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.
Welcome to our blog! We are a Kansas City family who devotes the first Thursday of each month to trying a new restaurant. Follow along as we travel the Kansas City area in search of delicious new ethnic fare, trendy eats and comfort food. We will share our interesting finds and good laughs along the way.
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