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The American Restaurant
Category: Restaurants American (New) American (New) [Edit]
200 E 25th StKansas City, MO 64121
(816) 545-8001
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Valet
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
24 reviews for The American Restaurant
Review Highlights
"...by other interesting Traveling Cocktail Club lovin' folks..."
(in 2 reviews)
"...of the group had the salmon roe and caviar appetizer while..."
(in 2 reviews)
"...food and atmosphere, but with an affordable price point."
(in 3 reviews)
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24 reviews in English
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Review from Stephen H.
Overland Park, KS
1/29/2012
Saving the best for last isn't just a good principle for eating...it's a good principle for Restaurant Week. I started the first weekend of Restaurant Week with Webster House, Justus, and Julian, and I'm ending with Starker's, The American, and Pierpont's.
I knew this before I got here and had the absolutely amazing meal-experience that I did last night: The American is the classiest restaurant in town. Part of that is the decor. Yes, some of the pieces may seem a bit older, but those things are absolutely blown away by the view over the city - lit trees and the skating rink at Crown Center at your feet, the Kauffman and downtown on the horizon - and the soaring windows and tree-like-lighting fixtures that characterize this absolutely amazing place.
Now, if you mean "older" in the average age of the patrons there - I'm sure that outside of Restaurant Week, the average age is around 50-55 (as opposed to last night, when it was probably closer to 30-35). But, I'm not going to stay away from a restaurant because my fellow patrons are too old. Are they the only ones entitled to good food and great service? In any event, the only reason I had not been to the American all those years is because I have always seen it as an "occasion" restaurant. Someplace so wonderful and amazing that you need a special reason to go...not just a random Saturday night. Everything about our night confirmed what I had always known.
Service: top-notch. While the crack hosting staff unwittingly let our 6-top be poached by less scrupulous diners with a similar last name, the maitre'd came over to us and bought a round of drinks while they arranged and even better table with an even better view. Food was brought out on time, well-paced, and seamlessly by an army of waiters who, in Restoration France-style, laid all our courses down in front of us at just about the same time (I was just waiting for a small bell to ring, held in the hands of the Remains-of-the-Day Anthony Hopkins' Mr. Stephens, somewhere in the distance. It wouldn't have shocked me :-). The two bottles of Cotes-du-Rhone that I ordered seemed to disappear into our glasses without any of us ever knowing it was being poured, and big surprise, our party of 6 closed the place down at around 1130pm.
Food: The American was smart enough not to serve from its regular menu this week and thus put a lot of money towards Harvesters vis-a-vis RW. I had a wonderful poached egg for my starter, followed by Campo Lindo chicken, finished with a dessert that looked like it had been created for a Top Chef quick-fire challenge.
Atmosphere and Ambiance: I spoke to this above but everywhere you turn in the American you are going to find lovely views, smiling (and attractive) waitstaff and host-staff, and the knowledge that while the company of good friends makes any night special...a place like this just takes it to the next level.
Thanks guys...and I'll be back soon...before next year's RW....if I can't find a special occasion, I'm just going to sit in the bar with friends and enjoy that view.
PS I continue to be stunned that not just in America, but worldwide, people can't be bothered to dress up for anything. What a shame.
PPS The kitchen, as to be expected, made special vegetarian entrees for half of our 6-person party. Nice.Listed in: Kansas City Top 105 for…, Top "Special Occasion"…
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Review from AJ G.
Overland Park, KS
1/22/2012
Kansas City Restaurant Week - the American
Restaurant week: what a concept! Dozens of excellent restaurants offer a 3- course prix-fixe menu for $30, with 10% going to Harvesters, the food bank. So, for fine restaurants, who often charge more than $30 for an entrée, this is a challenge. One assumes that the only reasonable strategy for a restaurateur is to use relatively humble ingredients, and with technique and presentation, elevate them to the restaurant's usual standards. After all, one assumes that one of the benefits for the participating restaurants is to attract clientele, who may return at full price. My wife and I made reservations at a number of places in Kansas City for the week, and I thought it would be fun to Yelp about them.
I have been to the American a number to times, but not for several years at least, generally preferring places that are more convenient, or trendier. And, indeed, walking into the American thorough that odd elevator entrance is like visiting your elderly aunt, the one with money. She is dressed with taste and no lack of expense, but nevertheless appears...dated. Initially her manner seems strict, old-school, a bit pretentious, but it does not take long to see she has a twinkle in her eye, is glad to see you, and has a heart of gold (weak pun intended).
