The Reef — Restaurant in Kansas City

EDIT: July 2019

We’ve been back to Reef several times since we discovered it several months ago. The food has been more that amazing every single time. Our favorite is the couple dinner of lobster and filet steak with two side choices. Perfectly prepared all 3 times. The sliders appetizer is good, but not as good as the crab cakes.

The only problem we have found in each of our visits is the staff acts as though they don’t care if we are there or not. The bartender seems to be very overwhelmed even when there are only a handful of people in the whole restaurant. He gives off a vibe like we are a nuisance and that he is not happy at all to have us there. We are hoping that this will wear off and he will enjoy his work and the people who come in. The interior design is truly a work of art.

We would love to have this place around to be in our rotation for years to come. I just wish we could enjoy the experience more right now while it’s still our little secret. All ready people are finding this little pearl and it does have the potential to really take off. There are just a few things we think could really help it. We will be back for the delicious food and hope to see some improvements in other areas as time goes. A Signature Drink menu would be a great idea to add for people like us who love to try a different creative cocktail before our meal. Welcoming customers in by all staff that you pass by would be a nice gesture. A little friendliness and asking if a customer has been there before and if not giving a little history of the place can make a customer feel welcomed as well. Keep the soda machine fresh. Our soda was flat 2 times. A great establishment isn’t only in the food, it’s really a complete experience that puts it above average dining. I’m going to give Reef 4 out of 4 fish 🐟 🐟🐟🐟 and hope to see the experience improve as time goes by and they work out some kinks. I would LOVE to take my camera and photograph and help with some marketing! Definitely try this place! #reefkansascity #kcfoodies #dineoutkc #seafood #unique #uniqueinteriors

(Original review) We accidentally discovered Reef and on one of our weekly date nights. Walking in from the outside of a modern building was like walking into the underground lair of Neptune. It is beautifully decorated, clean and spacious. We got a little bit of history from one of the staff and ordered an amazing dinner. The food is truly remarkable. We were disappointed that there were no signature cocktails, as what better opportunity to spin some creativity into a themed cocktail? Maybe they will consider this in the future....? I have a few ideas about some things, but I truly think Reef has the potential to be an insanely big deal. 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣 5...

That star is for the bartender. Eric, worked through a challenging situation expertly.

Introduction to the facility was a sheer disappointment. A hostess seemingly lost with glitter blobs on her forehead who states a 1/3 filled room requires a 10 minute wait. A room that smells of mildew and mold, however the fish tank is maintained. We sat in the back patio, that had be sadly allowed to decay over time. Moss has grown over the bricks, the tables were falling apart and of course the eye sore broken fountain. The hostess provided no menu so for the enjoyable 15 minutes entertaining ourselves the bartender provided aid and served us. We were not exactly far too hungry due to the weather, having drove 1100 miles and the children were a tad excitable do to the indoor swimming pool. We considered more but from experience always try appetizers first. Your bartender, Eric, is the only savior to the entire establishment. His quick actions to ensure customer satisfaction was the only reason I did not even bother to walk off. The beer lines requiring flushing cleaning, the crab cake had shells and the scallops were like eating rubber. We sent back the majority of the trial run and proceeded to the check. Due to the lack of periodic checking by anyone I walked my card inside, I walked my credit card into the "busy" establishment. To be charged 60.83 for a pathetic example of seafood. Please enjoy my payment as a hopes you consider hiring a chief that understands how to properly handle scallops. Or even consider requesting assistance from Gordon Ramsay and Kitchen Nightmares. There is care that she be taken when handling seafood and sadly this was a complete and utter fail. I know I can cook scallops better, and have had better seafood even at "mom and pop" joints. I do hope none of my family members get seafood poising, thanks for a sad experience of qoute "fine dining seafood," we should have walked out when the hostess who seemed off. Avoid at all costs, go to overland Park. Better food available there and worth the drive. If you want to eat garbage dressed up in oil and fake "pretty" flashiness go ahead. Expect to realize you just waisted your hard earned money. Military family disapproved, I should have considered a vegan night instead. I fear seafood poisoning 😫

*Follow up * My family did in fact get food poisoning. Thanks for the vomiting, chills, diarrhea, headache, body pain and pure disappointment. Consider a rename from...

So many great reviews! Our dining experience was not great. NOT recommended. Summary: Our Salmon & Chicken Tenders were undercooked. Crab cakes tasted musty (not fresh). Fries & Shrimp/Scallop Pasta were good (not great). Creme Brulee tasted like the top was lit with lighter fluid & custard was almost ice cold. Chocolate cheesecake was plain cheesecake with chocolate chunks thrown on top with chocolate syrup dribbled over it. Lowlights: Staff yelled regularly at back of restaurant, loudly, things like "Door!", "Order up!", "Hey what's up?" & raucus laughter. Before going, we used Google chat to ask if reservations were required, they never responded. We checked their website to see if reservations were required & it did not say but had a link to reserve now. When you click on the link, it opens email to let you send an email request. Because the reviews were stellar, we took a chance and went without a reservation. The hostess asked snootily if we had a reservation. We said no & she said it would be 20 minutes. The restaurant was only 1/3 full yet we must wait! We had to wait in a very cold entrance area. The food was not great, the dining experience was not great, and the atmosphere was probably cool although it was so dark we could not see most of the decorations on the walls. We should have known something was up when we walked in and their saltwater fish tank was dirty (dirty glass, dirty inside tank, poor fish!). When we told our waitress the salmon was undercooked, we thought they might offer a free drink, dessert or small credit on the bill, but they charged us full boat on everything. When we pay a $150 for a meal, we expect everything better than what happened tonight. The best part of the whole meal was our waitress who tried really hard to make everything right. She was pretty attentive to our table. Unfortunately, her work ethic and personality weren't enough to overcome all the other issues. We gave her a good tip for her service (thank you, young lady, for...