Foodie Find: Blue Grotto Takeout

Blue Grotto Chef's Antipasti Platter 

There are times you just don't feel like cooking. Or eating out. Delivery is really not an option in Kansas City unless you want pizza or Chinese, so the last resort is often takeout. The first time we tried Blue Grotto, which is located in Brookside, we actually did eat in the restaurant. We had a Groupon-type coupon and went there straight after work one evening, so we were able to take advantage of the happy hour specials as well. Everything we had was fabulous, from the wine to the pizza, but what we enjoyed the most was the Antipasti Platter.

Like the description says, the Antipasti Platter is Chef's choice so the items included vary from time to time but we've never been disappointed. It always includes various meats, cheeses and veggies such as marinated mushrooms or asparagus, as well as flatbread and baguette slices. This time around, it included prosciutto, salami, cured olives, marinated mushrooms, and Gorgonzola and asiago cheeses. The amount of food you get for $17 is astounding. I mean, you could barely get that much prosciutto at the grocery store for $17 alone.

Next time you don't feel like cooking, stop by and pick up the Antipasti Platter for yourself. You seriously can't go wrong.

Restaurant Review: BRGR Kitchen+Bar

Gourmet burgers are all the rage right now. Burger places have popped up all over Kansas City in the past year, from locally owned joints to the corporate-owned chain versions. We've tried quite a few, but hands down our favorite place to go is BRGR Kitchen+Bar. BRGR has a wide array of burgers and sides. From traditional to adventurous, you really can't go wrong. They also make their own ketchup and mustard, which makes it even more unique.

S&P Burger

 This time around, I tried the S&P which is more on the traditional side. For me, a true test of a restaurant is if they can get the simple things right. The S&P has lettuce, tomatoes, with your choice of cheese on a kaiser bun. I had mine medium-rare with cheddar cheese. The burger was perfectly juicy and filling, I could actually only eat half.

Juicy Lucy

The hubs decided on the Juicy Lucy, which is actually stuffed with American cheese. The flavors of worcestershire really came through in each bite and was a great compliment to the cheese.

The Combo

For our sides, we went with the sweet potato fries, onion straws and truffle tots. All three were fantastic, but our favorite were the onion straws. They were cut so thin, seasoned well and perfectly crisp. I prefer my fries to be a bit more crispy than the sweet potato version that we had, but they were still pretty good. As far as the truffle tots go, they were crisp and delicious. We would order them again for sure.

BRGR is a great restaurant, with wonderful atmosphere and delicious food. If you're ever craving a burger, I would recommend giving it a try!

Restaurant Review: The Westside Local

One of the perks of my job is that we have sales reps who come into town to visit and look to us for suggestions of fun after-work activities. Oftentimes, we visit some of the new up-and-coming places and about a month ago, we found ourselves visiting The Westside Local.

Westside describes itself as a "gathering place that combines the lively social setting of a tavern with flavors and service of upscale dining." With its long picnic tables in the outside beer garden and closely situated tables inside the restaurant, it's a perfect place to connect with friends, new and old alike.

During our visit, we of course started with drinks. Being a beer garden, they have pretty extensive beer list but also had a nice offering of wines. The only downside to drinks is that they were out of not only some of the more adventurous, but also of the local favorites such as Boulevard Pale Ale.

After drinks, we moved on and ordered a few of the small plates and sampled the Deviled Eggs, the Charcuterie Plate, the Cheese Plate and the Arugula Beet salad. With affordable prices ranging in the $2-10 range, these are great options for sharing between a small group or ordering a few of each for sampling with a larger crowd. Everything was a hit that night, with the exception of the beets. But who really likes beets anyway?

As we had been partaking in beverages for quite some time, the majority of us also decided to try some of the large plates on the menu. These range from Steak Frites to Sheep's Cheese Raveloni to an assortment of sandwiches. Everything looked so good and it was hard to pick, but I finally decided on the Mussels while Dave chose the Grilled Cheese.