So it is at restaurant week at the American. The room is elegant, perhaps a bit worn, but with a lovely view through big picture windows of the cheery lighted trees and ice skating at Crown Center. Service here is as polished and professional, in an understated style, as anywhere. Elegant and welcoming at the same time, which is not as easy as they make it look.
The meal was lovely. A wine pairing for the three courses was offered for $20; two of our party of four opted for that. Among the four of us we tried the three offered starters: a winter soup, a salad, and the most unusual: the "63 degree egg." We were told that 63 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature to poach an egg, so this was a perfectly poached egg, served in a little dish in a puddle of cauliflower cream, and garnished with crisp leaves of kale. It was interesting and pleasant, although it would have been nice to season it with a bit of salt and pepper, which were not on the table.
The classic philosophical question was answered, as the egg came first. The next course was chicken, in my case, salmon, or braised pork. All were nicely presented, perfectly cooked, served with small portions of creative starches and vegetables. Dessert may have been the culinary highlight: I opted for the pineapple upside down cake, which was a deconstructed item with a little cube of cake centered about various sweet sauces and garnishes artfully scattered around a large plate. Pretty and with an array of great flavors. The other desserts at the table were equally pretty and consumed with glee.
The wine pairing was not particularly successful; here the financial constraints played to disadvantage. Twenty bucks is not much for three glasses of wine. A white came with the egg, and a red with the chicken; the best that can be said is that they were clean and drinkable, but uninteresting. Perhaps the restaurant should consider not offering wine at a price that appears to sacrifice quality. Dessert, however, was another matter: this came with a fizzy cocktail, which may or may not have been wine-based, that was not particularly well explained, but which we were given to understand contained "essence of cucumber." While that did not sound especially promising, in fact it was refreshing and delicious and worked very well with the dessert.
We left feeling that we had had a true culinary experience, genuinely fine dining. Hats off to the American for providing this at a very reasonable price, while supporting an important cause. -
Review from Alka J.
Manhattan, NY
1/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
Best meal I've had in Kansas City, hands-down.
I travel here for business and decided to stop in one night. Only had about an hour / hour and a half so when I saw how formal the restaurant was, I wondered if I could really consume 3 courses in a short time. Upon arrival, the hostess asked if we had any dietary restrictions and we also let her know our time constraints.
I started with the Endive salad - it was pretty good. The candied apple was actually more like a thin apple chip. Not what I was expecting as I was looking for a little more of an apple taste.
The duck was FANTASTIC. Perfect. Wow. It went so well with the plum and the tangerine added such a subtle citrus flavor. Cooked medium rare, this was some of the best duck I have ever had. And if you read my other reviews, you will know I've had a lot of duck.
Had the "Key Lime Pie" for dessert. So heavenly.
Exceptional service and amazing food. Since I don't eat BBQ, I can now say there is another reason to come and eat in Kansas City. -
Review from Lilian O.
Houston, TX
5/9/2011 7 photos
This review is for Kansas City Restaurant Week only where $30 for a 3 course meal at The American is an absolute bargain. In fact, it's the best deal out of all the participating restaurants for Restaurant Week.
I've dined at upscale establishments such as Skies, Smith & Wollensky in Chicago, and the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas but never a AAA Four Diamonds and Mobil Travel Guide Four Star rated restaurant. My friends and I were concerned that the service would be stuffy, and we would feel completely out-of-place. Despite my group of 20-something-year-olds with none of the guys donning suit jackets, the employees were not the slightest bit pretentious. In fact, they were very professional, friendly, and put us at ease.
Service was superb and every course was fantastic. We started with the panna cotta, peanut sea salt, and microgreens apertif which had the perfect play of creamy and crunchy texture. The omnivores of the group had the salmon roe and caviar appetizer while I indulged in a creamy cauliflower buttermilk soup. For their entrees, they had the walleye and antelope.
Even though a vegetarian entree was not listed on the menu, the chef created a dish for my fiancee and I based upon our preferences. It was artistically plated with a beautiful mix of greens, browns, and orange from the vegetables and the starches including carrot cake crumble. The Brussels sprouts and oyster mushrooms were absolute perfection.
