The Majestic — Restaurant in Kansas City

We had never been to The Majestic before.   Parking was a bit confusing.   There is a small lot behind the building, but then two buildings over.  There are hard to notice, red and white signs, announcing The Majestic parking.  Upon entry, we were stunned by the beautiful front door and historical floor tiling and tin ceilings.  The building has famous Kansas City history in its' past.   It once housed a bordello on the second floor and has a secret tunnel that crosses under Broadway to attach to the hotel across the street.   We chose to dine in the basement with the live jazz trio.  The hostess helpfully told us it could be loud for conversation, and it really was.   But that was the vibe we wanted.   The basement looks like a dark, white stone grotto, with dark red decorative items.  Our waiter was unbelievably great throughout.   You can expect wait staff that know every detail about their high-end food and drink offerings.  Our waiter actually politely told me that the food items I wanted to order might not work well together.  I was impressed with his advice but chose to stick with my noodle entree and noodle side item.  He was completely right, but both items were wonderful, so I didn't care.   We had a drink from the bar, which were $17 each.   I always order an old fashioned to test the bar, and this was the best old fashioned I have ever had.   The bourbon is aged for 3 years in old casks and is just beautiful.  My wife ordered a cosmopolitan and was very happy with it. Upon ordering, we found that the items in the menu were SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than the menu photo which a previous diner had posted online.   For instance, the 32 day dry aged 14 oz. steak in the photo was $54 but on the current menu it is $83.  The photo must be old so please don't go by that.  It is a huge price difference, so be prepared for that.   To start, we ordered the bread rolls.   They were unbelievably great!   Light, fluffy inside, like angel food cake and a crusty top you can thunk a knife on without cracking it.   Surprisingly,  the rolls came with cinnamon butter (not to my taste, but my wife was thrilled).   For the appetizer, we ordered the fried wild mushrooms.   The mushrooms are why I gave 4 stars.   They were cluggy and very oily and were a big disappointment.   Upon ordering entrees, we found that each item comes by itself.  If you order a steak that is ALL that will arrive at your table.   Side items cost extra. Be sure to be aware of that.   I ordered the wild mushroom steak-tip stroganoff  $38 with a side of lobster Mac and cheese $20.   My wife ordered the grilled pork chop $50 with a double baked potato $12 as a side.   I hadn't had beef stroganoff since I was a kid 40+ years ago, so I was very excited to try it.   I expected a sour cream sourness to the dish as I remembered it.   This dish was NOTHING like I expected!  There was no sourness.   It was just a delightful melding of umami and a lovely oily unctuousness!  The flavors all worked together to make a basic noodle dish wrapped in a very light gravy SING to the heights of cybaritic pleasure!   I actually dropped my shoulders and groaned when I took my first bite because it was so transportative.  My wife actually commented on my groan because she knows I never do that.   This is the 3rd dish in my life that did this to me.   I can't recommend this dish highly enough!   My thanks to the chefs!  My side of lobster Mac and cheese was also wonderful.   It was very garlic-forward and had large chunks of lobster in it.   It was a very clean taste with just a couple of flavors.   Noodles,  very light, almost not-there sauce, and fresh lobster chunks.  My wife tried her porkchop and loved it.  So I tried a bite and made my 4th groan of my lifetime.   It was by far the best porkchop I have ever had in my life!  The cook of it was juicy and perfect and  tasted lightly of sweetness and barbecue sauce, and there was a smoky flavor which was infused into every single bite.  My review is too long. ...

