La Bodega — Restaurant in Kansas City

If there's one thing to do, it's try something new.

For an anniversary dinner, my wife and I wanted to go someplace she loved, but I had never been. We went to La Bodega for dinner, and then we went and saw a show at T-Mobile Center (review for that will be found elsewhere).

We walked in without a reservation, so we didn't fully expect to get seated immediately. This is the risk one takes when going someplace as popular as this without planning ahead. Fully expecting to hear "Yes, we can seat you, in 45 minutes" we asked for a table, or bar spot, for two. After a few moments, the hostess looked at us and said "I have a table for you, but I need it back in 1 hour 15 minutes, is that alright?" My wife and I looked at each other and nodded simultaneously and in a "one of us" moment both said "Absolutely no problem!".

A note here about atmosphere. I only gave four stars because it was loud. Loud can be a good thing, as it means the restaurant is popular. Lots of people happily chatting with their friends, loved ones, even with the table next to them on occasion. But, I have issues with auditory over exertion. I would recommend bringing a pair of earplugs with you if you have this same problem. This isn't the fault of the restaurant, it's a me issue, and if it's a you issue to, don't let the opportunity to go here slip by. A pair of light weight ear plugs will do you wonders here.

I put my stomach in my wife's hands so to speak as she was going to order all of what we ate. I knew that La Bodega's "bread and butter" was small plates that could be shared. I loved this idea and was super excited!

We aren't drinking, drinking, right now, but the drinks we had were excellent. A spiced Lemonade for her, and Mineral water for me. Both where excellent, refreshing (even on a 45 degree day) and light.

I am going to save you some time, it's all really damn good. All of it. But here are a few highlights:

We had the Tortilla Espanola to start, which was a delicious frittata like dish. I kept going back for the aioli even after done with the egg itself.

The Elotes (with manchego of course) where like little pops of flavor. The best bite being a fair amount of corn drenched in the dressing, with a single shaving of the manchego on top!

Queso de Cabra al Horno. The name is a mouthful, but so is this dish. The acid from the tomato fresco balances so freaking well with the rich fatty goat cheese that is baked in with the sauce. My only complaint was there wasn't enough of it.

Finally: Lardo Iberico. Our "desert" before getting to the show.

As I'm sure you know, Iberico ham is like champagne in that if it doesn't come from the right kind of pig, in the right region of spain, eating the right things (and so on), it isn't Iberico Ham. This dish was "simple". Cured back fat from Iberico pigs on sliced warm grilled baguette.

Simple isn't the right word. I tasted the nutty diet of the pig, the fat dribbling a bit down my chin (which came back to me when watching someone ride a 3 story tall unicycle at the circus later that night when I covered my mouth and inhaled deeply, I tasted a hint of the fat again). The dish was multi layered, even there where only 2 things on it! I tasted the animal's diet. Salt, fat, heat, umami, it was all there!

To sum up: go here, eat here, but probably get a reservation (or be better at general time...

Edited to add: This restaurant's menu is roughly 40% tapas and 40% drinks, so by American standards this is a tapas bar. The logo even states "Tapas and Lounge" below the name. This isn't a bad thing, but it should be embraced so the typical Midwest visitor (the audience for this review) is reminded and aware there are only a couple of full-sized entrees. Tapas are a staple of Spanish cuisine, so it should be accepted that they are a tapas bar, despite having a few options for sopas, ensaladas, and paella.

At the time of this review, this location was classified as a "Spanish restaurant" on Google, so this is what we came in expecting. This is not the fault of the restaurant, but I want to clarify that this is a Tapas bar/restaurant, not a Spanish restaurant.

The venue is very attractive, with murals on the inside, candlelit tables, and a picturesque outdoor seating area that has to be perfect for cool summer nights.

We were greeted and sat almost immediately, where we were quickly handed off to a server who took our drink orders right away. There are about as many drink items as there are food items, so if you're there to drink, you're in for a treat, but you might feel somewhat limited by the food options if you're looking for a meal. These are tapas, so essentially small portions with an entree-level price tag, but again, this is not the fault of the restaurant. This is the nature of a tapas bar, which is really why I'm hitting home the importance of this restaurant being classified correctly.

When we read the menu, we quickly understood what we were getting into, so we braced ourselves and moved forward with the tapas selection. A lot of the options were unique, so all of the items were new foods for us. Everything tasted as expected, which was great. The drinks were also well prepared and arrived quickly.

Overall the food and service is great. You just have to be prepared for this to be a tapas bar, which means you're getting smaller portions, higher price, and less authentic cuisine. With that said, the food and service is good, just not for the price. With four tapas and three drinks, our bill for two people rang to the tune of $100, with a final total of $130 with tip. Happy to pay a little more for a meal,...

In Brief: One star for the water, one star because we were ignored, got fed up, and walked across the street to another restaurant and had a lovely evening there.

In full disclosure we went on a busy weekend, (the friday of memorial day weekend) however we were only given water and then none of the staff walked past, or offered enough eye contact to wave our way. We watched five other groups get seated and have their respective waiters/waitresses attend their table while no one bothered with ours. We tried waving folks to our table to say anything, but we were not noticed by any of the staff.

We had been to the sister location and had a fair enough afternoon meal their. It was expensive for how little we got, but unique, and we enjoyed it. This location was closer to home so we stopped by and were not served anything more than water. The water was good, probably an expert mix of hydrogen and oxygen with experienced temperature control, but after 15 minutes that wasn't enough to whet our pallet.

We finally made a game of watching couples and groups walk in, be seated, and have their waiters talk to them while trying to flag anyone down. We ended up with a score of 5 seated and treated, and 0/7 flagged.

At that point we were starving and a bit upset, and walked out to a restaurant across the street and had an awesome meal there. We said it was the best 'rage quit' we've ever done. (though I hope the waters were free, I didn't bother asking on my way out)

The host and buss girl seemed super nice though, they were the only ones we interacted with. Props to them. Would have been nice to make eye contact 10 minutes after sitting down, but none of the other waiters did and that's who I was looking for so I'm fine with them.

Good water, expensive looking menus, but good looking food. I've love to review it in more depth but we weren't even noticed and will never be returning to this location. I do recommend the sister...