However, they were marred by the extreme bitterness of what we believed to be boiled leeks. It was almost ironic as that was the exact reason why Mike Isabella was voted to leave Top Chef season 6 for the Natalie Portman vegetarian challenge. Why anyone would boil a leek and think it's good is beyond me.
The desserts picked my spirits up. My deconstructed frozen baklava was heavenly. The phyllo dough was perfectly flaky and when combined with the drizzle of honey and house-made ice cream, it tasted exactly like how it sounds. My fiancee ordered the deconstructed peppermint patty which decadent chocolate, brownie, and mint ice cream. A perfect ending for a wonderful meal.
Everyone should treat themselves to The American at least once for a fancy night on the town.Listed in: The Best of Kansas City
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Review from Jennifer H.
Kansas City, MO
3/8/2011
I guess everyone has to go to The American once. It is arguably the nicest restaurant in Kansas City. The dining room is romantic and the view is superb. The service is very good. The atmosphere is refined, and it is refreshing to dine somewhere where the other patrons are all dressed well. (Let's be honest, don't you hate going to a nice restaurant in your little black dress only to be sat next to a table of jean wearers?)
The food was very good, but I will say this: I'd heard the food was supposed to blow me away, and it didn't. It WAS great, but my socks weren't knocked off. I can't take away a star for this, though, for two reasons: first, I'm hard to please and have been to some great darn restaurants in larger cities than Kansas City in my time, and second, I was probably setting my expectations too high because of the hype. Presentation, by the way, was superb. I can promise you that you will NOT be disappointed by the food at The American. -
Review from krysztof n.
Kansas City, MO
Crown Center was quiet that evening, and The Dame and I walked through abandoned, after-work hallways and mid-century elevators mirrored and intimate to the floor of The American for The Traveling Cocktail Club.
The lounge was open for their residency, and since we'd been such fans of Manifesto, keeping up with their ventures around town allowed us to try new venues while being able to enjoy the particulars of such amazing mixology. Tonight we had the added benefit of a special bar-menu items prepared for the occasion, and a fine, fine benefit it was...
It's no surprise we had the best drinks in town (ingredients included St. George Absinthe, a personal favorite), but while whiling away the evening hours, enjoying the sunset over the KC skyline through the magnificent bay windows of the space, we got hungry. I handed the menu to The Dame and asked, "What can you eat?"
She's a vegetarian after all. In Kansas City, sometimes that means "no dice, we're a carnivorous town", and at first glance at the menu, it seemed that may be the case here, as well. But here's where The American really impressed me...
Our staff-server that evening was so amazingly gracious and accommodating, already, that this pretty much took it over the top. Upon hearing that The Dame couldn't actually order anything off of the bar-menu, he found out her particular likings, generally, and stated, "We'll make sure you get something".
And with that, we were soon greeted by a custom-made plate of vegetarian goodness prepared by the kitchen currently staffed by a Beard Award Chef. So, not only accommodated for personal taste and preference, but prepared no hassle, on the spot. It's that kind of service that makes places like this such a great experience.
Now, enough about that, I wanna talk about my own Chewmories™....
I got the Braised Pork Belly Sandwich. Holy. Moly. This thing was the thing that a regular old Ham and Cheese sandwich ASPIRES to be. The Pork! The Bread! The CHEESE!!! Oh my god I can still taste this thing and it's been weeks since it was in my mouth. I savored every delicious (and non-greasy!) bit, complete with incredibly flavorful fries on the side, and my smokey brown-liquor drink. These were the moments that we came for.
We stayed all night. Between the conversations, food tasting, and multi-drink imbibing, who'd want to leave? As the saying goes, we didn't have to go home, but we couldn't stay there, so we ventured back out into the quiet abandon of Crown Center.
Walking to the garage, lit up and satiated by food and drink, a fellow patron walking to their car was taking advantage of the empty, concrete spaces and singing in an old-jazz style, reverberating through the warm and quiet night, finishing off our experience there with a lazy calm of satisfaction... -
Review from Joi B.
7/29/2010 1 Check-in Here
It's probably no secret to those who know me that I do love dressing up and going out. Give me an occasion, and I'm going to take pleasure in dressing for it. My closet that is actually a room begs for such occasions. So when I heard that the Traveling Cocktail Club's next stop was The American, I was pretty excited as I had never been there and what better reason to don the fancy threads?
