A little over a year ago, my dad retired. We decided we would make it our mission to have father/daughter lunch and to try a new restaurant every week. We trade off every week picking and paying just to keep things even. Our only rule is it has to be a new place! We have allowed for a couple of repeats and also, we have allowed a couple of places that one of us has been to but not the other. We have had a great time galavanting around the city every week and still have a LOT of work to do! It has allowed us to explore all kinds of new places and see a bunch of new areas in town!

Without further ado, I present to you the list of places dad and I have been so far on our “mission”.  We have both rated each restaurant on a scale of 1 to 5.  1 being “I’ll probably never go there again” and 5 being “I would go all the time if I could!”

Pot Pie – our inaugural restaurant. Dad had seen it on a show on the food network and we had to try it. We both got pot pies because what else do you get at restaurant called Pot Pie? ME: 3, DAD: 4

Burrito Brothers – a burrito place (think Chipotle like) in the City Market.  ME: 3.5, DAD: 4.5

Pandolfi’s Deli – a great little place, unfortuantely now closed :(. We bent the rules and went twice within a few weeks, but only because they were closing and we had to go again before they closed! ME: 5, DAD: 4

Market 3 – a cool little market and deli close to our city market. Excellent peanut butter pie! ME: 4, DAD: 3.5

Scratch Bakery and Cafe – awesome bakery in downtown. Best Salted Caramel White Chocolate Chip Cookies (which we have actually been back for since…)! The food was decent too. ME: 4, DAD: 4

Ginger Sue’s – a breakfast and lunch spot right off the Liberty square.  I know dad has been there a couple more times for “breakfast call” with his buddies. ME: 3, DAD: 3.5

Johnny C’s Pasta and Deli – an Italian deli in an unlikely spot. Good food and good chocolate cake! ME: 4 , DAD: 4

La Tienda Chiquita – a little family run mexican restaurant in Liberty. ME: 3, DAD: 3

BC Bistro ME: 1, DAD: 1

The Majestic – A steakhouse/jazz club downtown.  Since we went for lunch, we didn’t get to see any live jazz, but I bet it would be fun to go some evening, even if it is a bit pricey.  ME: 3, DAD: 5

Los Corrals ME: 1, DAD: 1

Kate’s Kitchen – a “Northland” place that serves breakfast and lunch. Dad and I actually went here for breakfast for a change. ME: 3, DAD: 3

The Peanut Downtown – a repeat for Dad, a place known for their wings, but I had something else! ME: 3, DAD: 3

Manny’s Mexican Restaurant – a classic on “The Boulevard”. ME: 3.5, DAD: 4

Luigi’s Italian Restaurant – another local place in Liberty. ME: 3.5, DAD: 4

Rudy’s Tenampa Taqueria – Voted one of the top 10 mexican restaurants in the city, Dad and I weren’t so impressed… ME: 1, DAD: 1

Ben Franklin Bistro – on square in Clinton, a nice lunch spot! ME: 3, DAD: 3.5

The Lunch Box – an unassuming spot in the West Bottoms here in KC. ME: 4, DAD: 3

Ponaks – another Mexican restaurant on “The Boulevard” in KC. My new favorite place, I love that they don’t cover everything in cilantro! ME: 5, DAD: 4

Roxanne’s Cafe – a little cafe in Parkville. The food was decent but our service wasn’t the best…a better server could’ve made the whole experience better! ME: 2.5, DAD: 2

The Bell – a bar/restaurant in Liberty. Cool little spot that we actually had dinner here instead of our regualr lunch. Dad had some funky fish but the pretzel was awesome and my food was good! ME: 3, DAD:1

Ventana Gourmet Grill – a great spot in downtown Excelsior Springs. Perfect for lunch and I know mom and dad have also been back for dinner. ME: 4, DAD: 5

Anthony’s Restaurant & Lounge – ME: 3, DAD: 3

Gram & Dun – this was a KC Restaurant week pick! It is among the pricier restauarants on the Plaza and RW was a great way to try it. Food and service were both great! ME: 4, DAD: 4.5

Big Biscuit – this was a pick that I had been to before. Its a standard breakfast and lunch place. They are cropping up around the city everywhere! ME: 3, DAD: 3.5

Big Bam’s Burgers – a little burger joint in town. ME: 3, DAD: 3

Cupinis – this was a repeat for me…I love this place! A new one for dad. ME: 5, DAD: 4.5

Squeal Like a Pig (SLAP) BBQ – a hole in the wall, new to KC BBQ place. This place was AWESOME! Just typing it makes me want it NOW. ME: 5, DAD: 5

Judi’s Bakery and Cafe – it is a bakery and cafe, but truthfully we have never eaten a meal there, just stopped in a couple of times to grab some dessert. ME: 3, DAD: 5

The Phoenix – a cool restaurant and jazz bar downtown. There wasn’t any live music for when we were there for lunch but its supposed to be a hoppin place for music! ME: 3, DAD: 4

Hog Jaw Fritz BBQ – BBQ in Riverside! ME: 3, DAD: 3

Grunauer – a German restaurant down in the Crossroads/Freight District in KC. Lots of unfamiliar things on the menu, but what I had was decent. ME: 3, DAD: 5

Harvey’s at Union Station – a cool place to eat inside Union Station. Ask to sit on the top deck, its a great view of the Station! ME: 4, DAD: 4

Rock and Run Brewery – another place in Liberty, a cool restaurant/brewery – even though beer is not my thing! ME: 3, DAD: 3

Port Fonda – Mexican food in Westport that is not your traditional amercianized mexican food. Was a bit pricey for what you got, but the food was great! ME: 3, DAD: 2.5

Happy Gillis Cafe – a restaurant and hangout in Colombus Park. They had a different twist on their menu items. ME: 3, DAD: 2.5

Rays Lunch – an old fashioned greasy burger diner in Excelsior Springs. It was your typical greasy burger joint, don’t forget your cash when you go…cash only! ME: 3, DAD: 2

Blue Nile Cafe – ethiopian food in the City Market. My niece joined us and she definately wasn’t a fan but to be fair, dad and I weren’t impressed either. ME: 1.5, DAD: 2

KC Smokeburgers – dad has been here before but said I needed to try it. Huge burgers that are brought to the table in little smokers then placed on your bun. It was a good sized burger with good flavor! ME: 4, DAD: 4

Pie Five – this is a new place to KC (I think). It’s like the Chipotle of pizza. You pick your crust and toppings and they assemble it in front of you and cook it in their super fast pizza oven. You also get either a dessert or a salad and a drink for $10. A good amount of food for the money, I need to take Josh soon. ME: 5, DAD: 4.5

The Bite – a sandwich shop in the City Market. They have lots of interesting sounding sandwiches. A little pricey for a sandwich but it was a good sandwich! ME: 3.5, DAD: 4

My top three picks are Ponaks, SLAP and Pie Five. YUM!

This week we skipped our regular lunch because dad was heading out of town and instead went to breakfast at an old favorite, Ma and Pa’s Kettle.  They have the best biscuits and gravy and that’s what we got!  We would go there more but it is in a rare pocket of town where smoking in restaurants is still allowed and the smoke gets overwhelming in there!  But we love the people and the good, simple food so we endure it every so often.

From here on out, I hope to put up more detailed reviews as we go. 🙂

I was super excited when I saw this article listing 87 new spots in KC on Facebook last night.  Looks like we have lots more work to do!