The American Reserve — Restaurant in Kansas City

This is a late review…..I called to make reservations for approximately 20 for the evening of Saturday 8/2 for my mom’s 70th birthday. I left 2 voicemails (7/15 & 7/17) and never got a call back. Since I work close to downtown I decided to stop by the hotel on 7/18 because I needed to know if it was possible in case, I needed to have a plan B. When I walked in, I talked to the hostess, and she referred me to the manager as a party of that size needed approval. The manager walked out and asked me what I needed and when I told him he said oh yes, I got your messages. He then went on to say that they can’t make reservations of that size because they are very busy on Saturday’s and that the kitchen will not be able to accommodate us. I advised him that I frequent the establishment often but ok, so I then asked how many people can I make a reservation for? He said 10, notice I am not using his name because he didn’t introduce himself & seemed very put off that I came by up. I asked if I could go ahead and make the reservation since I was there. He said he would have to look at that day & call me back. I asked if it will be today since he never returned any of my previous calls and he said yes. He later called me back and told me basically the same thing that they could not accommodate me. I said I was just there at the end of April for an anniversary party, and there were 15 of us. He said they just changed the policy recently. I said ok and hung up. I ended up making 3 reservations for 6 on open table and had no issues. Ron was amazing as usual and there ended up being 15 of us so there were plenty of tables available for other guests. Several of us ordered food & drinks with no problem! I brought cupcakes to share in which my husband informed me that the manager Zia (just learned his name at that time) informed him that they were charging us a “cutting” fee of $3 per person to hand out cupcakes. Now mind you I was livid because how is that a thing? When I asked to speak to the manager of course Zia never came out to address me. I went ahead and just paid the fee ($42 + 20% service charge) because I didn’t want to cause a scene as my mom & guests were having an AMAZING time! At the end of the day, it was all worth it! Zia was rude and very impersonal! It was so obvious that he did not want to even try to accommodate us and that is what frustrates me the most. Had I not shown up when I did, he would never have returned my calls. By the way our server Robert O. was great, he gets 5 stars, but unfortunately it only takes one bad apple to...

This was probably the single worst dining experience ever encountered. We were sat immediately by a polite hostess. From there, we were not greeted for a good 15 minutes. OK, maybe they were a bit short staffed, but there was no leadership to be found. Finally a young man greeted us and was at best untrained and stumbled on a basic drink order. We ordered two Stellas to begin with. A few minutes later they arrived. Upon arrival, we figured we should probably order as it seemed this was going to be a task to order in a few minutes. We ordered, the server yet again seemed to be entirely unaware of the menu, and really how to take an order. We then watched him go to the bar to place the order on the machine, while asking what seemed to be a very unfriendly and unhelpful bartender basic questions that he should have asked us. We ordered hummus to begin. It arrived in a relatively short amount of time. However, the pita was burned to a crisp. This isn't a challenging appetizer to get correct, couldn't believe it. As we were looking at our starter in disbelief, I took a sip of my beer and felt pain as I swallowed. I felt what appeared to be grit in my teeth, and pulled out two tiny chunks of glass. It was at this point, we got up to leave, our server, if you call him that, was in the area and we let him know we were leaving, he just stared as if he had no clue. For a moderately priced restaurant that is part of a hotel and a Marriott partnership, we were truly taken back. Did no one show up to work including the manager? Did this concept forget to offer training? Did glass shatter and no one thought to change the ice? Did the chef take the night off and leave the prep cooks to make dinner? If a restaurant is closed on Christmas, people understand, but if you are going to be open, then the basics should...

This restaurant is in The Ambassador Hotel in downtown Kansas City, MO. This is not your average “hotel restaurant” rather is a seriously elevated hotel dining experience!

I came here several times during my 4 night stay, to enjoy wine at the bar, to enjoy a couple of amazing breakfasts, to enjoy dinner one evening, and to enjoy dessert on a different evening. The service by everyone I encountered was spot-on and very friendly. The venue is dimly lit and beautifully decorated, sort of art deco’ish. Their menus are great, lots of appetizing and eye-catching dishes on them!

For breakfast, their American Reserve Breakfast is a knockout! The 6 grain toast is incredible!! They perfectly toast it on the flat top and then offer it up with some butter, which just really makes it taste even better! But those breakfast potatoes are insanely good! Probably the best breakfast potatoes I’ve had!! Soft, very flavorful, and slightly zesty and I love how they incorporate the diced onions and peppers in it, along with the seasoning. Eggs were always cooked just right!

For dinner one evening I opted for soup and salad… both were made with very fresh ingredients and their house made smoked tomato vinaigrette was excellent. Their tomato bisque was very tasty! Save room for dessert, they make a great Crème Brûlée!

They do offer a very nice wine and cocktail list as well. Definitely check ahead or make reservations. While I was there, they were completely packed over the weekend, but not so busy on the weeknights – Better safe than sorry. Highly recommend...