The American is now featuring a special lounge menu and to kick things off, bartender rock star, Ryan Maybee brought his Traveling Cocktail Club there last weekend.
Let it be known that I think this is a step in the right direction for the American. It seems like venerable institutions are declining in popularity, either that or people are demanding a whole hell of a lot from 4-star restaurants (not 4 Yelp stars, mind you). I probably wouldn't have come here if not for the event last weekend. I'd think it was more the kind of place I'd take my folks if they were in town. If I want a fancy night out, I tend to prefer lower key places like Bluestem, Thomas or my Lawrence favorite, 715. All have exquisite food and atmosphere, but with an affordable price point. As a vegetarian, I just can't see spending hundreds of dollars on a meal.
I was really appreciative of the American as soon as I stepped inside. Previous reviews liken the decor to dated 1980s. I disagree because I despise that aesthetic. I like to think of it that strange period in time when the 60s were trying to reject the 50s: overboard with the garish and gold, yet still decidedly Mid Century Modern. Hell, I could see a Fellini movie being shot here (more Juliet of the Spirits than Nights of Cabiria). So decor=score.
The cocktails, need I say, were perfect. I stuck to the absinthe sazeracs for the majority of the evening. I'm not sure what their regular cocktail menu is like, as Ryan was only guest bartending.
On to the new lounge menu. If you're a meat eater, you'll be in heaven. The K had a pork belly sandwich which he likened to a sophisticated ham and cheese and apparently it was phenomenal. Our friend ordered both the tomato/mozzarella salad which is served in two tidy stacks and a tray of cerviche shooters. She seemed extremely fond of both.
Be aware, vegetarians, there is nothing on that menu you can order (including the salad), but ask your waiter and ye shall receive! My dish was a variety of different mushrooms in a divine broth so delicious, I wanted to pick up the plate and drink the rest of it. If that's not your thing, they will make you something according to your tastes, so don't skip on ordering food just because it's full of meat and seafood. Your server is your friend, here, very helpful as to making suggestions and there when you needed him.
Prices on the Lounge menu are on par with mid-range places in town. The pork belly sandwich (comes with fries) is probably your heartiest option and at around 10 dollars, it seems a real deal to me. The salad was about the same price and I can't recall the seafood shooters. Nothing on the menu was over 12 dollars. I mention the prices because judging from the rest of these reviews, most people don't get out of the American without spending 100 per person, more if drinks are involved.
Our bill for a *lot* of cocktails, plus our two dishes came to $65, well within our budget. But really, can you place a price on the perfect night out, spent with friends and surrounded by other interesting Traveling Cocktail Club lovin' folks in the lounge?
Overall, I had a phenomenal experience at the American the other night. In some ways, I feel this could be my new Algonquin. -
Review from joe c.
Kansas City, KS
5/15/2010
We went to The American Restaurant to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. I don't give a 1 lightly, but wrapping up the food, service and overall experience, I really feel i'm being extra nicey nice on this one.
REMEMBER: This is a 4 star restaurant. With the price tag attached, I'm going to expect a lot more than going to Applebee's for an all you can eat riblet night. In short, I'm rating this place against other amazing 4 star eating experiences that I've had before this one.
I'll break it down with 3 reasons why this experience was woefully sub-par.
1. atmosphere- Basically the only reason it even has a 1 is because of the skyline view of the city. Apart from that, this restaurant looks like it should have been showcased in an 80's movie about wallstreet yuppies. The look is absolutely dated and needs a large overhaul. It's almost comical.
2. Food- meh...It wasn't horrible, but it didn't blow us away. The food was heavy and over complicated. Don't get me wrong, everything was prepared well, but it almost seemed geared towards the 60 and over crowd, saucey & extremely rich. Not to mention the fact that they ran out of the snowcrab at 7:30pm on a Friday. Not really acceptable in my book.
Nothing blew me away and nothing could make up for the horrible...
3. Service!...I give this a ZERO! A true 4 star experience isn't only about actual food and more with the experience that the staff gives you as the food is being transported to and away from your table.
We had 4 courses and they literally would just plop the food down in front of us without saying a word about it. I've never seen anything like it. We waited there, jaw-dropped for someone to come over and at least describe the complicated pieces of food-art presented to us. When our waitress would finally come back to the table, she literally said...."Well, that's the pork and that's the prime rib." SERIOUSLY!
