Jasper's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Kansas City

I have been dining at Jasper's for over a decade. Reading through some reviews I wanted to help some of those that struggle coming to the restaurant. First, this family and restaurant has been operating and serving patrons for almost 70 years. You don't last that long, especially in the food service business, without doing numerous things correctly. Many of the staff in front and back of the house have been working there for multiple decades. You don't retain staff in any business that long without treating them and the customer fairly and politely. That also leads to these dishes being prepared and served with an immense amount of quality and consistency. Having eaten every dish on the menu and popular and less popular dishes time and again I can vouch that I have never noticed an "off" meal. Finally, the staff it top notch and will provide you with a top of the line experience regardless of how you dress or behave. They made a bold move years ago to drop the formal requirements of old to many top restaurants, but prided themselves on maintaining that service regardless. There is nothing more true and the experience is just as great as the food. Second, this is one of the most authentic Italian restaurants with authentic dishes in the city and region. If you want something smothered in cheese, cream, and bottled spices stick to your chain restaurants. At Jasper's it's about being able to taste all the ingredients and staying true to Italian culture, i.e. never waste and find a way to make a great meal. You have to lose your Americana mindset and be open to something not Americanized. Many of the best dishes are the simplest as you can taste every ingredient that went into it. Additionally many of the items in the deli (Marco Polo's) are prepared fresh in the same way. So you can get a quicker experience with just as good of food. Third, the restaurant continues to be truly family owned and not a facade behind a corporate backing. There are three generations of Mirabiles working there and they all know how to do every part of the business. If you take down your blinders you'll see Jasper Jr., 3J, Leonard, and Jordon cleaning items to make sure the experience is always top notch, working the line, behind the bar, or greeting people. I've never been in there for dinner or lunch where a single table never has them come by to introduce themselves and ask how everything is. For those that leave these comments after the fact, have some courage and state it when they come by. They'll immediately make sure there were no issues and likely give you a polite story about why it isn't like the chain restaurant you've been to for years. Finally, you can look up the numerous awards they've won, including consistently the top Italian experience in Kansas City for many years. In addition to the constant culinary trips they make to learn even more about how different regions in Italy prepare similar dishes. So if you've made it this far I hope you have a wonderful experience and I know you'll have a different perspective when dining, enjoying, and savoring your time at Jasper's. If you haven't you can see the hot take, close minded reviews. Finally, if you'd like a regular's suggestion on items to be astounded by here you go: -Appetizers = mozzarella theatre, livornese (if not getting the meal), the polenta, or the othello. -Dinner = Tortellini alla Romano, Cacio e Pepe (one of the truest dishes around), the Nanni, Pollo alla Piemontese, Marco Polo, Porkchop Leonardo, Fegato (scared of liver, you'll order seconds), the don Salvatore, Valdostana, Scampi Livornese (the one recipe they'll never give away), and the Aqua Pazzo. Come back enough and lean some off menu ones, they'll always be ready to prepare. -Dessert = pretty much anything on the cart they'll bring table side. I stick with the chocolate tartufo, cheesecake, or...

DO NOT GO HERE! If you have a food allergy the wait staff does not care about them or they forget somehow even after confirming on other dishes. So I went to Jasper's on 1/29/24 I saw the website pictures and the advertisements that they put on some food groups on Facebook and wanted to check them out. I went in knowing I have an uncommon food allergy to onions which causes breathing problems coughing and chest pain and I have been told by more than a few restaurants hey I'm sorry we can't serve you and I am completely okay with that for my safety.

However at Jasper's after telling the waiter my allergy he did not seem concerned at all I told him I'd like to try a few different things I ordered one of the penne pasta their ravioli and a Marco Unfortunately they were out of the Marco so I asked the waiter to recommend something else he told me both the pork chop and the shrimp and wild rice were fantastic.

