Pearl Tavern — Restaurant in Lee's Summit

We were disappointed with our overall experience here. This restaurant has been open about a year, so they've had enough time to get organized. We went on a Monday night and had reservations for 7:15. When we walked in, the place was in complete chaos.

The first thing we noticed was that the walkways were completely cluttered with tables. Not only that, but tables had half-rise dividers on them to make smaller tables to squeeze in more customers. We were seated at one of these divided tables, IN the middle of a walkway, and our entire dinner was loud and not at all intimate or private. We had strangers on the other side of the divide. It was like we were sharing our meal with them. I'd be interested to see what the fire department had to say about the table setup. We counted about 12 tables that were in a main walkway that shouldn't have been there. They are just asking for collisions and we saw lots of near misses.

Beyond that, the hosts were in disarray when we arrived. They seemed to be in the middle of the dinner rush, which was expected, but the hosts seemed completely unable to handle it. It was several minutes after we were seated that our server arrived, and she was clearly frazzled (and said as much to us). We never saw a floor manager all night.

After all this, we still had high hopes for the food and were prepared to forgive and forget, but the food was also disappointing. First of all, they brought us a fresh fish and oyster menu but then said they were all out of oysters. At 7pm. On a Monday night. If it's 9pm on Saturday night, then sure, being out of oysters it's excusable.

Then, for a place that boasts having poached their executive staff from McCormick and Schmicks, we expected the food to be impressive. The shrimp appetizer was pretty good, but for our main dishes we ordered sea bass and swordfish. The sea bass was well cooked and perfectly paired with its sides of veggies and black rice. The Korean sauce on it was excellent. Too bad we can't say the same for the swordfish. It was overcooked and very dry. My husband (who is a chef himself) said it tasted as if it had been put in the oven and then forgotten about. The sides were mashed potatoes and asparagus. The potatoes were stiff and bland. Asparagus was well cooked but unseasoned. Even some salt and pepper would've gone a long way.

After all this, we still dared to try dessert! The French silk pie was okay, not as good as others, and had a very coconut-y taste. The peach pie wasn't even baked. The crust was mushy, doughy, and unfinished. The plate was warm enough to melt the ice cream but the pie itself was cold.

Overall, we think Pearl has the potential to be a good restaurant, but they clearly cannot handle a dinner rush. Perhaps they were unexpectedly understaffed when we went, who knows. We are unimpressed with our visit and probably won't go back. It is in Lee's Summit, after all, and we live in KCMO. Not worth leaving the city for something so underwhelming. We'll stick to McCormick and Schmicks...

It is rare if ever, that I will write any sort of real review; much more so, one that is negative or lacking in mostly positive details. I have always sort of loathed those kind of responses. I feel food, as well as "manners", "good", and words like them can be subjective. What we all mostly have in common in the restaurant and dinning world is the desire for a "good" or in most ways positive experience.

So...In this case of Pearl Tavern, I will make an exception. We came to Pearl ten min early for our 7pm reservation on a clear Tuesday night in mid November ('24 for those who care). Early for an unnecessary but polite industry standard reservation. It seems fair to let them know you are coming. (Hint!) I was in town visiting family and Pearl Tavern came highly recommended. I mean, just look at all those positive reviews right?We could see FOH busy with tables or side work, someone who is clearly the manager sitting down at the bar with a guest and an empty front desk. It was obvious the woman at the bar was the manager after a few trips to the POS with a server in tow and not one, but two quick ducks into the kitchen while waving a ticket in her hand. We were then greeted by the very kind hostess who was just coming around the corner from the bathroom. Clearly a bit embarrassed at seeing the empty desk with guests waiting. Seating is close! Our neighbors had the Lobster roll and blackened shrimp tacos. He liked the roll while she thought the tacos were too spicy and overcooked. I also think they may be getting a divorce if he wont stop talking to that Darcy chick.The menu is ambitions at first glance given the availability of fresh seafood in MO but a close look shows some familiar PREpared big restaurant supplier type items such as fried calamari, parm crusted sole, tavern gumbo and so on. The semi-prepared ingredients that make cooking seem easy and require little more than assembly and heat. Presentation is left up to interpretation thus giving the cook the illusion of creator. From what farm and to which market did your bread come from? I mean specifically. The illusion of "local" and "house made" is strong. They try to get creative with salads but its a mash up. What kind of monster puts sliced radish on a Caesar?! The entree flavors are typical and the fish is as fresh as the package it came in. Desserts too are good but factory made and house finished sugary goo that all kind of melts together. The service is just as sugary and goo like in that it is just there to convey product while you stuff your body full of mediocrity. It says a lot about the work culture when I see BOH on his cell at the potty, set it down on the potty to wash his hand then pick it right back up while drying his other hand on the dirty apron front. work, the FOH and BOH, is not to satisfy any part of your soul or offer any real experience at all. They work only for themselves and provide nothing more than the momentary joy of...

Make reservations ahead of time, not required but very helpful! Their website didn't work for me, but calling it in was a quick and painless process. Arrived during a busy dinner time, hostesses were very warm when they greeted us. We let them know we were 5 minutes early and happy to wait, but they wouldn't hear of it. They had us seated immediately near the patio door at the far end of the bar. Nice and secluded! Hostess then asked if it was our first visit, it was my friend's so she walked us though the oyster menu and daily catch. Now unfortunately, this is where I knock half a star off; the waiter. We were at the table for a full 15 minutes before we had been seen. Waiter appeared to be relatively new and maybe right out of training. (Not knocking the star because of the server's experience, but how long it took.) We ordered our drinks/oysters/appetizers/dinner, he took our menus and left. A few minutes later our waiter returned and asked for our IDs, without the drinks. As previously stated he seemed new, so we weren't too worried about it. Our crab dip was delivered. It is superb. You will have more dip than you have chips for, of course in the best way possible. Highly recommend it. We were working on our dip when our oysters were delivered. Delicious. We just did one each to try them. And this is where I knock another half star; our drinks were delivered after we had half completed our appetizers. Dinner was delivered shortly after. My friend had the lobster Mac and Cheese, it smelled amazing with massive chunks of meat. She said it was devine. I enjoyed the Salmon catch of the day. Wow. Superbly cooked to a gorgeous medium, it was perfect. Asparagus was oddly salty at just the end, but that's quite alright! We skipped dessert (as stated above, we had a feast of a meal), and went for the check. After we paid we were finishing our drinks when we figured out our server was a bit of a shark (for those who have never worked in the service industry this is a server who keeps eyeballing the table after paying and the table can be called a camper depending on how long they stay). We were there for probably 5 minutes after paying while finishing our drinks/signing the check so we didn't consider ourselves campers by any means. All in all a good meal. I highly recommend it for a date night, the atmosphere can be romantic. Be prepared to pay, but every penny is worth it. Also great for catching up with friends! Would not bring kids for dinner, they would not fit in well with the vibe. Stop reading my super long review...