It was very apparent that she was new and didn't know the menu yet, but that's absolutely no excuse for a 4 star restaurant. After a few times of us cornering her to give us a little bit of an explanation about the $300 meal we were ingesting, it was made very apparent that we were basically given up on and we got VERY minimal table appearneces.
One of the poor food runners we pinned down actually pointed to our plate and said.."umm...that is..well, um...that's green." he then slapped our table a couple of times and ran off.
After the first 2 pours of wine, we were left to fend for ourselves to pour wine our of the extremely large wine carafe. I'm not trying to be needy here, I can pour my own wine, but again, it's 4 FREAKING STARS!
We had some many friends recommend this place that I'm really hoping that we just got an almost comical "bad night", but this is a forum for my personal experience and I'm always going to set it straight.
Save your $ and hit up somewhere that offers an unique experience along with their food. These places are a dying breed and the whole experience left me feeling that these restaurants are very quickly becoming irrelevant.
Did it ruin our anniversary? Hell no, we got almost more of a kick from the fact that it was such an awful experience.
Will i be back? Hell no. -
Review from Jamison U.
Kansas City, MO
7/23/2010
So I finally got over to the American for dinner, the wife and I had a 'celebration' type dinner.
We had the occasion to go all out, so we went for the 7 course tasting full Monte (I think we got about any add-on option we were offered).
I would say the service first off, was fantastic. On par without question with any place in the country.
All the food was good, however nothing stood out as 'fantastic' and nothing stood out as 'terrible'.
From an overall experience perspective this restaurant was on par with places in Vegas, New York, or LA. In that same way so was the food, unmemorable. Nothing slapped me and made me say 'wow this was fantastic'.
If your looking into a high end experience (like to impress a friend or guest) or you like 'fine dining' this is a must. If you want that AND fantastic food with flair this is a miss.
Last note the wife and i would go back, we like this kind of dining.
Oh and the view is unreal! -
Review from y p.
Manhattan, NY
6/19/2011
One of the best views along with the restaurant's unique decor. They are BIG into various types of decanters. The pace is great for romantic dining.
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Review from Brian C.
Kansas City, MO
5/9/2010
"Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?" was how the phone was answered when I called to make a reservation. Which pretty much set the tone at the American.
The executive chief is top notch, the appetizers, and deserts were amazing leaving us trying not to moain abseanly. The fish entree I had was actaully rather bland. My friends soup was sinful though. Over all the food was great and on par for what you would expect at this level, but most of what you are paying for at the American is the old money service and environment.
So if you are capable of putting your own napkin on your lap then your money is probably better spent at RM39, Michael Smith's, or Blue Stem.
If you like the really up scale service then this is the place for you.Listed in: Places to get your food snob…
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Review from Brian U.
Sylmar, CA
5/25/2010
I go to restaurants for the food, but it's easy to get hung-up on the service here. It's not that the service is bad. The service was helpful, present, and attentive, but is ridiculous with their overscripted lines and faux haughtiness.
If the restaurant is going to be stuffy and pretentious like an old-school Chasen's in Los Angeles, then follow through with classic, experienced waiters, not young kids who are "acting" the part. Also, don't sell out the lounge to a corporate party where the noise enters the main dining area. So instead of a peaceful setting, the experience sounds like a hotel lobby restaurant. The piano was nice, but the singer made the environment a bit campy.
Put all these dining elements together, the dining experience turns laughably cheesy instead of being classy.
It's too bad the tone of the room was off-kilter because there is some interesting food being produced here which underscore why Debbie Gold competed on Bravo TV's "Top Chef Masters". We ordered a four-course tasting which was one of the smaller options.
I started with a decomposed, oops, I mean deconstructed vichyssoise. The plate was beautiful and the flan-like "soup" was nicely combined with smoked salmon roe and fresh pansy petals. My girlfriend started with the handmade ricotta-filled agnolotti with prosciutto and fava beans in a rich, oily broth. This dish could easily get too salty, but it wasn't. Because the pasta sauce was really a broth, it seemed like an Italian take on Chinese won ton soup. So the dish was tasty and playful - a pleasing combination.
