Red Onion Cafe — Restaurant in Joplin

I have eaten at this Joplin favorite many times over the years. Their servers are always excellent. There is currently a problem with the kitchen. This time my server, Jacob, made a mistake, but did try to get it corrected. I have a gluten-allergy. I told the server and ordered the Salmon off the "gluten-free" menu. He confirmed the salad was OK, minus the croutons. He got the salad perfect. They brought out the salmon with a glaze and rice, which is not how my gluten-free plate usually comes. Good thing I knew that, or I would have been super-sick. Jacob said he should have clarified which salmon plate I wanted, and took the plate back to the kitchen. It was returned to me on a clean plate without the rice, but still covered in a glaze Jacob assured me was safe. I took a couple of bites, discovering just how undercooked it was. I also did not feel comfortable the glaze was safe. Jacob took a look at how undercooked the salmon was, agreed with me, and returned to the kitchen. 10-15 minutes later I had a new portion of salmon, no glaze, still pretty undercooked. I needed to finish up and get back to work so I told Jacob I would just eat most of it.

He was apologetic, and noted the salmon did still appear underdone. I paid full price.

Last time I ate there, after telling my server about my gluten allergy and ordering the same menu item, there was a piece of rotini in my sautéed veggies. That server and manager were very apologetic and also did not charge us for my plate. So I had decided to give them another shot.

I am disappointed that I just may not be able to eat here anymore. My choices are somewhat limited being celiac already, and they had always been fairly accomodating because of their...

Im giving a 3 star rating because there are a lot of really great things about Red Onion Cafe, the location and atmosphere is spot on in my opinion. The place has a upscale , cozy vibe that gives you the feel of a reservations only dining establishment. I took my wife on a Friday evening around 6 pm and although the place was packed and several people waiting out front, our wait was less than 20 minutes. The restrooms were clean and our server was fantastic. The menu is huge, tons of great menu ideas that made it extreemly difficult to make a decision. Things went down hill with 5he food. The bread that is served with the salad had a very odd taste that reminded me of burned garlic salt. It took quite some time to get our food which would be understandable if it hadn't been so disappointing. I ordered bacon mac served with C.A.B Sirloin steak and skewered shrimp. The meal reminded me of hamburger helper,the steak had only thr flavor of raw meat, and the shrimp were quite obviously the small already peeled and previously frozen kind you buy in the bag at the grocery store. My wife wasn't impressed with her food either. To clarify , the food was not bad, it just wasn't what we were expecting given the rest of the evening up to that point. I also felt like the prices did not reflect the quality of food we received. I'd heard great things and I wanted this place to be great. It wasn't we will try this place again , id love to see them slim down the menu and instead freshen up the...

Came to visit Joplin for a day from B-ville and heard the Red Onion was the place to go, so let’s break this down as to why 4-stars. Summary - I’d like to go to a place that you feel welcomed and wanted + the food, service and ambiance is also great. That was lacking. I felt like I had to do all the talking to get the staff to smile. No Welcome or any greeting. Food Quality - 5 Stars. Love the smoked chicken signature dishes. Great flavor in many of their dishes and sauces. The sweet onion vinaigrette and chipotle lime ranch were very good. Had the Arkansas spicy crunch burger. Awesome - get it. Wife had the Arkansas smoked chicken pasta. Nice little kick and loved the potatoes in the dish. Haven’t had that before. Ambiance - 3 Stars. Can’t tell what the theme is here. Has a very eclectic vibe with a music track that doesn’t seem to fit the decor. Customer Service - 4 Stars. Mariah, our server was prompt, pleasant and attentive and has a great smile when you engage with her. Wish the overall team was more focused on being more welcoming and inviting. Cleanliness - 4 Stars. Overall, good. Wish the bathrooms were a little more inviting with scent, cleanliness and character.

So - would we come back? Yes. Did I feel like my dining experience was 5 stars? No, but sometimes it’s a gamble on who you get. Thought Mariah was great and I’ve heard good things about the dessert, just ran out of...