Happy Gillis!

I may be a suburbanite, but nothing thrills me more than connecting with my City by checking out small eating establishments in different parts of KC.  This week Mr. Ref and I met the dinner club members at a bruncheonette near the City Market called Happy Gillis.  We traversed the snow lined streets to find the funky little joint on the corner, and had a seat in the "living room" while we waited for our club members to appear. 
The place was packed!  Every table was full with people standing in line to order, hipsters crowding a small counter with stools looking out the windows to the south and the "living room" snug with Gassies browsing the chalkboard menu for breakfast and lunch. I didn't get the layout right away, but the other diners were quick to point out the self serve coffe bar--nothing fancy here, just straight coffee, cream, sugar and sweetner--but you get to pick out your own mug! 
What I really enjoyed was watching the ballet of staff putting together the meals--one washing dishes, one cooking and prepping plates, one taking orders and delivering meals and cashing debit cards.  They had quite a system going and I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of how the food got to me. 
My biggest challenge was choosing from the menu--every item on both the breakfast and lunch menu sounded yummy.  Unfortunately, I made a bad choice.  I picked the roasted chicken sandwich with cucumber, shredded carrots, cilantro and sweet chili sauce.  The chiabatta tasted stale and the flavors didn't marry well.  I could taste the flavors individually, not layered for a smooth taste.  The sauce in particular didn't seem to flatter the other flavors.  But I snatched an excellent slice of cheese from a fellow Gassy, and my sub-par sandwich became interesting and tasty!
We didn't want to waste our trip downtown, so we capped off our meeting with a trip to the bakery and drove home with full tummies and a sack full of dark chocolate filled croissants!
And if that doesn't make you happy, Gillis, I don't know what will!
Score 3 of 5.

Breakfast is a Delight

Mr. Ref here, last month was Josh's pick and he decided to do something different, and for those of us that know him, that is not unusual, so he picked a breakfast place.  I love breakfast, and was really looking forward to going to Happy Gillis.  I wish I would have thought of doing breakfast, excellent idea Josh.  Anyway, I would have to say I was a little disappointed.  The reason I was disappointed is because I am a more traditional kind of guy and was hoping to have a more traditional breakfast, like eggs with bacon &/or sausage, hash browns and toast, or biscuits and sausage gravy, or a stack of buttermilk pancakes or an omelet.  These are the things I really love to eat any day, anytime.  What I ordered was the sausage, egg biscuit with gravy with cheese, and I thought it would be a traditional type breakfast.  It was more like an open face sandwich or something.  It was really good, it just wasn't what I was expecting.  The sausage was very good, the eggs were average, the biscuit was good, the gravy was good and the cheese was excellent.  The decor reminded me of my grandma's and even my wife's grandma's houses.  The furniture was made up of different items that looked like they were hand-me-downs or picked up at a garage sale and most of it did not match and there were old plates hung on the wall.  It made me feel very comfortable and warm.  The people of Happy Gillis were very helpful and courteous and even the patrons were help, since it was our first time there.  I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Happy Gillis=Happy Girl

So we decided to try breakfast for dinner club, and I must say I am very glad we did! I loved getting to sleep in and wake up knowing I was going to have some good food with great people! I enjoyed going out and enjoying the meal without the stress of rushing and just leaving work.  Josh was really excited about this pick and had been planning it for a while. Josh and I left early so we could get there and get a table. When we first arrived i got out of the car to go get a table and josh went to park. I'm not going to lie, when I walked in I sighed and as soon as josh came in I asked if he had a back up. The place was packed! I was standing at the edge of the door and it didn't look like there was going to be any space for the Gassies. Josh was optimistic and insistent that we eat there. some couches then opened so we sat down planning to eat there. People began to arrive and by the time everyone arrived and began to go up and order some tables opened so we moved them together and made it work! So onto the food...

I ordered a bowl of  ham and bean soup, and oh my goodness it was DELICIOUS! It was perfectly sweet and salty and had great chunks of ham. My mouth is watering right now just thinking of it! For my main meal I ordered a cheese melt? I was just expecting an upscale grilled cheese, noting too special, but boy was I wrong and glad to be! They brought out a sandwich that looked divine and tasted even better! It was oozing with cheese and delicious strips of bacon and thinly sliced crisp granny smith apples.   The apples gave it such a great flavor. I think from now on whenever I make a grilled cheese I will forever be disappointed thanks to Happy Gillis.  So as you can tell I REALLLLLY enjoyed my meal. I would give it a rating of 4.3/5.

