Lidia's Restaurant

A mixed but overall good experience.. I was in Kansas City for two days with my boyfran, and we looked up unique places to eat. Lidia's sounded like the perfect place, and it was very near our hotel at the Power and Light district. We began with 2 kinds of bread and 2 kinds of spread served in olive oil. One spread had black olive, the other was a pesto blend. This was curious and good, though a little bland. It was just getting us warmed up. The first exciting part was the soup. I cannot find the recipe, but I know that one soup was tomato-based with garbanzo beans(chickpeas) and sage, with a hint of honey. The other soup had spinach, leeks, and fennel, I believe. They were both so flavorful that the cup-sized servings were plenty.

For the entree, I chose the lobster, potato, and leek frico, which was one of three dishes our waitress recommended for an "unforgettable" meal. I had been eyeing it anyway, so I ordered that. Boyfriend had the wild boar ravioli in rosemary-infused white wine sauce. The frico, frankly, was awful. It was overcooked, the lobster was tough, and the mixture of cheese and potatoes was overwhelming to anything else in the dish. I found one slice of leek. I actually sent it back, which is not something I am wont to do. I tried the wild boar ravioli, which were huge and so intensely tasting of rosemary and sage and pork. The texture was just right, too, doughey outside/meaty cheesy inside. I said, "I've got to have this." It was amazing. Our waitress seemed a little miffed that I sent the food back, but was polite nonetheless.

We had recently had a conversation about tiramisu and so that was our dessert to satisfy the craving, though they had some really fancy and interesting ones I will try the next time I am in Kansas City.

If you like overpowering cheeses, I recommend the frico!…

Disappointing!. Having watched Lidia's Italy on multiple occasions, I was truly looking forward to dinner here. Unfortunately, it was so disappointing. For the appetizer, we took the server's recommendation. It was a bust. The "Frico" was a soggy, greasy mess. To hedge our bet, we went with the pasta tasting. Another miss. The pasta was salted with such a heavy hand. Not just one dish...but all of them. We were so turned off by the food, that we gave up and called it an evening. I assume that it was just a bad night in the kitchen...but It was so disappointing.

I think I'll give Lidia's another try. Just not the Kansas City location.…

Atomosphere. I love the atmosphere at Lidia's. The bar and managment staff are very attentive and warm. And if you sit at the bar in the winter, you stay warm because of the huge fireplace there. Delicious breadsticks and cured olives are the "beer nuts" here. I can't believe someone says teh combination of the lemon chicken and olives and spinach was "dreadful"! That is my VERY favorite dish at Lidia's! It's delicious every single time. I also love the manicotti and the soups are always different and interesting. I had one that was pea soup with shrimp - not a combination I'd think of bu it was delightful. In this city known for its beef, you MUST try the bone-in ribeye! It's easily one of the best steaks in town and it's huge. This place is not your spaghetti-and-meatballs kind of Italian - the influences are Slavic mixed with Italian. And if you don't want trains to interrupt your meal, eat somewhere that isn't located in the historic train yards of KC. Duh. You can't hear the trains inside. Lidia's rocks.…

Over-rated. We read the reviews and saw the local ads, so my wife and I thought we'd try it last night. The patio had a nice atmosphere except you can't hear when the trains go by. Four trains went by while we were there. The service couldn't have been better - very attentive. The only things that really bothered me was that the food was 1) over-priced and 2) wasn't very good. I ordered the lemon chicken which was OK at first, but the glaze was over done in spots. The dish was truly ruined by the spinach and olives. What a dreadful combination. I tried, but couldn't eat half the dinner. What a waste of money. It was double the price of what it should have been listed for anyway. My wife's ordered their premier dish, the pasta sampler for $28. We figured this must be great if they can charge $28 for pasta. You get to try three types and it's bottomless. She couldn't finish even one serving. Two out of three were actually good, not great, just good. One just tasted bad. But, where did they come up with the price? Reminded me of The Emperor's New Clothes. Only a fool would go along with this charade. A Peroni was $4.50. I can buy almost a six-pack for that price. We won't ever eat here again and can't recommend it to anyone. Save your money and go somewhere nice.…