We created a seafood second course. I had the arctic char with artichokes. The sea trout was quality fish and cooked with a wonderful, crispy skin. The menu claimed "purple Globe artichokes". The dish included half of a small artichoke heart. The description made me imagine multiple artichokes. And it's not like I ordered the 9-course tasting were the proportions are miniaturized. My girlfriend had the soft shell crab with barley and succotash popcorn. The crab was well cooked, but barley was boring and the stale popcorn misplaced.
For the main course, I had the lamb chop and crepinette with oyster mushrooms, fava beans, and spinach. The crepinette is an encased lamb meatball ground with plenty of herbs. I greatly enjoyed the chop and the crepinette, individually. Clearly, the two presentations of lamb were dramatically contrasting, but it didn't create a greater impression of lamb. The dish was also over-salted. The chicken breast with ramps, lemon sauce, grits, and parsley pistou that my girlfriend had was confusing. The breast was good by itself with an expertly cooked skin like the arctic char. The lemon undersauce was completely wrong and unedible. I can't imagine a dish that could use lemon that strong. The pistou was also misplaced, but edible. Finally, the "Middlin grits" was rice. Perhaps this is a recasting of chicken 'n' grits but styled after a Chinese lemon chicken with rice? I'll never know.
For dessert, I had the "smoky chocolate mousse", bacon brittle (It has bacon!), chocolate sponge and burnt sugar gelato. Although I love bacon, the brittle was the only failed part of this multiple component dish. The mousse was really a pumpkin-colored cake that was truly smoky. I generally dislike the dry, bread-like "sponges" that have been popping up on desserts as a substitute for cake. But I really liked this sponge. My girlfriend had a trio of sorbets with sugar-coated doughnut holes. The sorbets had interesting flavors, but the doughnuts lifeless.
An amuse bouche of watermelon gelatin, a dessert amuse of honey gelatin, and petit fours of chocolate chip cookies, melon drop, and wrapped chocolate candy were also served. -
Review from Bill B.
7/5/2008
I am somewhat surprised that this restaurant has not been reviewed here before. It is the only restaurant in the Kansas City area that has four stars in the Mobil Guide. It also is top rated in the AAA guide and in http://OpenTables.com. Similarly in St. Louis, there is only one restaurant with four stars in the Mobil Guide (Tony's). The nearest five star restaurants are in Chicago. The American Restaurant is not inexpensive, but it is no more expensive than BlueStem or Capital Grille, which have been review in Yelp. In fact The American Restaurant is less expensive that Morton's Steak House, located directly below The American Restaurant, and not as good as The American Restaurant (unless you get your kicks out of seeing a live lobster crawling around on the serving cart next to you at Morton's).
The American Restaurant charges for the number of courses: 3, 4, or 5. The smart move is to go for three, and save the cost of the fourth and fifth courses to spend across the street on a play at the Off Center Theatre or the American Heartland Theatre on the top floor of the Crown Center. I did that tonight, and saw the play, "Reefer Madness." It was well done, and very, very funny.
The architect who designed the American Restaurant is the same one who design the famous Windows on the World restaurant that was on the top of the World Trade Center. If you never got a chance to see that wonderful restaurant, you could go to the American Restaurant, stand by the three-story high windows, and imagine what the view would have been like, if about 100 stories higher, and on Manhattan. -
Review from Chris P.
Charlottesville, VA
8/21/2008 1 Check-in Here
There is only one review for The American Restaurant, which is somewhat surprising, as the only other person to review the restaurant mentioned. I will also preface this by saying that all of my visits to The American were when Celina Tio was executive chef. I had also been to 40 Sardines, and appreciate Debbie Gold's work.
Let's start from the beginning: The American Restaurant is the best restaurant in Kansas City. Service here is impeccable: extraordinarily attentive, yet not overbearing. The waitstaff is extraordinarily knowledgeable about, well, everything. The food is delightful: at least under Chef Tio, flavours played together incredibly well. And the wine list is comprehensive, to say the least.
This is not an everyday restaurant. We ended up spending just shy of 400$ for the two of us. It is, though, a restaurant to be savored. -
Review from Eater M.
Overland Park, KS
9/26/2011
Don't believe the hype. Food was pretty - pretty to look at and pretty bland. Not one dish out of our 21 different courses spoke to me. There was a general lack of seasoning throughout the courses and evidently serving food above room temperature is out of the question. The best items of the evening were the cheese courses and wine - both of which can be obtained elsewhere without the hefty price tag. Unfortunately, $600 later the only thing I can taste is bitterness...
