Peachtree Restaurant

[DaveKCMO]

figured i'd go ahead and start an official thread in the KC scene section since the place is officially open. please post your reviews/comments here.

[mean]

Had dinner here Friday night. They weren't particularly busy, although we didn't show up until around 9:30.

Pretty pitiful beer selection, which is unfortunate because I really like a good beer with home-cookin' soul food type stuff. I mean, wine with comfort food? Just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather have sweet tea.

We started out with the collard green dip, which as one might expect is basically spinach and artichoke dip with collards instead of spinach. I was not expecting much, as I am not a fan of such dips, but it was pretty good. The bitter earthiness of the greens came through nicely. Still not really my thing. Inexplicably, it comes with salsa (some foul, obviously canned Pace type stuff) and sour cream in addition to the dip. It seems completely superfluous, and worse, the salsa is disgusting.

They were out of the first two entrees I tried to order, pork chop and KC strip, so I had to go with the ribs. I expect this kind of thing on a restaurant's second day of operation, so no big deal. Went with collards and mac and cheese for sides. Wife ordered the catfish with collards and french fries.

The ribs were a little overdone, which I can deal with, but worse they were way oversauced with this cloyingly sweet, molasses-based goop. If I had to bet, I'd say it was probably KC Masterpiece. Gak! After wiping off most of the sauce, the ribs were decent but it's not something I'm ever going to order again. It reinforced my personal guideline of never ordering ribs from anywhere that isn't a BBQ restaurant.

The sides were pretty good. I was disappointed that the collards were basically cooked to near-textureless, but at 9:30 at night after sitting on a steam table all day, I guess I can't judge them too harshly, especially since the seasoning was right on--just enough smoke and spice. The mac and cheese was good, it was pretty basic mac and cheese.

The real star of the night was my wife's catfish. It was pretty great, among the better pieces of catfish I've eaten. Reminded me of a catfish po'boy I had at some scary ass ghetto po'boy shop in the ninth ward some 11 years ago. It could have a used a bit more salt in the cornmeal breading, maybe a hit of cayenne; but even without, it was quite tasty. Wish I'd have ordered that instead of the ribs, but at least I know for next time.

[KCMax]

Joyce Smith: Peachtree Restaurant opens in Power & Light

A grand piano overlooks a softly lit dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows, giving customers one of the best views of downtown. Wilmore likens it to Times Square in New York.

Peachtree also will have a mix of live music, including traditional Kansas City jazz and blues, Thursdays through Sundays. There is a martini lounge and private dining areas seating up to 10 people.

The restaurant had a soft opening Thursday night, but the word spread and people soon began filling the space.

Wilmore said: “I just hope everyone comes down and enjoys great food, entertainment, at the Peachtree along with this great atmosphere that is happening down here in the Power & Light District.”

[mean]

A grand piano overlooks a softly lit dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows, giving customers one of the best views of downtown. Wilmore likens it to Times Square in New York.

The view is definitely swank. Really, the only difference between that view and Times Square are the TV studios doing live shots, thousands of people crowding the sidewalk 24/7, flashy HD corporate advertisements and news tickers everywhere, amateur rappers trying to sell you their CD, people being paid to stand on the sidewalk and sucker tourists into seeing a comedy show, and the relative likelihood of spotting a washed-up reality TV star trying to look like they want to be inconspicuous.

[cknab1]

My wife went there for lunch today and she IM the results.  Not Good.


I grabbed a couple of friends and we rode the bus to the P&L and ate at the Peachtree. We were there 2 hours and finally left without the dessert we ordered, without a check . . . just threw some money on the table.
Then we missed to bus so walked back.
We left at 11:30 and got back at 2:00!

The men at the table NEVER got their food! At least we got our food, after the first hour went by. 2 salads and a chicken sandwich. How hard can that be?!

So we decided to leave some money on the table and get out of there, but I needed some change. I went to the bar and handed the server a $20. She walks off, hands it to someone else who then disappears!
I waited and waited, and finally it took 4 workers to figure out how to make change from the cash register.

[mean]

Wow, crazy. That was not my experience at all. Sounds like the lunch staff are a bunch of noobs.

[NDTeve]

I'd call or write ck. They need to know that the service is that pathetic.

[cknab1]

I really hated to hear about her experience.  Hopefully it was just some strange combination of staff, absent people etc.

[Beermo]

I really hated to hear about her experience.  Hopefully it was just some strange combination of staff, absent people etc.

that ain't right.

they don't have to be the best serviced place in town, but maybe competent?

maybe they haven't got the training down,but then again...how many people in this town have restaurant experience. hell, even i do.

aren't managers supposed to manage?

[cdm2p]

I had similar experiences when they used to be at 18th and Vine.

I like the place at Eastwood Trafficway better.  It's the real thing.