These mussels were to.die.for. While you'll have to excuse the picture (I was like four glasses of wine in by this time) it just shows how complex this dish was. They weren't just served in boring white wine, but with herbs and croutons and yummy, steamy broth. They were seriously so yummy. It was a perfect combination of buttery goodness combined with the crisp flavors of the wine sauce. If you can't already tell, I just couldn't get over how good these were.

The grilled cheese was served on an aged crusty bread, with a side of garlic pomme frites. It was everything you could ask for in an upscale version of this childhood favorite. Dave even texted one of his good friends, who is obsessed with cheese, and told him to get down there ASAP to enjoy the melty goodness.

Overall, our experience at The Westside Local was a great one. The only suggestion I have is that they should add a happy hour, as I think it would draw in a larger crowd that would probably stay through the night.

Restaurant Review: Georgie Porgie's

I usually try to have a positive attitude before judging any sort of restaurant that we decide to try. From the beginning, I had a bad impression of Georgie Porgie's and upon our arrival and dining at the place it just went downhill from there.

In order to save some money, I bought an Entertainment Book last spring. I originally noticed that there was a coupon for Georgie Porgie's and on Saturday when we were trying to decide on where to go for breakfast, I thought we could take advantage of the savings opportunity. When we got to the restaurant and I went to pull out the coupon, it said it was only valid for Lunch or Dinner. The place doesn't even serve dinner! Regardless of the fact, we still decided to give it a try. I wish we would have just turned around.

Upon our arrival, we stood in the non-existent waiting area and were told to pick a table. Once seated, we perused the menu and decided on a order of biscuits and gravy for me while Dave chose the Breakfast Special that included pancakes, two eggs, hashbrowns and bacon. While waiting for our orders, people came and went. But not all of those that arrived were served in a prompt manner. For a Saturday morning, the place was moderately busy but there were plenty of open tables. A party of three arrived and waited to be seated...the hostess greeted and informed them they would have to wait for a table because all that were available were those for large parties. What does it matter if there are only tables for large parties! Three people at a six-person table is not unreasonable. Not only did I feel bad for those people, but I was appauled by the way the hostess/waitress treated these people!

While not everything about the place is bad (they do have a good menu and reasonable prices), the food was just another thing that added to our poor experience at Georgie Porgie's. While nothing looks wrong with what we were served:

The taste of the food was another story. The eggs and hashbrowns were poorly seasoned and the pancakes were just so-so. The biscuits were a whole other story. Do you notice how first off, you can't even see the biscuits? They were also solid as a rock. The worst part was the gravy. It.tasted.like.fish. FISH! It was almost like they had made clam chowder in the same pot the day before and it wasn't cleaned. EW. DISGUSTING. GROSS.

Needless to say, we won't be frequenting Georgie Porgie's ever again.

Restaurant Review: Spin Neapolitan Pizza

One of the perks of my job is that we frequently have sales reps bring us in lunch and one of the department favorites is Spin! Neapolitan Pizza. I've had it quite a few times and have even brought leftovers home for Dave, but he's never had it straight from the restaurant. Since I'm a member of their Spin! Club, a weekly e-mail hits my inbox on Monday mornings advertising their specials and the pizza of the week. We made a pretty nice dinner last night, so decided to take a break from the kitchen and take advantage of their Monday special: buy two pizzas and get a third pizza or a salad for free. The deal was even sweeter for us since I had earned a $10 gift certificate through the Spin! Club.

Tonight, we each picked a pizza and agreed on a salad:

Greek Salad with Cucumber Buttermilk Dressing

#5: Oliva e Carcioffo

(Roasted artichokes, kalamata olives, caramelized onions and roasted capers with a roma tomato sauce and Italian cheese mix)

#13: Cipolla e Chevre

(Roasted & caramelized onions, goat cheese, fig jam, fresh mozzarella with an olive oil glaze and Italian cheese mix)

Traditional Neapolitan pizza features a round, thin crust with minimal toppings and more often than not, a tomato-based sauce with fresh mozzarella. While Spin! sticks to the traditional style crust, they step outside of the pizza box with their wide array of toppings. Our choices tonight were some of their more adventurous options and did not disappoint.

