Kari's on 39th — Restaurant in Kansas City

This little Mediterranean gem on 39th street is a family-owned and operated restaurant, where you'll have a rare treat of experiencing the owners original family recipes spanning from generations of his middle eastern culinary heritage. Everything here is made fresh to order, and most likely served to you by Kari herself. I might mention, that depending on when you go and what you order, there may be a small wait... but I'll tell you now, it's worth it! The prices are fair, and the portion sizes are large enough that you'll have to request a to-go box. Kari's is a well hidden secret. You'll experience the freshest, most tasty food from this couples offerings. I did a quick search for "great places to eat near me"; and Kari's on 39th came up 2nd on my search. So we decided to go there. To start, we ordered Falafel with hummus as an appetizer. It was the best we've eaten. It had a crispy exterior and a tender most flavourful interior with just the right amount of seasoning... so good! The hummus was silky and creamy; Not gritty like I've seen at some places. I ordered the Gyro Patter and it filled the large oval plate. The gyro meat was a delicious blend of both lamb and beef with just the right amount of greek spices added. It was moist and tender, and you could tell it wasn't at all the same "Commercial Cone Gyro meat" that you find pre-made at other Mediterranean places. This was housemade to perfection!!! They nestled a generous amount of it atop an expertly cooked soft and fluffy bed of saffron rice. It was truly devine! My partner, Bill, had a large platter of Shawarmah Chicken over a bed of Saffron rice, accompanied by an extra fresh greek salad with cubes of tender feta. I also had a velvety smooth and completely delicious bowl of creamy lentil soup. Everything was seriously delicious. It was such a treat to experience something new AND didn't disappoint. We recommend Kari's highly!!! Oh, btw, All the month of March, they will be serving a Mediterranean buffet in the evenings. If they do well at that, they'll start doing it all time! We certainly...

We were SO excited to try Kari’s after hearing so many great things. We ordered takeout yesterday as a special treat. I paid just over $70 for our order. We ordered ahead of time for 8:15 PM pick up. I got a call at 7:39 PM from a gentleman at Kari’s who told me our order was ready. I told him that we were not ready to pick it up yet and that I had placed the order for 8:15 pm. He responded by saying “Well, it’s almost 8…” and didn’t say anything else. The conversation was short and slightly hostile. When 8:15 rolled around, my boyfriend arrived at Kari’s to pick up our scheduled order. They did not remake the food, nor offer any sort of remedy or even an apology. I live not 4 minutes away from Kari’s and when we got home and opened our meals at 8:20, the food was cold. Not warm or even lukewarm, it was cold. This was SO disappointing. We had to deconstruct the gyro and eat it out of a bowl because the pita or tortilla (couldn’t even tell at this point) was mush. The kabob had great flavor, but the texture was like a dense sponge because, again, it was cold. The grilled veggies were unpleasant to eat because they were frigid. We could tell by the flavors that it would have been an excellent meal had it not been sitting for 35+ minutes. It felt really unfair that they were happy to take my money, but did not give us the same service that everyone else seems to have received. If they could not fulfill the order because they were trying to close early, they should have called and let me know and offered a refund instead of making the food way in advance and then being rude when we couldn’t pick it up until the time we had...

This restaurant is in the location of the former Po's Dumpling Bar, which in turn had replaced the excellent Circe restaurant. Kari's has great potential. The Middle Eastern food here is excellent. The dining room is attractive with comfortable seating including booths. The most private table is the booth near the window. There is a parking lot next door.

Since only recently opened, they do not yet have their liquor license, for which they have applied. They expect to receive the license in about two weeks. Meanwhile they permit you to bring your own bottle of wine and will supply the wine glasses. There is no corkage fee, if you bring your own bottle. They don't yet have any seafood on the menu, but if you ask, they will provide a shrimp plate in an excellent spicy sauce.

We started with the lentil soup and requested extra spice on the side. That extra spice is outstanding. We also got the Greek salad and the mixed appetizer plate, along with the shrimp in spicy sauce (currently not on the menu). We could not have been more happy about anything. We look forward to returning, when they receive their liquor license and have seafood added to the menu.

Oddly you can't pay the bill at your table. After the bill is brought to the table, you have to walk up to the register to pay, so you can add the tip and sign on the touch screen on the register. Perhaps that will change to complete table service as this new...