02/15/09

$400 dinner with $20 service experience

by chris66062

I have lived in KC for 7 years and had wanted to go to the American for quite a long time. I made Valentine's Day reservations a full 6 weeks early just to be safe. My disappointment started with the wine list--more bottles than I could count at the $180+ range, several embarrassing bottles in the sub $40 range, and not much in between. We received an excellent recommendation for the Cloe & Jeremy, which turned out to be the only positive surprise of the night. The food was definitely superb, and the staff bringing the courses and clearing the table did an excellent job. Our waiter, however, barely returned to the table after taking our initial order. We were not able to order dessert drinks or coffee, and waited nearly 45 minutes after our table was cleared and were out of beverages to get our check. It was as if we turned invisible after we ordered...

I have rarely felt so ignored at a restaurant, especially when I am paying more than I ever have for the experience. I guess I can say I have been here now, but I dare say I will ever return on my own accord. There are far too many other restaurants that in KC that will actually attempt to make my experience special.

• Pros: Phenomenal Food
• Cons: Horrible Service

12/21/08

Iron Chef Food in Disco Decor

by MichaelDaniel

My wife and I went to the American Restaurant for our 10th anniversary. At first it appeared that we had walked through a time warp and were back in the 80's, as we looked up at the decor. We had also been promised a table by the 30 foot tall windows that show a great view of the town, but ended up at a table in the back. My wife, a Syrah wine lover could not find one on the extensive wine list. We did like that they put our names on our menus congratulating us on our anniversary, and as each course came out, including 3 small complimentary courses, we began to realize that the chef, Debbie Gold, and her artisitc, creative, and absolutely delicious food was the star of this restaurant. We ended up enjoying the intimacy our table provided as we could sit right next to each other in the round booth. The service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing and arrogant, and the wine we ended up having was excellent, thanks to the help of the wine steward who guided us to a half bottle similar to what we were looking for. We had a very nice and romantic evening and would like to plan a return trip each year as long as Debbie Gold is working her magic in the kitchen. A nice finishing touch was being able to take our menu home with our names at the top and the chef's autograph on it.

• Pros: Food, food and food
• Cons: Outdated Decor

05/12/08

Great Atmosphere, Great Food, Poor Service

by ClearlySam

Service was slow to nonexistent, arrogant and fake. I have wanted to experience this Restaurant for may years when I visited KC. There were two of us, we arrived at 7:30 on a Thursday, were seated then after a lengthy wait flaged down the bread waiter for menus, then I actually had to get up to ask someone to send our waiter to take our orders. There were perhaps 10 other customers in the restaurant and several service people but none were attentive.

Food was Great, creative, and fresh. But the service was so bad I would never go back - too many other excellent choices in KC.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: service