Red Kitchen KC — Restaurant in Lenexa

I was really looking forward to trying this after seeing the owner featured months ago for opening the new location. However, I am going to honestly and consistently echo what other reviews have said, both good and bad:

It is unorganized. Everyone was nice, but there are many obvious points of process improvement that I wanted to call a team meeting right then and there to straighten things out (I would really take someone up on this to consult).

For one, it’s a tiny place and no intuitive flow. There are touchscreens to order, with one around the corner of the first one so nobody knew until one of the staff called it out.

After you order, find a place to sit/stand, if you can, and wait (but I’d also be prepared to take your food to go). It’s not clear how your drinks get to you as there is a fridge in the main area but has a card machine attached to it. I ordered a bottled water only to see across the room there was a free water dispenser. A few people asked about the drinks they ordered and in those cases they were given to them right away. We just got ours with the meal order.

The menu items are not up to date. We ordered pickled carrots and jalapeños (a traditional Mexican dish accompaniment) and it ended up being potatoes, cauliflower, garlic, and only a few small pieces of jalapeño and carrot. I thought they gave us the wrong thing, but they told us the recipe changed and hasn’t been updated in the menu. Considering the menu was digital as mentioned already, I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t have been fixed immediately.

A table beside us got pastor on their dish, which we didn’t realize was available. This is a downfall of having the tablets and the way the app presents things IMO. Full menus to glance at quickly would be nice, but we overheard staff discussing that they aren’t ready yet.

At least 2 people went up to the counter after waiting a bit to check on their orders. Both times staff said they didn’t see it on their end. This points to one of two possible issues: either the system is not user friendly enough and people are consistently making mistakes in how they place (or think they place) their order, or the staff are missing things as the orders come through. Or I suppose a third option being a software bug.

Portions are small for what you pay. I get it, inflation, but this seemed excessive. We paid $50 for a burrito, huevos rancheros, 2 small sides (the rice and veggies), a bottled water and a coke.

The burrito was good. Huevos rancheros were also good, but a bit salty and my order preference for the eggs to be done over medium was not honored. I didn’t mind, but not confident customizations are really looked at.

When we were done, we weren’t sure if we were to leave our dishes on the table or bus them ourselves. No issues for us either way but this just hit home that there are SO many questions throughout the experience of dining here, and both patrons and the staff seemed to feel it.

I can say the food came out fast, but for the price and the lack of organization, we likely won’t return. Optimize the flow, make things clearer and easy, and perhaps adjust the pricing to be more fair, especially for a largely self-serve model.

And maybe consider a little more hospitality with having patrons greeted and given some direction upon entering so it feels less like a convenience store. It is a borderline fast food experience, just with better food. Maybe that’s the goal, but definitely not...

Went in for breakfast. So I'm going to provide some tough but fair feedback.

Let's start with the good. The food is delicious. I ordered the Chilaquiles Rojas with chicken and egg. They were a solid 9.5 of 10 for me. Love the salsa. I like that it has some beans on the side. I could not finish them... so great portion size for price!

Here comes the rough feedback. Organization and service is lacking. The POS system, was not clear how to do chicken and egg on the order so we needed help from an employee.. she also was unsure how to do it. Owner came and help. So the process is just not standardized.... we paid 3 dollars each for coffee that was served in a small part cup. Maybe 6-8 ounces of coffee. I asked to be topped off to be told no problem but they need to make another pot... she never came back. After 15 mins I went to the counter to ask again.... they never brewed the coffee. So they put a pot on. After waiting more we decided to leave... the place is small.. I would highly recommend the business owner to focus on process stardization and efficiency. Have multiple pain points and oversight in a customer experience does not invite a repeat customer client base. Branding also needs some work.

Would I return... yes for some very craveable breakfast items... but continued pain points in service could sway that to a no at some point.

Update: we returned a few weeks later. I'm updating the review to 4 stars as it was a smoother experience this time. They upgraded to having 12 and 16 ounce coffee cups. Both chiliquies and burrito was very delicious. Still a few hiccups in having a smooth customer service experience and I personally think their self checkout point of sale system needs some work. But... delicious food and a very friendly owner that...

My friend and I had lunch here on 7.23.25, and we love it! Alejandra, the owner, was very helpful in placing my order. I explained that I am celiac and wanted to know if the chips were fried in a dedicated fryer. She verified that they were fried in a small, separate fryer just for the tortilla chips. Score! 🙌 I ordered the Chilaquiles and they are SPICY HOT! (In all fairness, she did warn me, and she was not kidding.) They were delicious and I did not get sick. I did take tums for the spice. LOL I felt so comfortable with how she explained her protocols for avoiding cross contamination. I think she said she could alter some of the things they were not marked GF, but not totally sure.

I also want to add that she came out while we were eating and visited with us. She is a DELIGHT! I got the 411 on how she named the restaurant and all sorts of things. She wants people to know that her food is 100% authentic Mexican food. They are her recipes she brought with her. Since my friend and I were there visiting a while, she brought out two versions of flan for us to try that her mother made. It’s not on her menu, but if it was, I would buy it!

Things you need to know before you go: look for the pink/red flowers in front of her restaurant. Inside seats 48, but there is also seating outside. It’s just north of The Peanut. Also, they are not open past 2 pm and closed...