Chaz on the Plaza — Restaurant in Kansas City

Chaz on the Plaza is definitely a must try. The atmosphere, service and food were all great quality and is a wonderful experience for that special night, or just a high class evening.

I'll preface this review with a couple of special notes. First, we attended our reservation at 6PM. While the restaraunt had patrons it certainly wasn't in full swing yet, so there was absolutely no wait for us when it came to practically anything. Definitely a great thing, but your milage may vary. Secondly, there was some concern about gluten free options, as these aren't labelled on the menu anywhere. I won't leave you in suspense here, Lacey, our server, was an absolute expert on this and was able to ensure that all of our needs here were met without any issue, offering options and modifications to the menu that we would have never guessed. More on that below.

To start, this was out 20th anniversary and I"ve been looking for somewhere with some decent atmosphere in the area that really isn't just drinks at a lounge. Don't get me wrong, KC has some absolutely amazing lounges, but dinner at a space that can provide atmosphere, gluten free options (that aren't just salad and water), and food that is good can be a struggle. On top of that some places can get exhaustively loud.

Chaz on the Plaza met us on every mark. The food, a "Duke" Wellington and a Pan Seared chicken, with the Cheese plate and Truffle Devilled Eggs for apps, were good. Some notes on dietary restrictions in the applicable sections. Cost here is definitely something to prepare for. At an easy average of $30-40+ per plate for a main and everything else around $10+ we saw a decent bill at the end of the night. That said, we certainly plan to enjoy a night there again. The atmosphere was nice. Quiet with live jazz played at a respectible volume that added to the ambiance without feeling like you had to yell over it. Noting that it was our anniversary in our reservation, the team went out of their way to add personal touches and honestly started the night off great.

Food: Here's what you came for. Honest review, the food was good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. While the food was good, I don't feel the flavors were bold enough in some cases. The Duke Wellington is not a classic beef wellington, but more of a "roast" than a steak. The Pan seared chicken was reported to be excellent. I will say that there are some combinations and flavors that were unexpected all around from the topping on the potatoes to the use of vinegars in the meals. Overall these were well recieved and added a different complexity that was well enjoyed.

The cost, as noted above, does come in a bit on the higher end so be sure to review the menu before hand.

Drinks: The Bar is clearly well stocked and proficient. Sampling the Hazy Hayden and the Apple Spiced Martini, I will say there was a clear favorite in the Hayden. A smoked whiskey cocktail, this drink tastes as good as it smells, and the theater with it is definitely enjoyable. The Apple spiced martini was good, but definitely a second to the Hayden. With drinks around $10 at the time of this review, the bar runs on average the same cost you'd find in most places.

Overall a good time and we look forward to...

A little known fact about thyme. The herb thyme, contains a substance known as thymol that is in itself an antibacterial. In fact thyme was one of the earliest antibiotic herbs that was used for illness. It is a wonderful culinary herb, that if concentrated, becomes a medicinal herb. The job of a chef is to understand how to keep food away from the medicinal taste of things. The kitchen here failed to do so, as the thyme mashed potatoes tasted strongly and overwhelmingly medicinal.

The first course of half of a orange cinnamon roll and half of a tea cake was... Alright. The cinnamon roll was cold, the outside was hard, and the tea cake was lacking in imagination in flavor. I did enjoy the orange flavor of the cinnamon roll. It was subtle and well balanced. But cold.

The second course of mimosa salad was... Fine. A couple of slices of tangerine, a slice of grapefruit, lukewarm on a bed of limp baby kale and some almonds with champagne vinaigrette. It was edible.

The third course of shrimp cocktail was also... Ok. The shrimp were dry. The horseradish added a nice, palate cleansing touch.

The Chilean sea bass was delicious and wonderfully prepared. It was exactly the texture and taste that you expect. I was thrilled with it. It was served with the above mentioned mashed potatoes. On the plus side, the texture of the potatoes was amazing. On the downside, I couldn't eat them because they tasted like medicine.

The dessert was a disaster.

The eggnog cheesecake was served lukewarm and slightly... Chunky??? I'm not sure what was going on with the texture but it was no enjoyable to my mouth.

The chocolate dessert had by my partner was so dry and so hard that he refused to even try it. I did and immediately regretted it. I honestly would have rather had a hostess cupcake. At least those are slightly more moist and edible.

The service was ok. I enjoyed our server and we were seated more or less on time, despite the business of the holidays. The service could have been faster, but again it was the holidays and I know everybody has been understaffed.

I don't know if the disappointment of this dining experience was because it was the holiday and they were slammed or if it was because of something else, but I know I won't...

We had very high hopes for the Chaz because of all the great reviews we had read. We were also attracted to the whole "live jazz music" aspect as well because it sounded very nice. We went on a Tuesday and decided to get the "Dinner for Two on Tuesday" because it sounded like great value for the food and a bottle of wine. For our Starters I ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes that were very good, but they were not green tomatoes but rather red. My boyfriend got the Caesar salad and his salad looked like it had been sitting out on the pass for quite a while, some of his lettuce leaves were wilted and had that brown sickly looking shade to them. The salad itself reminded me of a Big Mac of all things, it tasted exactly like the BM "secret sauce", not good at all. For our Entrees I ordered the Atlantic Salmon with polenta and boiled peanuts, to be completely honest with you as soon as we got our entrees I noticed they looked a bit "lived in", like they had been sitting out for a while just waiting to get picked up, maybe the last person who ordered the salmon didn't want it after all and that's what I got. The only good thing about the Steak Dianne that my boyfriend got was the mashed potato croquette with bleu cheese. The steak itself needed a lot more seasoning and also looked like it had sat out for quite a while before we got our entrees. We obviously weren't expecting super amazing steak because Chaz is not a steakhouse but I mean really. The creme brulee was nothing to write home about, kinda watery and not very creamy but at least it wasn't burnt. I think what was best about the Chaz was the waitstaff, they were very attentive, nice, and professional. The food was edible and that was about it. Maybe we went on an off night, maybe we caught them on their slow night, but we've had many "for Two" dinners in many restaurants and in those restaurants it didn't feel like we were ordering off the value menu, and thus got lower quality food. That is what it felt like at the Chaz. We were expecting so much, it was such a...