Happy Gillis = A Happy Me

Oh Breakfast how I love thee! Erin and I arrived at a sharp 10:45, because I knew that this place was small and to be honest I was a little scared... it was packed when we got there every table taken and in the first 20 minutes while we were waiting a total of 3 tables had been finished and reset. As Erin whispered please tell me you have a back up plan, I calmly told her nope it will all work out and as it always seems to happen the Gods were looking out for us Gassies and 2 tables opened up for us and the Happy Gillis Hangout crew had no probelm with moving the mismatch tables together to form 1 large mega table.

As it was only 11 am I decided it was 5 o'clock somewhere and ordered up a beer to wash down what may have been the greatest breakfast meal I have ever had. The sausage egg biscuit with gravy was devine with every bite, when it was all gone I became sad and when no one was looking I licked every last drop of gravy off of my plate. Oh and I must not short the soup I ordered a ham and bean soup and it was one of the best soups I have ordered and I am a man who loves himself some soup, it was sweet yet meaty and oh so yummy!  I even got my hands on Erins sanwich and I will never look at a grilled cheese the same way again with the melty cheese, the salty bacon and the sweet crunch apples all combined perfectly together.

As we finished up and the scores were coming in I took pride with all these high scores flying in and dont forget I earned Grandpa's Highest score to date a 4.5!

Not that I am keeping score, but I want it to be known that 2 of our highest scored outings have been with my picks! That is an awfully hard thing to accomplish with such great restaurant after restauraunt being chosen by fellow gassies!

As Justin said I really enjoyed the weekend outing it was much less rushed and after we were done I had the rest of the day to enjoy and lounge around.

I would go back in a heart beat to have another amazing breakfast or even lunch! 4.25 out of 5 from this food critic.

Oh last thing I promise kudos to Mom and Beth for taking us to bloom bakery and having some delicous bread... expensive but good!

Happy Gillis makes for Happy Gassies

This month's pick went to Josh, who turned the dinner club on its head by scheduling a breakfast meeting. I'm so glad he did.

I had heard about Happy Gillis but didn't know what they served or where it was located. Now I'm informed and can inform the dear readers so they can try it too.

Happy Gillis is located in Columbus Park, the historic Italian neighborhood just north of downtown Kansas City. There's a  Catholic church a few blocks away, old red brick buildings--you can almost imagine games of stick ball in the 'hood from an earlier time.

If Anthropologie was a restaurant: this would be it. I love the mashup of retro furniture and decor. The menu was simple but plenty: a half-dozen options each for breakfast or lunch, along with beer and wine.

I ordered the white bean/tuna salad sandwich. It came on the worlds best bread--Farm to Market Grains Galore, made right here in KC--and was topped with hard-boiled eggs, mesclun greens, onion and aoili. A simple strawberry was the side dish and perfect dessert.

I would like to head back for breakfast food. It looked delicious. My loving husband finished his breakfast sandwich before I could say as much as "Can I have a little bite?" A bloody Mary would be in order too. And to top it all off, it was perfectly baby friendly.

My score: 4/5 stars though it probably deserves a bit more.

Another Kansas City Gem

This month the dinner club became the breakfast club when we went to Happy Gillis for breakfast.  Happy Gillis is an eclectic little place, a mishmash of furniture, pictures, dishes and silverware reminding me of eating at Grandma's house.   Once again we have found a gem of a restaurant in another quaint area of Kansas City, just a mile from the City Market. I walked into a delightful little place bright with color and the back wall covered in decorative plates, a throw back to the  60s. A short, but tempting menu was written on the wall.  After sitting in the "living room" waiting for everyone to arrive, for once I wasn't the last one there, I ordered the sausage, egg biscuit with gravy. Food is ordered at the counter, then brought to your table, when it is ready.  The biscuit was fresh and tender, the sausage well, but not overly spiced and the sausage gravy, as good as most I have had in the past.   I also tried the ham and bean soup, sweet and cinnamony, sounds awful, but was quite delicious and I ordered some for take out. My only complaint is with the size of the water glasses, they were very small and I had to fill mine, several times. I give Happy Gillis a 4.2/5

Champion of Breakfasts

Two posts in one day!  Its a gastronomical miracle!

