Anton's — Restaurant in Kansas City

Really rough outing for our annual holiday family dinner at Anton's. The atmosphere sets the table for a restaurant that should just kill it and be one of the top venues in Kansas City. The prices on the menu also are in line with a restuarant that believes it's food, service and atmosphere warrant menu pricing that's similar to Eddie Vs, Stock Hill, Rye, Capital Grill etc. Unfortunately, there is zero comparison between the quality of the meal you'll get at Anton's and what you'll get at any of the aforementioned places.

Pregame Cocktails: I had THE MRS, which reads on the menu like Missus (I.E. - Mrs. Robinson), but I'm assuming it's supposed to read The Mr's.(misters) as it's their spin of a Manhattan...good drink that should be renamed. Wife had a French Seventy-Five that was good.

Appetizer: We had the Bone Marrow and Smoked Rainbow trout. The Bone Marrow appetizer was the best thing we had for this meal, hands down. It was cooked perfectly and was extremely flavorful. The smoked trout was okay. I know that it's strange to say smoked fish was "dry", but it was. I've had plenty of smoked trout/salmon etc. where the oils of the fish are still present and allow for the bite to retain a degree of moistness that doesn't dry your mouth out. This fish was on the drier side.

Soup/Salad: We had the Oxtail Soup which was a fairly good representation of what this dish should be. Our waiter raved about it...not sure it's a "raveable" dish, but it was good. It's actually a pretty basic type of soup to have on a menu, which you don't see very often at restaurants. A ceasar salad was shared by my son and wife and it was well recieved.

Steaks: On their menu, they state the steaks are "Local Prime Beef" which would lead one to believe that the steaks are USDA Prime steaks. I do not believe that they are. If anyone has familiarity with what a prime steak looks/tastes like, there's marbling and the steaks are extremely tender and flavorful. The 16 oz KC Strip that my son and I ordered was chewey and tough and difficult to saw through (note: didn't share a steak...we both ordered the same cut - two steaks.) It was pretty rough. The flavor/seasoning was better than the last time I had visited Anton's back in 2017/2018, which at that time, I felt like they weren't seasoning their steaks enough. The temperature was accurate (Medium rare.) When leaving the restaurant, we took at a peek at the steaks in the butcher shop window and it's very obvious that the steaks aren't USDA Prime steaks. The menu is very misleading in my opinion. We added a bernaise sauce (good) and bone marrow butter, which was also good.

Sides: We ordered Lobster Mac & Cheese, steak fries, and brussel sprouts. Nary have I had side dishes from a steakhouse that didn't get devoured at our annual holiday tradition on the account of having 16 and 19 year old sons. The fact that the Lobster Mac and Cheese wasn't even half finished nor was a to-go bag requested was alarming. The Lobster mac was as poor of a respresentation of that dish that I've seen. They essentially took their Smoked Gouda Bacon Mac & Cheese and folded in a few bites of lobster and called it good. It didn't work. Brussel Sprouts were a disaster. Not roasted but perhaps boiled? They were a trainwreck and it was sad as brussel sprouts are so easy to get right and somehow it was an unmitigated disaster. The steak fries were servicable, nothing spectacular, but okay.

Service: Our waiter was overwhelmed as it was Christmas Eve and he was working the entire top floor of tables by himself. I'm guessing it was a staffing issue on the account of the holiday...so that's a pass on judgement. Would have liked to have seen the wine list, but after requesting it, it never arrived. We did bring a bottle of our own wine from our cellar (Dakota Shy) and there was I believe a $40 corkage fee, which is fine.

Our total cost for the meal was $508.39. I'm fine paying that amount for meals that deliver...this was a far, far cry from that. We will not be venturing back anytime...