I have lived in KC all my life and have driven past this iconic restaurant a million times. Shame on me for not visiting until now. So I really wanted to like this place. The venue is in the historic KC Garment District. A grand old building from our city's past still keeping that heritage alive. Proud of that as a Kansas Citian. Piano music on the main floor and live jazz in the speakeasy basement. Awesome location. I made reservations and we showed up a bit early. Seated right away. Wasn't packed, but very busy. I observed other tables being brought their orders and started to salivate a bit seeing fine steaks delivered to be et (hillbilly for eaten). Anticipation building. I ordered prime rib, medium rare. My wife opted for the ribeye medium. The wild mushroom appetizer was excellent. Lightly crispy and flavorful. Not the fried mushroom dish from your local bar. No. Mix of morels and other locally sourced shrooms. The bar provided very generous pours of Statesman paired with my favorite Guinness. Disappointment came when our steaks were delivered. Now, The Majestic is a steakhouse. And at these prices, it ain't Texas Roadhouse, okay? Unfortunately, my wife's steak was too rare - perhaps even for someone like me - who enjoys steak on the rare side of medium rare. We sent it back and it came back out more properly. And it was flavorful and tender. Problem solved. The dinner salad I ordered never arrived. Waitress apologized - and I assured her not an issue, just take off my bill - looking forward to the prime sitting before me. Now I've put back a lot of prime rib over the years. And I prepare my own steaks weekly at home. Baked taters weekly at home. I'm no stranger and no novice. My prime was raw. Medium rare prime is supposed to be pink and warm all the way through - so at first glance it looked okay, but was too rare - even for me. I tried to consume it, but at that temp the fat just doesn't render properly. My plate came with potato fixins on the side. Cheese, bacon bits (which were fresh) sour cream, butter, etc. At home when I have left over bakers I wrap them and then nuke them for a later meal. They're never as good - the potato meat is clumpy, not flaky - but okay for leftovers. At a restaurant like this, you expect a tater fresh from the oven. What I had was a tater that tasted like one of my leftovers - wasn't even hot enough to melt the butter and cheese. Not making it up - check my pics. Disappointing. Now, the sides were SUPERB. Garlic grits so creamy and flavorful. Mac cheesy and wonderful. And I also had ordered spaghetti squash - and if I could figure out how to prepare it this well at home I'd eat it all the time. Now what salvaged our visit is the manager came by to apologize. Didn't seem overly interested in hearing my whole story. Just cut me off mid-sentence saying he was comping our drinks and dessert. It was the right thing to do and an appropriate accommodation. But in the end he only comped 1 round of our drinks. So even with the comp we spent way over 2 bones - nearly 3 with tip. And I fully tipped the waitress. Her only mistake was forgetting my salad. But these mishaps just should not happen at a fine steak joint. I should not have to send meat back to finish cooking. The chefs should pay better attention. Three stars is generous. Sad to say I can't recommend this place to visitors - fortunately, there are other KC staples which I can. So wanted this place to be another restaurant...

7pm reservations, Uber drops us off at the side alley. The place smells wonderful. The vibe is off the hook hopping. We are met with greeters that imo totally dig the place. Great energy. We are led downstairs where this aroma of rich steak and other treats wakes your senses up even more. The jazz trio is setting up, there is a buzz in the air, people laughing, having a wonderful time. The manager is on point, servers whizzing by but not in a bothersome way...you just know you are now part of a nightly dance they do and they do it well.

We are greeted by Tobias who goes over the menu, the house favorites, his favorites and the specials. First app mentioned is bacon wrapped shrimp...had me at bacon and shrimp.

We decided on the Caesar salads. Classic Caeser salad, crisp Romaine with a nice touch of anchovy in the dressing. Great salads.

Lynda had the prime rib with asparagus and lobster mac and cheese. Carlton Logan, I remember you liking really rich cheesy mac and cheese...you have to try this if you havent already. Loaded and I mean chocked full of lobster. The prime rib was excellent, nice smoky outer bark with just a hint of rosemary and garlic. The au jus tastes house made. You can see little sheen of stock on top, very rich and flavorful.

I had the special...oh yeah this was what KC steak is all about. American local grown Waygu ribeye, lobster tail and scallops. I LOVE great steak and scallops and who doesnt love lobster and this dish lived up to the price tag. Epic taste and tenderness. The Waygu marbling made this a steak a steak lovers dream and a nightmare to the diet but soooo worth it. Kept my side simple...load me up on more carbs with a loaded baked potato, screw the diet and let's make this day end on a good note.

The trio is busting out great jazz, it's like we've gone back in time 70 years. You wouldn't be surprised to see ol' Pendergast or Harry Truman himself walk downstairs. The vibe just keeps buzzing along or maybe it was the 3 Manhattans each. Btw, EXCELLENT Manhattans. One of the nicest I've had.

We take our last drink upstairs, our greeter is waiting to take us up to the top floor to see the reall ly cool part of the building. You can feel the history, you can smell the cigar smoke, a private party is taking place back in the Pendergast room where he kept a place to hide out from his wife and sneak in a cigar and whiskey (according to the story told, his wife had made him give up cigars and drinking so this is where he got his fix).

Had a wonderful time and Majestic is a place every steak lover should experience at least once in their life. If you are a history buff and love KC as I do, it's even that much more cool. Great dinner, thanks Majestic for a wonderful...