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Review from Gavin F.
Overland Park, KS
8/1/2010
I had dinner at the American last night for the first time in a few years. My wife, who dined with me, had only been there for a wedding reception and had never had the chance to order from the menu. Needless to say, we were excited, with good reason. While our evening was not perfect and the bill was not insignificant, we had a great time and will be saving for a return visit.
Our evening started early. W e had some pre-dinner plans that fell through and we decided to spend a little time in the lounge. When we got there they were happy to seat us but also happy to have us wait in the bar if that was our preference. Our bartender was a visiting consultant/mixologist who had created a drink menu that was out of this world. Yelp only allows so many characters and I am not going tp spend them in the lounge, but I will tell you, go drink at this bar!
Next, we chose to be seated. Our waiter came and introduced himself to us and asked if we had any questions about the wine list. We did and he admitted they were a bit beyond him so he sent over the sommelier and then he went away. While we had the wine list, he didn't give us any menus. I don't want to make too big a deal out of this because were were treated very well, but we were seated at 8:00 and I looked at my watch at 8:50 and we still hadn't gotten menus. Now, it's not as if I had some place to be. I was in for the long haul and planned on staying late into the night. Still, waiting nearly an hour just to get our menus, even with leisurely pacing and wine service in the interim, seemed a bit too long, especially since I'd been purposely starving myself in preparation for this meal. It's a small complaint, and I don't know if it was done on purpose to help us not feel rushed or if it was accidental, but checking back a couple of times with a menu or an amuse-bouche would've been nice.
Our wine service was excellent. I'm a small-time wine collector and there were some bottles on there way out of my range. There were also some bottles that were well-within my desired price point. Happily, the sommelier, was the good kind who wasn't interested in pushing us into a bottle beyond what we'd wanted to pay. We had a couple of bottles in mind, both in the $80.00 range and he had no intent of trying to sequeeze an extra twenty bucks out of us. He happily answered our questions and even complimented us on our adventurousness because the botles we were looking at were a couple of his more well-hidden "gems." He was great.
As for our dinner, I loved mine. The American has a "create your own tasting menu where you order a number of courses and they charge by the course. We opted to go five courses. I had the cucmber gazpacho, which was velvety and lovely and spiked with shrimp and pickled beets.
From there, I had my most unusual dish of the evening: a 63-degree egg. The chef took a Campo Lindo Farms egg and cooked it sous vide, which was not something I would ever have imagined. Imagine a perfectly-cooked poached egg. The egg was served with a rice pudding that was more like a sauce, porcini "foam", truffle oil, country bread summer truffle. It was a great dish. The poached egg, when I broke the yoke, served to make more of a sauce for the bread and truffle. So light and etheral, yet so earthy. The only (slight) problem here was, again, service-related. It happened a couple of times during the night but this was the first: Our servers didn't seem to know who had ordered what. I had the egg and my wife had a watercress salad but they brought me a knife and fork and her a spoon. When I ordered the dish, I had no real concept of what it would look like, but after we were served, it was obvious that the spoon should have gone to me. Again, a minor detail but one a truly high-end restaurant like this should catch.
After that, I had the dry-aged Piedmontese Cote du Boeuf. Oh my god. This is the steak of my dreams. There us a $40.00 upcharge for this, but the steak is so enormous that tehre was some to share with the wife and also enough to bring home for a tasty breakfast. It was cooked perfectly, it was acrved tableside and serves with a perfectly-ripe summer tomato salad and a dish of chitarra pasta with bagna caulda, which is an olive oil, garlic and anchovy sauce. The oil was perfect. The anchovy wasn't too strong, nor was the garlic.
From there we had an excellent cheese course and I had the berries flambe. The wife doesn't eat sugar, so she skipped dessert, but the kitchen was more than happy to serve her some unsweetened whipped cream and berries which was lovely. My dessert was made iwth two liquors and I asked to have a taste of both of them. They were accomodating, but they also charged me twenty bucks for a coupe of very small pours. They should have charged me, but that seemed kind of steep.
One final touch, which I always appreciate, is that the chef came out and greeted us personally. An excellent touch. -
Review from Luke N.