Used to eat here regularly and it was great. However, after my experience last night, I will NOT return. Don't be fooled by the paid/fake reviews. They can NOT get a correct cook on a steak! There is no seasoning or flavor on anything. The quality of all the food was extremely disappointing. Multiple staff said that food is sent back on a consistent basis and the guy that calls himself a chef continually argues and is rude to customers. I know this review is long, but it does not begin to convey the awful experience we had. Please don't waste your hard earned money to be treated wretchedly! My 1st clue should have been that there were only a few customers on a Friday night and the parking lot was empty. We were seated right away and the server was friendly. She had our drinks quickly and took our order. She was wonderful and not the issue. We did ask about all the "of the day" items such as sausage, soup, pasta, and vegetables. We were told that these items don't usually change. Weird to me. Why not just list them on the menu then? But that is a small pet peeve. The issues started with the appetizers. The "sausage of the day" (which doesn't change each day) was spicy italian. It comes with mustard and latkes. The sausage tasted of nothing. Not like pork, not like seasonings, not like anything. The texture was off as if it was old or reheated. The latkes were an unusual grey color and were squishy. Next was a charcuterie plate. Again none of the sausages had flavor and did not seem fresh. The pickles were alright but nothing fantastic. Next was salads. The wedge salad was decent. The dressing on the caesar salad tasted off like it was boardline spoiled. The entrees came next. This is where the major issues started. I ordered a bone in ribeye Medium Rare. I cut into it and it was raw! Not rare, Not blue, full on RAW! It was taken back to the kitchen for more cooking time. A girl brought the steak back out and again I cut into it. This time it was blue! Now the steak goes back for the secound time. Most restaurants would have fired a new steak knowing that refiring the same one again will ruin the meat. No! They refire the same steak that has now been cut twice. This time a guy brings the plate back, aggressively sets the plate in front of me. He is so rude and aggressive, stating that it is now probed at 131. He appeared as if he would physically fight if we disagreed so we said thank you and he stomped away. The outside of the steak now looked like charcoal. I regret not taking pictures. It was so tough (from being fired 3 times) that I could hardly cut into it. The areas I was able to cut into proved that it was still not cooked correctly. The edges were beyond well done, the areas that had been cut already were well done, the center was barely medium rare, and next to the bone was still blue! I tried eating a bite and it was so tough it had to be spit out. I sent it back again as it was not edible. At this point we were both ready to leave. When the bill came the ribeye was still on it. The server took the bill to talk to the manager. While she was gone, the guy came back to our table with the ribeye and slammed it down! He was yelling and arguing that it was cooked correctly. He was rude, aggressive, and sarcastic to me. He yelled at me as he stomped back to the kitchen. Honestly, we thought he was going to throw the plate or a punch! We paid the bill and left. After leaving my girlfriend told me her filet was terrible but she was scared to say anything because of this guy. It was ordered medium well. One side was well done and dry and the other side was medium to medium rare. A bill for over $200 and we left feeling not only disappointed but also threatened and offended. If this guy was a true chef, he would have either 1-the expertise to cook flavor food correctly or 2- the ability to be professional and learn from his mistakes. This guy clearly has neither!!!! We asked for the phone number of the owner as we left. We are given a card...

Went there today for a business lunch. Never been here before and read some great reviews so I thought I’d try it. I don’t think that I am an overly critical foodie, but I do love food and love a great restaurant.

Let’s start with the restaurant itself. The inside feels a bit rustic but I dig the vibe. It is part butcher shop, part restaurant/bar. There is supposed to be a fine dining area upstairs but we didn’t venture up there.

Our waiter was nice and I liked him. I think that the person making our drinks was also the restaurant manager. She was very friendly but she overstayed her welcome at our table. While I appreciate her coming over to tell us about the restaurant, the numerous awards the owner has won, grass fed cows, farm to table, Tilapia grown downstairs, the ventilation, helping the community, blah blah blah..I hope you get my point. She stayed too long to tell us about the restaurant. I was there for a business meeting not an educational session about her restaurant, what they grow, how they grow it, etc…. She should have left a flier or pamphlet for me to read if I was that interested. Again, friendly, but too much.

We had 2 appetizers: the shrimp cocktail and the Korean short ribs. Shrimp cocktail was ok but not memorable. The short ribs were also just ok. I’m not sure I tasted any Korean flavors out it. Korean food is normally a flavor bomb and this was not that. The aioli that came with it was good though. Overall not bad, but not great either.

There were 5 of us eating. The food all came out at different times. The pasta dish was last to come out and was much after the rest of us had food. They did offer a free desert and gave him some cornbread while he waited. Still, at these prices, I’d think that the kitchen and staff would time it all better.

I had a wedge salad with a Sirloin add on along with the steak soup.

The steak soup was good. Nothing to write home about but it was good. I’d eat it again.

My salad was a mess. It was NOT a wedge. It was a few pieces of Romain in a bowl with a watery dressing that tasted a little bit like blue cheese. The steak was tough but the right temperature. It was clearly not rested properly because the juices had run out into the bottom of the very small bowl. The flavor was good though.

I understand the salad was supposed to be more of a “side” salad so I can forgive it being small. But by the time you add the steak to it, this was over $30 for a salad. Forgive me if my expectations for a $30 salad is high. And forgive me if my expectations for a restaurant that touts their steaks as being one of the best I should ever have as being high. But a tough steak, not rested, on a wedge salad that is not a wedge with a watery dressing with a hint of flavor is inexcusable.

That said, overall the restaurant and food wasn’t terrible, but I don’t think it justified the price or the hype of the overly long dissertation from the manager.

I understand the restaurant industry is facing tough times at the moment. And perhaps they were just having a tough day. But with my first experience there being not the best, I’m not sure I’d come back…especially at these prices.

My lunch tab was $330 before tip and I still tipped 25% because I wanted to help out and it wasn’t the waiter’s fault for the poor execution. For that kind of money, this should have been a...