Grünauer — Restaurant in Kansas City

I came here to celebrate my birthday with a small group of close girlfriends. We arrived, ordered drinks, and stepped outside for a few quick photos. We were all dressed up and wanted to capture some memories.

We took a few group photos near a tree outside. While we were doing that, a man passing by complimented us and we had a short, friendly two-minute chat. Right after, we asked a waitress if she could take a photo of us. Her response was very sharp; she said she was extremely busy in a very rude and cold tone. We just smiled, assuming she was having a bad day. Shortly after, a woman walking by with her family kindly offered to take a photo for us, and we offered to take one for her in return. It was a sweet, friendly exchange.

After that, I asked to take individual photos of my friends. I had only photographed two of them when things shifted. The same waitress rolled her eyes, made passive-aggressive comments, and acted visibly irritated. Lauren, the manager, also gave us judgmental looks and walked around with clear disapproval.

We were mindful, stayed out of the way, and made sure not to block guests or staff. The entire time outside, including conversations and photos, was about 10 minutes. Yet Lauren told me we had been taking photos for 25 minutes, which is completely untrue. To clarify, I have timestamped photos on my phone showing exactly when the first and last photos were taken. I’m wearing a red dress, I’m sure both the waitress and manager will remember me.

I approached Lauren to explain how uncomfortable we felt. I calmly said we were simply taking a few photos and were being respectful. Her response was to defend the waitress, saying she was overwhelmed, but her tone was dismissive and lacked sincerity. This wasn’t just bad service, it created a tense atmosphere during what should have been a joyful moment. What made it worse is that I’ve visited this restaurant before and always had an amazing experience. The food, the ambiance, the vibe — I loved it so much I chose it for my birthday. I’m from Europe, and the environment reminds me of home.

I work in hospitality myself and know how important guest experiences are. That’s why I’ve never written a negative review before. Even when things aren’t perfect, I give grace. But this experience crossed a line. My friends and I were made to feel uncomfortable, judged, and unwelcome for simply taking photos. I even visited this restaurant on July 14th, took pictures at the same spot, and had zero issues. Everyone was kind and welcoming, as always.

If there is a policy against taking photos, I respect that, but it should be clearly communicated with signage. No one should be treated poorly for simply trying to capture a special moment.

I hope management takes this seriously. If there’s security footage or audio from that evening, I encourage you to review it. You’ll hear the way the waitress reacted when we asked for a photo, her tone when she said “Oh my gosh, guys,” and see how quickly the energy shifted because of her and the manager’s attitude.

That said, I want to highlight something very important. Our server inside the restaurant was absolutely wonderful. She was kind, warm, professional, and incredibly welcoming throughout the evening. Her energy was so positive that she almost saved the entire night. I don’t believe she was aware of what happened outside, and I’m genuinely grateful for how she treated us. The food, as always, was incredible, and the service at our table was excellent. I hope she receives the appreciation...

Found out about this place via a Facebook group of Germans living in America and Canada. It was highly recommended. Coming from Florida, good quality German and/or Austrian restaurants are not easy to find. We have a few, but quality is not generally like you would find in Europe. Well, it just happened we would be going through Kansas City, MO on our vacation. We stayed two nights there. Last night was our last evening in town, so we made reservations to try out their food. All I can say is WOW. This is truly the very first restaurant of this kind where I can say the food would easily meet standards in any European restaurant. Classy, but not pretentious is what comes to mind. Absolutely delicious fare at reasonable prices. I was told by our server the chef is a Bavarian and the owners are Austrian. What comes out of their kitchen is pure, Germanic deliciousness! The selection of wines, beers, and authentic schnapps is awesome too. I ordered the Schweinebraten, which was a large hunk of fork tender pork, along with a generous piece of pork belly, perfectly roasted and, it came with a lovely sauce, a fork tender, perfectly seasoned Semmelknoedel (Bread dumpling), which was not the rubbery kind most other places serve. The red cabbage accompanying this dish was delicious and had a wonderfully rich sort of flavor which I can't quite describe.....not the standard type where the clove spice overpowers you....wish I had the recipe! My dining partner got the Hochzeitsschnitzel, which was a delicious, crispy, breaded pork schnitzel, stuffed with some ham and a delightfully creamy, herby sauce. This was accompanied by roasted potatoes. Before all this goodness, we decided to split a Gemischter Salad. This was not a typical restaurant side salad. This was exactly like what you'd get in any quality German or Austrian restaurant: 3 small servings of various salads like cucumber salad, shredded carrot salad, marinated cabbage salad, tomatoes, topped with some colorful artisan type lettuce and a tangy, tasty vinaigrette. After all this magic, we had their in house, made from scratch apple strudel with a thick, but not too sweet, whipped cream topping. Another huge hit with us! Btw....service was wonderful too. just wish we could transport this restaurant to central Florida. We would definitely be regulars! Thank you Grünauer for such a wonderful dining experience which made our last evening in Kansas City a night...

For Valentines this year, we decided to celebrate the weekend before to avoid the hectic crowds.  Plus, we had tickets to 'The Be Funny Tour' at T-Mobile that night, and they are near each other.  WIN- WIN.  We figured it would be a great date night out.  The comedy show was great, as expected,  but we were completely amazed with our dining experience at Grunauer's.

We started off with drinks and ordered the  Der Schmutzige cocktail. This black pepper & mustard infused vodka with pickle brine, kraut juice & beet juice was  one of the best cocktails I've ever had.  This drink was served 'up' with skewered house pickled vegetables.  It is extremely unique and very refreshing!  Then, we ordered a couple of appetizers.

Housbrat This delightful starter provides four small loaves of bread - baked fresh daily.  There was a pretzle loaf, a thyme loaf, pumpkin loaf, and another flavor I can't remember.  They are served with European style butter and topfenaufstrich - a flavored Hemme bros. quark cheese spread.  Very flavorful and went well with our other starter listed next - Rohnensalat.

Rohnensalat Our second starter was a salad. It was yellow & red roasted & pickled beets, candied walnuts, gorgonzola, and oranges pieces served on arugula leaves with an  orange vinaigrette.  This was truly at a party in the palate.  After these, we moved on to our main course.

For one of our dinner dishes  we ordered the Wiener Schnitzel MIT Erdapfel & Gurken Salat.  I chose the Buttonwood Chicken Schnitzel.  Potato salad (Erdafel) and cucumber salad (Gurken) were the sides that came with it.  Also, there was a lemon bonnet to provide a beautiful burst of citrus on the chicken and a delighful Lingenberry jam to add the final layer of flavor to the Schnitzel.  It was truly magnificent.

Sauerbraten For our second dinner dish, we opted to try the Saturday Special. The red wine marinated & slow roasted beef shoulder did not disappoint.  This dish was served  with warm, seasoned red cabbage and spatzle.  It was Mar-vel-ous!!

Topfenstrudel To finish our dinner, we chose the farmer's cheese strudel with rum-soaked raisins, vanilla sauce, and whipped cream.  It was absolutely...