Carmen's Cafe — Restaurant in Kansas City

Visited here with my sisters and MIL while out visiting them in Weston, MO. They picked this restaurant because it was in an area they wanted to bring me to so I can see this cute part of Kansas City and to see the Christmas lights. We had reservations at 5:30pm on a Wednesday and when we pulled up to the restaurant, the parking spots were filled already. Please arrive a bit early to find a parking spot if you go at this time or later. It did get more crowded as the night progressed. The front of the restaurant didn't look like much and neither did the entrance, which was a door with a curtain a few feet past the door, which opened into the bar and around the corner, the restaurant.

Here's a simple review of our experience:

Ambience: Intimate setting with linen napkins & tablecloths, eclectic artwork a few seasonal decorations/lights and soft music. Great vibe for gathering of friends for dinner and holiday parties.

Food: Appetizers: 1- Stuffed artichoke-cooked perfectly with deliciously seasoned garlicy, buttered breadcrumbs. We chose no meat on this one. I highly recommend this! 2-Italian Butter: A MUST!!! One of the best garlic olive oils I've had. It was served warm with TONS of garlic. It was a hefty serving and it was enough for the four of us to eat it with the loaf of bread that was served with it. We had leftovers even after eating so much during our evening.

Wine: We had a bottle of Chianti which was good, but a little on the sweet side. Be sure to taste it before buying an entire bottle

Entrees: 1-Eggplant Parmigana: My MIL had this and she said it was very good. The sauce was great and the eggplant was cooked crispy and perfect. 2-Chicken Spiedini Julian: Two of us had this and we were not disappointed. The breaded chicken was charbroiled perfectly and the filling of artichokes and the scrumptious fettuccine Alfredo was over-the-top AMAZING! It truly was one of the best Italian dishes I've ever had. I am still dreaming about the next time I visit to...

Have been a customer here for nearly 20 years and unfortunately will never go back. So many happy memories there, and my grandmother died today so my family decided to come here to celebrate her life. The service was slow, then bad/rude, and then an order was incorrect, and the food that was correct was awful. We spent 10 mins trying to track down our server to tell her the incorrect order and ended up having to just tell the chefs at the bar. The chef then gave my mom a bowl of the correct sauce.. expecting her to just transfer the pasta from her wrong sauce into the bowl of new sauce?? Again, the servers were nowhere to be found. The "carbonara" had scrambled eggs in it. We informed the server who was nearly impossible to track down. She agreed to take that off our check, but there was still a "side of" fettuccine for $7 on the check, which she told us was for getting white sauce instead of red. Fettuccine is a pasta not a sauce... not sure how that makes sense. And that should have been communicated when ordering, regardless. To top it all off, as we were about to leave, a different server shoved through me and reached across the bar at my table to look at tickets and disrupted my personal space in a very abrupt and startling way. I think she said "scuse me" but did not wait for my response or to move out of the way. I was pushed and had to lean on the edge of my seat to give her room. The man sitting next to me very firmly said "You need to stop doing that" multiple times before she finally stopped. When she was done, I told her, "that was very rude", and she then proceeded to go loudly complain about me to the other servers around the corner. I approached her and told her "pushing and invading a customers personal space is not ok", she said she "did not push me", and I said "and don't complain about your paying customers right in front of them" then walked out....

A Delightful Family Dinner at Carmen's Cafe Looking for a cozy and delicious Italian meal in Brookside? Look no further than Carmen's Cafe! Our family of five recently enjoyed a wonderful evening there, and I can't wait to share our experience.

The atmosphere at Carmen's Cafe is warm and inviting. It's the perfect spot for a relaxed family gathering. We began our meal with some of their famous Italian Butter (definitely a must-try!), bread, and house salads. The salads were a pleasant surprise – unique with artichoke hearts, red onion, and a perfectly balanced Italian dressing. The portion size was just right, with a refreshing ratio of salad to dressing.

For our main courses, we opted for a variety of dishes, including chicken spiedini, veal parmesan, and tortellini. Everyone at the table was thoroughly impressed. The meat was cooked to perfection – tender, juicy, and flavorful. The same goes for the sauce, which was rich and delicious. The only minor complaint came from the teenagers, who wished the side of pasta had been a bit larger. Other than that, it was a clean plate night for all!

We finished off our meal with a selection of delectable desserts, from spumoni to cheesecake to cannoli. Everything was divine!

Our server, Elizabeth, deserves special recognition. She was friendly, attentive, and always there when we needed her. An additional staff member also ensured our drinks were refilled and our plates cleared promptly, making the service seamless.

Overall, our dinner at Carmen's Cafe was a fantastic family outing. The food was delicious, the atmosphere charming, and the service excellent. If you're in the Brookside area, I highly recommend giving it a try! Just a heads up – I completely forgot to take pictures of our food until halfway through the meal (trust me, it was that good!), but the photos on Yelp are a great representation of what...