The American Reserve

• dave@lab6.com

Michael Jay

A slightly upper scale atmosphere spot in the crossroads. The place was slammed when we stopped by on a first Friday, it might be advisable to get a reservation. The Lebanese Hummus was tasty, it was topped in an unusual way with a tomato sauce. Which was a new approach to me, but it worked. The Marinated Olives were brought out in a relatively large ramekin with a second for the pits, an assortment of 4 or 5 different types of olives and marinated lemon peel. An assortment of olives, kalamata, some tiny little ones, a bright green Greek olive and one or two more. There was one I wasn't crazy about, but mostly tasty and interesting to try. Mezze Spreads, we got the spreads without the Beet Hummus. The Baba Ghanoush was pleasant, but without the signature smokey flavor and it was extra creamy with almost a hummus like flavor and texture instead of eggplant. The carrot hummus was pleasant, no actual noticeable carrot flavor. The pita was nice light and fluffy and we had enough. The Greek salad was very fresh, firm tomatoes, nice crunchy cucumber, crisp fresh romaine. A little small and basic for the price. We ordered it without the cheese, the kalamatas were a pleasant compliment giving most of its flavor. The dressing, seemed to have almost no flavor, where a Greek salad normally has a delicious strong flavor, which left it a bit lacking. Unless they normally rely entirely on the cheese for it's flavor ... The sauteed mushrooms were nice. A little chewy and soft for my personal preference with mushrooms, but the SO liked them a lot. It was a fair portion. They were very accommodating and friendly. They went out of their way and took good care of us. The atmosphere was tasteful, modern, nicely lit with plenty of light while still being soft. The type of place that has pass throughs decorated with assorted wines.

Ren Valentine

I've lived downtown for a few months and this has been "on the list" since I saw it. Was told on separate occasions that it's among the best of the best in KC so I mean... gotta try it out! Beautiful weather to sit outside and enjoy and boy oh boy did we enjoy. Malorie (forgive me if I spelled incorrectly) kindly and helpfully guided us through different options and suggestions. The asparagus bisque started the show with not just a bang but an absolute explosion. Creamy, flavorful, just rich enough without feeling heavy. Possibly my favorite thing. The ricotta is so fresh it felt made to order. No joke it's so light you forget you're eating cheese. Now these little puff pastries packed full of goat cheese and carmelized onion are... divine. Truly created in some other world. I tried the bone marrow because I'm always about the new experience and it's not something I'd experienced before. I recommend loading it up onto the accompanying bread and tasting it altogether. It's very rich, I loved it, but if you're not into that kind of fatty texture you may not appreciate it. The shishito peppers were perfect, but gotta say as a standalone compared to the cloud-parting goodness next to it on the table it wasn't my personal favorite. Excellent, don't get me wrong, but everything else just being SO GOOD left me forgetting I even ordered them. Not commenting on the shellfish cause that was for the wife, I'm allergic and didn't try them. Her comments on the mussels though were not just they're good, but she'd order it again based on the broth alone. Sounds like a W to me. Absolute 10/10 without question. This is now easily one of my favorite spots, possibly with only the Antler Room just above on a personal level. Thank you all so much, we'll be back!

Deborah Kangas

The food is phenomenal. We had several people in our group and with the tapas concept, we're able to taste nearly everything on the menu. It was all delicious! The patio was exposed to the sun more than was comfortable until we asked and they put up a shade. After that, it was quite nice. Mocktails are overpriced.

Saahil Panikar

Pros: Our server was awesome. And the service in general was good. The fruit crostada was exceptional and the duck leg was cooked beautifully. The portions of all the plates were quite large Cons: The food took a little while to come out but it was a beautiful night so we weren't too bothered. My biggest complaint is just that I don't think the flavors of a lot of the dishes were very cohesive. It felt like they were trying to do a lot to be elevated, but none of it really worked for us