[DaveKCMO]

stopped in for a drink and small bite to eat last night. my observations:

- even though there is a wine list, it's not good. who recommends wine pairings on the menu these days except applebee's? looking forward to a trip back to sample the cocktail menu.
- we only sampled the fried catfish fingers and the mac+cheese. both were good. i'll admit i am not a fan of soul food and don't plan on having many meals here.
- the view is indeed stunning. this will be THE place to see live jazz. bice lounge for summer, peachtree for winter.
- the decor is uninspired (bice+dark!), but will be pleasing to most. why isn't anyone even trying to trump bristol for the most stunning space?
- the entrance (through the generic and obscenely-lit vestibule) must be addressed ASAP. are we at zona rosa?

[shinatoo]

Service has never been great in Lees Summit but the Ox Tail keeps me coming back.

[DaveKCMO]

our service was reasonably attentive. granted we were only one of two or three tables.

[cknab1]

I'm sure we will both try it for dinner at some point.  It is home grown so I want to give it a fair shot.  My wife told me last night that a couple of the managers had not shown up, hence the confusion.

[supastudio]

Planning on going there tonight. I'll take some pix and see how the service is.

[supastudio]

Just got back from Peach Tree.  Guess what they were out of?  It was the pork chops! I was really looking forward to trying them.  I ended up getting the catfish. It was pretty good, better than other places, but not super duper spectacular. I got there around 6:45 and it was not crowded it all, but when I left it was pretty busy.  They have a large neon sign out on the corner of the building, but interestingly, they don't have any signage telling you how to get the actual entrance, which is an elevator lobby.  When you do get to the doors of the restaurant, I didn't see any Peach Tree signage as well. Maybe they're on the doors, but the doors are wide open.  I just find it strange that they have no signs up for people to tell you where it is.  The neon sign is on the corner, but you can't always see it when walking down the side walk of the building.

As for the service: our waitress was very nice and friendly. She did tell us the pork chops were out before we ordered. She said they ran out after lunch.  I did keep the drink menu to look at after we ordered and another waiter actually suggested a few drinks for us to try out.  I'm not a drinker so I couldn't tell you what is good or bad ,but I had the Peach Tea Martini. Our waitress also gave us an update on our food too and our water glasses were always full. 

There was a live band, which had the background of DT and the P and L district, very picturesque. 

Unfortunately, P and L looked really deserted when we got out around 8pm.  The plaza has more foot traffic and people when I used to go there on Friday nights. I guess the party at P and L doesn't really start until 10-11. 

[MightyKC]

They were out of the collared greens when we were there last night around nine.  Unfortunately our waiter, who has been my server at Bice, Vinnino, and Vivace in the past year, sucked.  He recommended the greens and then about 20 min after ordering, let us know they were out.  Most of us had the fried catfish or chicken and they were both good.  The mac n cheese and sweet potato(e) fries were awesome as were the warm sweet potato rolls they brought out before the meal.  Mmm. 

Our bill for 5 people was 133 but he decided to add a 20% gratuity into the check, which seems odd for a party of 5.  We had 3 credit cards with instructions for 60 on one, 25 on one and the balance on the last one.  He said, "let me do this one at a time so that I don't get confused" so he took the first card to put 60 on it and came back, dropped off the receipt to sign and picked up the second card.  At that time, he also informed us that he forgot to charge us for 2 beers so he had added that to the tab.  Unfortunately, he charged 133.25 (WTF??) on the first card instead of sixty and we ended up just paying the rest in cash to save any further confusion.  Not rocket science people.  Especially if you have a history of working in restaurants.  Maybe there is a reason he has worked at every restaurant in the P&L.  Maybe we have oversaturated the market and there are no more competent servers!!

[trailerkid]

They were out of the collared greens when we were there last night around nine.  Unfortunately our waiter, who has been my server at Bice, Vinnino, and Vivace in the past year, sucked.  He recommended the greens and then about 20 min after ordering, let us know they were out.   Most of us had the fried catfish or chicken and they were both good.  The mac n cheese and sweet potato(e) fries were awesome as were the warm sweet potato rolls they brought out before the meal.  Mmm.   

Our bill for 5 people was 133 but he decided to add a 20% gratuity into the check, which seems odd for a party of 5.  We had 3 credit cards with instructions for 60 on one, 25 on one and the balance on the last one.  He said, "let me do this one at a time so that I don't get confused" so he took the first card to put 60 on it and came back, dropped off the receipt to sign and picked up the second card.  At that time, he also informed us that he forgot to charge us for 2 beers so he had added that to the tab.  Unfortunately, he charged 133.25 (WTF??) on the first card instead of sixty and we ended up just paying the rest in cash to save any further confusion.  Not rocket science people.  Especially if you have a history of working in restaurants.  Maybe there is a reason he has worked at every restaurant in the P&L.  Maybe we have oversaturated the market and there are no more competent servers!!

He's probably been fired from the other places...poor Peach Tree. Someone else in this thread said the same waiter accidentally called the place Vinino instead of Peach Tree.

[KCMax]

Sounds like they have some opening week growing pains. Hope they iron things out, I really want this place to succeed.

[LenexatoKCMO]

We went on Sunday with family - great smothered pork chops and catfish.  I enjoyed all of the food.  The crowd was very light but the service seemed fine.  The only negative was that towards the end of the meal someone apparently burned something quite badly in the kitchen and the back of the restaurant got pretty smokey.  I would definitely go back.