deal, and they would not be wrong.”
On a typical night, the cost of the Pork Belly Bites would have been $12. The Caveman Crispy Chicken would have been $22. Add those up and you’re already at $34. While the desserts are not listed on the menu, I cannot imagine them charging more than $7 per slice for that cheesecake. So at most, the Kansas City Restaurant Week deal saved me a buck or two on a $40 dinner? Is that really the kind of value that it supposed to get patrons out when it’s five below zero?
That does not even account for the fact that I actually went to dinner there at 5:00pm on a Wednesday which means that I was there an hour before Happy Hour ended. In other words, the dinner I paid $40 for from Union on the Hill as as a “Kansas City Restaurant Week deal” could have been had by me for around $37 - $38. See, the Pork Belly Bites are four dollars less during Happy Hour. So $22 + $8 + $7 = $37. I paid $40. One could say that Union on the Hill overcharged me as their KCRW deal, and they would not be wrong.
The last thing to note is the considerable overlap between the lunch and dinner menus. The first course options are virtually identical and half the lunch offerings for Course 2 were part of the dinner menu as well. While I cannot account for the lunchtime portions compared to the dinner ones, it does seem that a person could have gone to Union on the Hill at lunch and had the same meal for half the price, minus the dessert. While the Limoncello Cheesecake was a solid-enough dessert, it does not double the value of any meal. Very few desserts would.
Union on the Hill was hardly alone in this. For instance, both the lunch and dinner from Gram & Dun down on the Plaza seemed to be similar in nature to what Union Hill had done. On a typical day, the Blackened Fried Catfish from Gram & Dun would be $27 for lunch. Even if the starter of Chicken Sausage Gumbo was a full bowl ($13) instead of a likely cup ($8), the $40 lunch deal for KC Restaurant Week would still come out to $40 any other week of the year. Similar comparisons were ever-present with their $55 dinner deal as well. Whatever savings some of these combinations may have provided were rather paltry. Guy Fieri’s Dive & Taco Joint in the Power & Light District was another where their $40 dinner deal just did not add up as anything special in comparison to the every day prices.
Even if this had been the best cheesecake I ever had in my life, would it really have justified doubling the price of a meal to $40? PHOTO CREDIT - disKCovery
Now one could read this and argue that as the diner, it is my responsibility to scrub the list and find the best meal deals. They could argue that I should have done better menu comparison before hand to understand which restaurants are actually charging more or the same prices for KCRW. Some years I do a better job of this than others. Truthfully though, who has the time to cross-compare 245 restaurants and their KCRW deals against their regular offerings?
This is exceedingly difficult to do when you consider that many of the restaurants don’t publish their deals until just days before the event.
Perhaps, that is where KCRW could make their first change. If they required all participants to submit their deals early enough that they could be published on the website and smartphone app by January 1, that would give diners more time to make reservations and peruse the deals. If the smartphone application was more than a checklist, and allowed diners to rate the service received, the value, and the quality of the food, that could make a real difference in the long run as well.
Maybe there is a level of consumer responsibility but those are changes would do much to aid the consumer. This does not excuse the likes of Gram & Dun and other participating restaurants. While responsibility lies with them, the real burden sadly falls on KC Restaurant Week. It is up to them to protect the integrity of their brand and safeguard this institution.
As a diner, I have never felt an overwhelming need to vet every offering because of the overwhelming strength of the KCRW brand and what it has represented for so long. For many locals, we see that KCRW stamp of approval and trust that we are going to get a great deal. Quickly, that is no longer becoming the case.
Make no mistake, there were still so many great deals to be had. For every Union on the Hill and Guy Fieri’s Dive, you have the likes of Minsky’s Pizza and Tenderloin Grill who are changing the game by offering two lunches for $20. Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop goes as far as offering a $20 dinner! Pizza Tascio offers a wonderful two-person dinner deal yearly, and a few other pizza places follow suit. Rye and Trezo Mare continue to set the gold standard for what a KCRW lunch deal should be. For every bad egg, there are likely half a dozen others who are upholding what this week should be.
“While responsibility lies with [the restaurants], the real burden sadly falls on KC Restaurant Week. It is up to them to protect the integrity of their brand and safeguard this institution. ”
Kansas City Restaurant Week is supposed to be about affordable, adventurous dining that spurs locals and visitors alike to try new places and foods while helping out a great cause. But in many cases, KCRW is no longer as affordable as it claims to be. The adventure has not become a culinary one but instead it drives diners to play Russian Roulette with their wallets. More and more, diners are arriving for Restaurant Week, only to order something off the regular menu because the KCRW meal deals aren’t really a deal at all.
I will always champion, support, and love our local restaurants. It is actually not in my nature to typically criticize these businesses, especially in print. Those who have read disKCovery know that. But to those who have unfairly misrepresented what these ten days are supposed to be about? Shame on you.
Those who have long read me, know how I feel about Kansas City Restaurant Week. It’s one of my favorite times of year. I love it! But often loving something means holding it accountable to be the best version of itself.
Every year, Kansas City Restaurant Week kicks off a new year of discovery for me. This year, I got to enjoy a meal at three great local spots. I have no doubt that this year will take me on a wonderful ride from here. I just question if KCRW will still be a part of my own tradition come 2025. While it likely will be, I will have to be more diligent in the places I select. It seems that several diners have already set that trend.
This year, they made their voices heard by voting with their dollars. While many blamed the weather, we have seen these temperatures at this time of year before. This is the result of consumers reacting to a decreasing value. And while the likes of Union on the Hill bear responsibility, there has to be something that holds them to task.
If restaurants are not going to act in the spirit of what KCRW is supposed to be, then it falls on Kansas City Restaurant Week to step in, protect their brand, and make that Kansas City Restaurant Week stamp of approval mean something once again.
Did you participate in Restaurant Week this year? Why or why not? Did you enjoy your meal? Did you feel it was a great value? Please share your feedback and your 2024 discoveries in the comments below!
