This restaurant aspires to be one of the more sophisticated venues in the Power & Light District and certainly looks the part. The stylish interior boasts clean lines, blond wood, beautifully upholstered leatherette banquettes, fresh orchids and romantic lighting. The service is still slightly off the mark and the dinner menu — which ranges from fried chicken and waffles to lobster ravioli to dry-aged steaks – is ambitious and unabashedly upscale. For all its affectations, though, it’s not the spot for a quiet romantic dinner, particularly if there’s an outdoor concert on the KC Live stage just outside the sliding glass doors to the rear of the restaurant. For impressing out-of-towners, this restaurant has a lot of “wow” factor, but you better be ready to spend $12 for a Maker's Mark burger and much more for the entrées, which are à la carte. — Charles Ferruzza
Price: $$-$$$
Payment Type: All Major Credit Cards, Diners Club
Parking: Free, Garage, Street, Valet
Reservations: Accepted, Recommended for Large Parties, Not Necessary
Attire: Business casual
Entertainment: Friday only
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I love Maker's Mark, the bourbon, so much that several years ago I convinced my college friends to pile in a car an make the trip down to Loretto from Mizzou to see its place of birth. Marker's Mark the restaurant, unfortunately, did not even begin to live up to the wonderful product that made the name famous. The menu was expensive and extremely boring. It was essentially TGI Friday's with a better designer, better (but more expensive) cocktails, and slightly higher food costs. You would think a restaurant named after one of the country's greatest whiskies might attempt to incorporate some in at least one recipe. Maybe a KC strip with a great whisky sauce or whisky braised short ribs. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort exists. Instead, the menu consisted largely of tired "nice" restaurant staples. That wouldn't be a bad thing really if everything was well executed. But to this reviewer's disappointment, that was far from the case.
I recently dined there with my wife and a friend who's love of Maker's Mark surpasses even my own. Everyone was disappointed. I had the cleverly named "duck squared," which was ok, but for $28 I was expecting something that had some more thought behind it. The breast was overcooked and the whole dish was, frankly, boring. Even worse was my appetizer, the "signature" onion loaf. Why someone thought baking onion rings all together in a loaf pan was a good idea, let alone a "signature dish," is completely beyond me. Imagine you purchased some wonderful onion rings from Sonic, put them in the fridge for a few hours, then smashed them together on a plate and micro-waved them for a couple of minutes. Sound like a good idea? Well, that is the best way I can think of to describe my experience eating "the loaf." It was a soggy, greasy mess. The rest of the table's food was similarly disappointing. The only bright spot was a very well-made Maker's Manhattan.
The atmosphere was, in a word, odd. The bar area was loud, but fun. The porch out under the KC Live canopy was great. The small room in which we were seated, however, was uncomfortably quiet and strangely bright. The place would be better served by seating everyone in the main bar area. Though, at least our server was relatively attentive.
With so many other restaurant choices in the downtown area, I cannot fathom ever eating at Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge again. 1924 Main, Michael Smith, Le Fou Frog, Harry's Country Club, Phillip's Chop House, Bristol, and The Majestic all offer a much better dining experience for essentially the same price. Hell, I'd rather chomp down on one of Ted Turner's buffalo burgers or sip a wonderful milkshake at the fantastic, if a bit dirty, Town Topic before exposing myself to a place that considers the onion loaf a "signature dish" and then has the audacity to charge me to eat it.
I may go back to Maker's Mark, but I'll be drinking my dinner.
Rating Detail:
Food: 1
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Value: 1
Overall: 2
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