So I ended up trying both of those, again he already confirmed with the ravioli and the pasta there were no onions we got the shrimp and wild rice which truly tasted amazing however about 5-7 minutes after my guest and I ate a portion of the wild rice I get the pork chops I see nothing but cut up onions in the potatoes and at this point, I asked the waiter to take back the potatoes and make sure that the pork chop was not cooked in the same pan that the potatoes and onions were cooked in, he comes back he says he replated the food and that's it. Now this was not on my mind at the time however most good restaurants will apologize and ask if the customer would like something else not just replate and cut half the meal out however at Jasper's that was not offered nor was it even considered another three to four minutes I'm guessing on the time, but I am starting to feel like garbage my chest starts hurting I'm getting outright dizzy the person I'm with is getting a little worried because I was turning ghost White I go outside to get a little air and though the restaurant was not busy in the slightest we were our waiters only table I still didn't want to cough and Clear My Throat at the table and being at a restaurant it's not what I would want anyone to have to hear after a bit outside go back and sit down and while I am clearly having issues the waiter brings me the bill doesn't show that much concern for my state he packs up our food because I'm at this point done eating. I asked him if it was okay if we just sat there for a little bit because I was not doing well he said take your time about 20-25 minutes went by and I was still doing horrible and in a lot of ways getting worse he comes back and says oh you don't have to worry about tipping me I told my manager I did not want you to I feel so bad however, if you would just sign your name on the ticket that way I can process this again I'm not really in the mindset to even question I'm doing all I can to focus on breathing. Long and short after having a manager confirm that the wild rice also had onions in it he said he would comp the meal it has not been comped at the time I even offered to pay for the two desserts as well as the pasta that my guest ate. It was not at all a good experience.

Look this review is not complaining the money is a secondary concern my primary concern is the way the entire meal was handled and the lack of care about their guest's safety and overall health do yourselves and your loved ones a favor if you or they have food allergies DO NOT GO HERE you could end up a lot worse than...

My wife and I went for our first time tonight and it will be our last time as we had a laughably bad experience. I had made reservations in advance so we were seated immediately but once seated we were ignored by all waitstaff despite the tables surrounding us being served and my attempts at making eye contact with waitstaff. We watched another couple get seated near us and greeted by their waiter while we were still ignored. We gave it 20 minutes of waiting before I flagged down the waitress serving most of the tables near us, asking if she knew who was supposed to be caring for our table because we had not had anyone even bring us water yet. The waitress acted surprised and said that she could take care of us, brought us water and left. Almost immediately after another waiter came up to our table trying to clarify a question on "our order," I let him know he had the wrong table as we had not gotten a chance to order yet, turned out it was for the other couple that had gotten seated after us. We were then each brought a piece of hard, but warm bread. We did have to request butter which was clearly taken directly from the refrigerator as it was rock hard and impossible to spread. When we're able to order, we ordered the table side mozzarella (or so we thought) and my wife and I each ordered a pasta entree. I watched our waitress write down the whole order yet we never got our table side mozzarella (but the other couple seated after us got table side mozzarella). I got the Rigatoni alla Vodka and added grilled chicken for an extra $7; the pasta and sauce were good but the 14 small chunks of dry chicken with a weird aftertaste brought down the quality of the dish. My wife ordered the Jasper's Classic Italian with angel hair pasta, marinara sauce and added 2 meatballs; though the sauce would be better described as a watery juice. As we ate we both noted that our pasta was cold toward the final bites and this was not due to us taking a too long to eat as we both decided we were finished within about 15 minutes. When we got our check notably the table side mozzarella was not listed, even though I watched the waitress write it down as we originally ordered it. On our way out I checked with the hostess stand to see whose section we were seated in and it turns out that it was Hannah, the waitress that I had to flag down because no one had acknowledged us, including her. We skipped out on staying for dessert because we didn't feel the need to be even further disappointed and instead went to Andy's down the street for ice cream which was the highlight of the evening's meal. All in all this was a bad, overpriced experience and we won't be back.

A note on atmosphere, there was a table next to us that was dirty prior to us being seated. It was never bussed during the entirety of our time there and as surrounding tables in our section emptied they also remained uncleared of their dirty dishes.

Edit: Jasper found my wife and I on Facebook and personally messaged both of us. He apologized for our experience and offered us a $150 gift card and his personal cell number in attempt to guarantee an improved experience and in return he asked for us to remove our reviews. We...