Kansas City, MO
7/3/2011
Let me start by saying I was totally UNDERWHELMED by my first experience at the American for a First Friday's lunch special. For several years now, I've had the impression that the American was the "best" restaurant in town. Upon exiting the elevators, I felt like I immediately time warped to the 1980s. The photos make this place look pretty amazing. But the maroon carpet, brass details and chairs that seemed like they came from a conference room all threw off the whole experience for me--not to mention that we were probably 30 years younger than all of the other guests. The food was good, but not amazing. I had a braised pork sandwich with a friend green tomato served on pretzel roll. My wife ordered the hot smoked salmon sandwich. The best part of the whole meal was that we got to an enjoy a delicious bottle of wine--50% off. (Friday special during lunch). The service was ok, but a bit spotty. As they got busier, our service level decreased. I don't know what else to say except, I'm glad my first experience was over lunch, and not a $110 three-course meal. But, I'm also curious if the mood/vibe of the restaurant is totally different at night, or perhaps even during the holiday season. Try it again? Perhaps. But will have to be a while for sure, and I'm probably far more likely to visit Bluestem 1-2x before going back to The American.
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Review from Michelle A.
Kansas City, MO
9/24/2010
The food is unremarkable and overpriced.
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Review from Shawn H.
Kansas City, MO
2/24/2009
I have conflicting feelings about this place. My wife and I ate here. It was very good. Very formal, I had to wear a jacket. Top notch service, excellent creativity in American nuvoux cuisine, yes it does have a number of awards, and the view from the large picture windows overlooking downtown was excellent, however the price was a bit ridiculous for what you get. This place serves tiny, portions. I realize that this is upscale and they do not serve hogging portions but this was so small some items were only one or two bites. I've had as good in larger portions and at better prices. For the two of us it was about $240. We purchase one glass of wine a piece. That price is just silly. So while it's great cuisine that deserves 5 stars the price and portions are so extreme it pulls it down to a 4 star for me.
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Review from Wayne H.
Los Angeles, CA
2/15/2009
We had an absolutely exquisite dining experience at The American. This is by far the best restaurant in Kansas City and it's definitely worth its hefty price tag for that once-in-a-while splurge. Each course was well executed and the timing of the courses was perfect--not too rushed but also not leaving you hungry, wondering when the next course would come out. We're pretty light eaters, but went for the 5-course just so we could try a couple more selections and it turned out to be way too much food for us and we'd probably do the 3-course next time. The service at The American is top notch--the waitstaff were extremely knowledgeable about the food and wine selections, and went out of their way to ensure we had an absolutely perfect dining experience. We'll definitely be back!
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Review from Kate R.
Overland Park, KS
2/1/2009
This very pricey, rather silly restaurant tries a bit too hard. The food is lovely, and Celina is unquestionably a great chef, but I've had as good in larger portions, from less expensive places and with less bizarrely overdone service. The complimentary bread (wheat and white-rosemary!! with goat butter OMG) is the best part, and the dessert I had (some kind of caramelized berry flambe goodness) was sensational. Dinner is prix fixe at $65 per person for the smallest (3-course) option; lunch is more flexible and cheaper.
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Review from mad c.
Kansas City, MO
8/12/2009
NOT the best restaurant in KC. Ridiculously over-priced and lame atmosphere. The decor is exactly the same as when I was a kid and it's kinda cool, but there is never any business and that makes the place BORING. The food is only ok. Even if it were comparably priced, say to Michael Smith or Pachamama's in Lawrence, it would still not be someplace I'd frequent. Sorry. I have no idea how this place gets the accolades it does.
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Review from Bradley R.
Chicago, IL
10/7/2010
I went there for the very first time this past Tuesday night. We were late for our reservation and arrived at closing time but they were beyond pleasant and accommodating and NEVER let on that the kitchen was closing in 6 minutes. The staff, Wendy i think our server was, was beyond amazing and knowledgeable. Upon returning home I found out that I used to work with the chef Debbie Gold back in the day at a Morton family restaurant. It makes sense. The food was amazing. We had a four course. It delivered every course. Dessert was to die for. I am very impressed as i did not expect such a high standard of fare, presentation and execution for the price point. I am very happy I went and would actually return !!!!
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Review from Melissa R.
Overland Park, KS
11/1/2009 1 Check-in Here
drug rep dinner. stuffy staff. turnip ravioli ok. radish salad fresh and peppery-best thing all night. beef rib eye unremarkable. malted chocolate for dessert. i'm wondering if this wasn't a catered meal rather than the real-deal American restaurant?