I love anything involving olives. And capers. And artichokes, so the Oliva e Carciotto was an obvious choice for me tonight. Since these toppings can be slightly controversial and not the most popular, this pizza had never appeared at any of our lunch-time meetings. We are missing out. To me, this was a perfect combination of all of my loves and I enjoyed every bite of my slice. Dave wasn't so sure about the artichokes because as he put it "It's just not my cup of tea", but I felt they added an extra punch of flavor that I will enjoy with my leftovers tomorrow for lunch as well.

We had another hit this evening, as the Cipolla e Chevre was also a refreshing combination of ingredients. The figs added a sweet, yet tart flavor that complemented the caramelized onions and goat cheese without being overpowering. It definitely gave Dave inspiration for his next homemade pizza creation. Ever since taking his first bite, he's been coming up with ways that he could incorporate figs into his next freshly baked pie.

There's really not much to say about the salad. I generally enjoy the wide array of dressing that Spin! features for their leafy options, so tonight I requested a side of the Cucumber Buttermilk in addition to the Greek vinaigrette that comes with the Greek salad. Unfortunately, the Greek vinaigrette didn't make it into our takeout bag and the Cucumber Buttermilk was just so-so with this salad option.

Overall, Spin! Pizza is a good option when craving that thin-crust style and unique toppings. We'll definitely be adding it to our rotation, but with all of the great pizza options we have in our area it won't necessarily be at the top.

Restaurant Review: Mama's 39th Street Diner

After waking up early on Saturday morning, Dave decided that he wanted pancakes. Not just any pancakes (including those that I could make in the kitchen). He wanted real, fluffy, big pancakes. Pancakes that can only be found at greasy spoon cafes. And that's how we ended up at Mama's 39th Street Diner.

We had heard about the establishment from friends, acquaintances and even Guy Fieri. Mama's was featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives back in March 2008 and ever since seeing the show late last year, we've been dying to try it out. Well, a year or so later, we finally made it. On the episode, Guy features two things: the Corned Beef Hash and the giant selection of omelets. Since Dave's mind was already set on pancakes, we agreed that it would be best if I tried a combination of both that Guy recommended. I perused the menu of 66 different omelets and finally decided on the Corned Beef, Bacon and Cheddar omelet that came complete with a side of browns and toast.

While waiting for our food, we enjoyed taking in all that is the unique about Mama's. From the brightly colored walls and booths, to the vibrant and hurried staff, and the giant pieces of cake rotating around in the dessert display, there was plenty to observe. Because the menu was so large and a bit overwhelming when we were ordering, I went back up to the hostess stand so that we could further examine what Mama's offers. And let me tell you--they have everything. Dave can't wait to go back so that he can try the 37,000 other things they have on the menu. Specifically, he is interested in the Chicken Fried Steak Omelet and the Italian Beef Sandwich. I'm dying to try the omelet with lox and cream cheese.

Upon the arrival of our food, we were both astonished. Dave was immediately pulled in by the gravitational pull of the pancakes...these things were seriously close to the diameter of a basketball. After pouring a substantial amount of syrup on these two behemoth discs, he dove into the soft, fluffy goodness. Ten minutes later, they were only halfway gone. As far as the omelet goes, it was everything we expected it to be. There was cheese. Bacon. And Corned Beef. What more could you ask for? And the hash browns. Oh, the hash browns. I am a potato fanatic and savored every bit. They were a perfect combination of crispy and soft. You seriously got a bit of each in every bite.

Will we go back to Mama's again? I imagine there is a good chance that Dave will wake me up tomorrow morning, craving the savory goodness that Mama's 39th Street Diner has to offer.