323 E. 55th St
Kansas City, MO 64113
Website
HOW I FOUND IT: So the wife and I woke up a little bit early (for us), and decided we wanted some Sunday brunch, an oft overlooked meal in our household. I went online to look up some good lookin brunch spots, and stumbled across Cafe Europa. The menu looked simple and tasty, the hours for brunch were pretty flexible (10am to 3pm), and they even have their own bakery? We were sold.
ATMOSPHERE (SCORE: ***): We pulled up to the place after almost driving right past it. It's in a strip mall along with a bunch of other 'mom-n-pop' stores on 55th, a small, unassuming place. When you walk in the door you're immediately treated to their bakery, with a glass case full of cupcakes, cookies, and other delights that looked outstanding. I was starting to get excited. The dining room itself was a sort of weird tan/beige color that you might expect to see in the kitchen of a southern Johnson County 'cookie cutter house', not a little cafe. The dining room was small, but didn't feel crowded, and the windows let in plenty of sunlight.
FOOD (SCORE: *****): I had a tough time deciding, but I ended up getting the Eggs Benedict, and Cyndi got the smoked salmon with potato latke. And we ordered a side of biscuit and gravy to split, because we are freaks when it comes to our B&G.
My Benedict was perfect and awesome. The homemade english muffins had a slight sourdough twang to them, the ham was a large but thin slice, which I liked better than the thick chunk of canadian bacon you get at most places, the eggs were perfect, and the Hollandaise a smooth, rich-but-not-heavy delicacy.
Cyndi enjoyed her smoked salmon on latke, which came with the traditional accompaniments of onions, egg whites, egg yolks, and capers. The latke was much bigger than we thought it would be, but it wasn't obscenely large.
The gravy on the biscuit was very tasty, but the biscuit itself, being touted as 'homemade' on the menu, was a little ho-hum.
I didn't order the pancakes myself, but if I go back for brunch, that would likely be my choice as I saw a few orders come out and they looked fluffy and awesome. Overall, we were quite pleased with the food itself.
However, a good dining experience relies on a blend of great food AND great service, and well...
SERVICE (SCORE: Guess. ): Oh. Hell. Naw. Grab a Snickers, cuz this is gonna take a while. Service was the deal-breaker for us. Our waitress came by in a timely manner after we were sat, and took our order, and seemed polite and pleasant enough. But we'll never really know how pleasant she might be, because she never came back. Seriously, the bus boy was by our table more than she was. At first I didn't mind, as I really don't like when a server hovers too much. But then I ran out of coffee. And water. And I sat there, broken-hearted, as I watched all the OTHER tables get refills of both from THEIR servers. But where was ours? I also noticed her other tables had similar looks of despair. And I really couldn't even flag someone down because we had apparently drank some sort of invisibility tonic that must've been slipped into our waters.
Eventually the bus-boy came to my aid and made sure I didn't pass out from dehydration, but by the time someone came by to ask if I wanted any more coffee (which I had wanted for about 15-20 min), I declined because we were already done eating. The busboy came by and removed our plates for us, and a few minutes later the server finally came by and, seeing the empty table, said "your brunch should be out soon", and I had to inform her that we had already eaten, and would like the check. She mumbled a "sorry" and brought the check, I returned it with my debit card, and then she disappeared for another long stretch. My pregnant wife actually joked that maybe she should fake her water breaking so we could just get the hell out of there. She finally returned and gave a half-hearted apology again, and walked away.
Since I work in the restaurant industry and consider myself a decent human being/softie at heart, I don't have it in me to stiff, or even undertip a server, even when service is horrible. Sometimes I wish I could be that guy, but I just can't. So I didn't stiff her. But I did write on the check, "After you took our order, we never saw you. I wanted more coffee :( " Hoping that the frowny face might make the constructive criticism not seem too angry. Whatever, she'll probably stab me if I come back in there. But don't worry, because of the service, I won't!
VALUE (SCORE: ***): A bit pricey as far as brunch goes, but the food was so good I can't complain. For the two of us, having the 2 entrees, side of biscuits and gravy, a coffee, and an O.J., our total was about $30.00
OVERALL: Down to earth, straight up good food that seduces you like a sexy siren, backed up with service that slips something in your drink and leaves you waking up on the bathroom floor, violated and missing a kidney. Seriously, I liked this place quite a bit, but the frustration makes me really not want to give it another chance.
OVERALL SCORE: Had the service been good, I'd say ****
but alas, it drags it down to ***
Hilarious! Sorry your service sucked. You need to let me know what this chick looked like so I can make sure I don't have her next time I go. I LOVE their bakery.
ReplyDeleteI will. I don't wanna slander anyone on the internets publicly. The bakery did look good, but we just wanted to get outta there.
ReplyDeleteSounds tasty... but I HATE crappy service. I mean, that's what I'm paying out my @$$ for: I expect to be catered to. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteI have eaten/tried to eat there on 3 occasions, and i will not return for your same reasons. I also work in the restaurant industry, and i try to give the benefit of the doubt. But try after try they let me down.
ReplyDeleteOccasion one:
My good girlfriend and i walk in at noon, they are slow. We stand at the entrance for 5min maybe more without even a glance. Finally a server/host came and asked "did you want to get a dessert to go?" We replied with "Well we wanted to have lunch"
When seated our middle aged male server comes up and says "wow what are you young ladies doing in this part of town?" My friend and i are 23 and 25years of age...Confused, we sheepishly laughed and ordered.
I order the quiche and salad and she orders soup and the nicoise salad.
His smart ass remark was "No hamburger and milk?" (thinking no jackass...) I say espresso and she said hot tea. He was unpleasent, but the food was good.
Kind of annoyed but thought ill give it another shot...
occasion 2.
Walked in at 1:30 on a wed with the same friend.
Waited at the door again. finally someone came (in a suit, my guess was a manager) Seated us and the server arrived she was an older woman seemed cold and unhappy to be there.
We ordered our food, good as before. we decided to get 2 desserts. I was intrigued by the honey pie (being a pastry chef i like to scope out new items) so i asked. She seemed oblivious to the item and asked the kitchen. when she returned she said "Its just like it sounds, there is honey in a pie" (wow nice answer.) So we got 2 to go. I didnt care to hang around there any longer.
occasion 3:
I know why the heck go back... 3 strikes. But i love little cafe's. This time was 1:45 on a thurs with my mother.
We walked in and a bartender was at the bar. She asked "here to pick up a pastry?" I said "No, We'd like a lunch table please" She smiles and says, "Well lunch is over at 2:30 today, are you sure you want to stay?"
confused and frustrated we leave and go to aixois the french restaurant next door.
They definitely lost 3 customers with that terrible service. shame the food was tasty.