This morning we had breakfast/lunch (they should make a word for that, like leakfast) at Happy Gillis in Columbus Park neighborhood.

It is great cafe and hangout, serving a decent but certainly not exhaustive selection breakfast staples (but no pancakes or waffles) and lunch sandwiches.  It has a home feel with a couch in a lounging area, and a bunch of decorative plates on the wall.  Kind of a mix of Anna's Oven and the upstairs of Bluebird.

It was fairly crowed when we entered, but a lot of people seemed to be ordering to go, and we were able to push 2 tables together for our party of 8.  By the end of our meal (at around 11:45) the crowd had thinned out.  You order at the counter, and they bring your food out to you.  They did a good job of getting our food out together. 

I had the sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit with gravy.  This thing was stacked about 5 inches tall, with a 1 inch sausage patty.  The mildly spicy sausage was the best part; frakking delicious (if you got that reference, you, like me, are a nerd. If you didn't, you likely have a sci-fi hole in your soul.  See a doctor.  Dr. Cottle is good.).  The biscuits and eggs where fluffy and the cheese was melted and creamy.  I mixed it all together in the gravy, and washed it down with some Roasterie coffee, and was happy. One of the breakfast meals I have had in KC.

Keep in mind that breakfast food is probably getting the benefit of a half point breakfast bump from me.  Plus, we ate on a weekend, which I liked a lot.  I didn't feel like I was rushing around to get to the joint and get home, and I felt the meal much more relaxed.  Despite these prefaces, I am giving Happy Gillis a well-deserved 4.4 / 5.

Modest. Sufficient. Italian.

I know I am late, and will do the breakfast appetizer of shame - but I think it is important to post, so I am posting now.

Last month was Richard's pick, and we went to Marco Polo, which is an Italian market/deli.  They served a modest but sufficient menu of Italian dishes.  I had ravioli with an Italian sausage.  It was good, but the sauce was a little sweet.  It came with minestrone, which was OK, salad, which was OK, and bread, which was OK. 

I also had to purchase the appetizers of shame, so I got toasted ravioli and meatballs for the group.  I thought the appetizers were great - the best toasted ravioli I remember having.  Suck it, St. Louis.

I had a canoli for dessert, which was great.  I thought it was a very good canoli.  I even got one for Sara, and ate it for her.

Oh, and I did have a glass of wine, which had to be purchased at Jasper's next door.  I forget what I ordered, but I think the prices/sizes were in Italian, because it cost like $10 for a glass, so I drank it slowly. It was good, but not $10/glass good.  I'll be drink $8 bottles for a while to make up for it.

It was self-serve, so service wasn't really an issue, other than one of the girls was kind of mean behind the counter - but the other was very nice and helpful.  Also, I don't particularly like eating slow food (as opposed to fast food) that you pick up yourself.  By the time I got my food, everyone else was about done with their meal, and I was eating alone - just like my lonely Friday nights freshman year :( .  Do I still have to buy the appetizer of shame?  I don't know if my self-worth can take it.

The decor was alright, some Italian stuff to buy, but not a ton.  Like the menu: modest but probably sufficient.

Overall: the food was good for the most part, with the appetizers and canoli being above average, the ravioli average, and the soup a little below average (but Josh got a different soup which was very good). I give it a 3.2/5.

Marco Polo

I am running late with my blog, but I don't want to be in the hall of shame like Justin and Erin.   Marco Polo was a small little joint with a few tables scattered about for those who choose to eat in, rather than carry out. The menu is on the wall and is a little busy and hard to read and you order food at the counter and drinks next door at the bar.   The menu offers daily specials and that is what I ordered, and it was quite a bargain.  For $9 I got ravioli, salad, soup, bread and spumoni ice cream. The ravioli and soup were both very good.  The salad was rather plain with an oily dressing that I did not care for and black olives.  I had enough ravioli and bread to take for my lunch the next day.  The spumoni ice cream which I had not had in many years was excellent, I could definitely have had more, however I ordered a cannoli.  I am sure the cannoli was very good, if you like cannoli, but I discovered I was not a big fan.   This is a place I would definitely go to again. What the restaurant lacked in ambiance, was made up with reasonable prices and food that was fresh and good. I give it 3.5/5