Grinders

[LenexatoKCMO]

indeed.  i took said items to mi familia.

enabler! 

[bahua]

My friend Erp posing with "his" slice of overdone pizza:

[img width=600 height=450]http://bahua.com/pics/big/barstool06/045erpspizza.jpg[/img]

[Moniker]

Grinders is a dive bar.  Set your expectations accordingly.   If that isn't your taste then may I suggest you try a Plaza bar or perhaps the TGIFridays at a-hundred-whatever and BFE?

My wallet and I eat accordingly. I set my expectations by what I'm paying for and the quality of food. I'm certainly not going to pay 12 bucks for untasty, bland affair at TGI Fridays or 40+ bucks simply for location on the Plaza. I also will not shell out money for food, regardless of its quality, that is made in clearly unsanitary conditions. I gave it two chances; it's not to say I won't go back for beer, but I'll never buy food from there again unless there is improvement.

Just because I have supposedly 'lofty' standards for a clean restaurant doesn't give you free reign to be a prick. That shit is for the birds, d00d.

[riebschlager]

if i had to pick today, i'd say grinders was just about my favorite place to be in kansas city.  (unless it's a first friday)  i have no illusions that any food i buy anywhere is 'clean'.  i mean, come on, if you really thought about where your food came from before it even makes it to grinder's kitchen, you might not be freaking out about someone using an unclean towel.

everyone has their standards, and that's cool.  but if you think  you're getting 'clean' food at a place just because you can't see the kitchen and the decor is all ikea-ish, i really think you're missing something.

so live dangerously, have some pizza at grinders and relax!  while you're at it, have a glass of delerium.  oh man.  best beer ever.


grindersmoneyeyesbear!

[riebschlager]

BTW, do i get a free beer?

[kard]

Best service ever last night!!!

[scooterj]

interesting.  this makes me wonder what a dive bar really is?

i don't consider Grinders a dive bar at all.  it has gourmet beer and all kinds of relatively eclectic/groumet food (e.g. you don't see tandoori chicken pizzas at dive bars.)

i also think that the disheveled decor is far too carefully arranged to be divey.

daily double lounge?  dive.  fitz's?  dive.  caddyshack?  dive. 

grinders might be dirty like a dive, but i think people's expectations of Grinders are understandably much higher.  i don't think it's unacceptably dirty, but the service is an issue.

I fell a little behind on the thread and it's cool to see the way Stretch responded to the criticisms.    I still think Grinders has great food and though I don't go as often as I should it's one of my favorite places.


As for being a dive bar?   Hah... by my definition it's not even close, in fact on my meter it borders on being upscale.

To me a true dive bar must meet at minimum the following criteria:

• No more than 4 beers on tap, all must be domestics
• No stouts or porters are available at all
• Cannot have multiple locations, bonus point if the bartender is also the owner, double bonus points if it's an older woman
• Men's room must contain:
  • [li]Only a single toilet and sink, OR
  • A trough urinal, OR
  • More fixtures than it is physically possible to have in use at the same time due to space limitations

[LenexatoKCMO]

• • • More fixtures than it is physically possible to have in use at the same time due to space limitations

[/quote]

Sounds like you have been hanging out at Davey's Stagecoach. 

[bahua]

Davey's Uptown and Dave's Stagecoach are different places.

Different places that both have disgusting cramped bathrooms.

[kcmetro]

• Men's room must contain:
  • [li]Only a single toilet and sink, OR
  • A trough urinal, OR
  • More fixtures than it is physically possible to have in use at the same time due to space limitations

It is also impossible to take a shit in a dive bar because there is either no toilet paper present, or the TP is soaked with piss and you'd be wiping your ass with urine.[/list][/list]

[mean]

I'm usually in Grinders at least once a week for an evening beer; sometimes 3-4 times in a week, and a group from work eats lunch there from time to time. I've never had bad service (Lacie and Shelly both consistently rock at night, in my experience) and only once about a year ago did I have bad food--the meatballs on the meatball grinder were just dry little hunks of inedible carbon. Other than that, I have almost all good things to say about the place. I do wish they'd kept the ever-growing men's room graffiti--come on my face you dragon slayer!

Anyway, if Grinders kitchen grosses you out you're probably better off cooking at home. I've seen a lot of kitchens and known a lot of cooks, and Grinders isn't that bad. At least you can see what the cooks are up to!

My first horror story stems from my first visit. The cook used a wet rag that was sitting in a bucket of murky water to wipe down the preparation area. He also wiped his hands on the apron after handling raw food, then went to tossing dough for a pizza.

That was certainly a bucket of sanitizer. It might have looked murky, and usually you want to get fresh sanitizer when your bucket starts looking funky (especially if customers can see it), but it's not going to kill you.

My second visit, a second cook did the same thing. He was handling raw food, pulled the cooked pizza out of the oven and brought our food to us without washing his hands. That isn't even to mention that the pizza was brushing up against his floured and freshly (glistening) stained apron.

This is a little disconcerting. What was the raw food? Raw meat? (Do they even have raw meat?) Normally they use a pizza peel and put the pie on a metal plate, so I'm not sure at what point he should have been touching it, but in any case it doesn't sound like something that would bother me much. 400 degree pizza + bacteria = dead bacteria. Different strokes, I guess.

[Moniker]

Also, to whom may care these posts are being printed and posted in Grinders for the staff to see and read or just look at the pretty pictures

I'm pleased to hear that you're taking these steps to improve the service and cleanliness of the restaurant. Cheers to you!

[sethyg]

I've always enjoyed my visits to Grinders -- even the ones where my friends think they can handle the insane death wing sauce (poor Scoot). I've only had one semi-bad exp with service, and that's bc my ticket was lost. I still had my good pizza, still had my nice beers. Great atmosphere, nice place to relax and definitely not a dive bar (see Dave's Stagecoach or Buzzard Beach).

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

To reiterate- possibly the poor wait service happens because the  administration is stomping on the staff.  Mutiny can happen thisaway at small businesses, big businesses-  but the grunge decor is alright.  Stretch himself airing his dirtylaundry mediaside (business, city complaints) at least somebody is criticizing gentrification.  "Downtown doesn't need to look like Leawood (JP wine bar, Zin, etc.)."

[tat2kc]

gentrification is not bad. It gets a bad rap, but that doesn't mean its bad.

[eternalvibe]

Ahh people, thanks for all the imput, I just got handed this link and have signed up...

why's the guy say he's just signed up when i see a post from him around december 26...of 2005, in which he's not claiming to be himself but clearly speaking on behalf of himself?  http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/newforum/h ... 92#p116092  it's kind of funny, no one pays any attention to him in the topic but it seems like beermo got a good laugh out of it...should've kept playing that card stretch, now you're inbox is filled with ims! 

[elextendo]

Thanks for noticing that I havent posted in over a year mr. CSI guy..I have had other things to do rather than post..also not sure what a(ims) is?

[schugg]

well atleast the cafe trio guy did not get caught with a lie

[eternalvibe]

Thanks for noticing that I havent posted in over a year mr. CSI guy..I have had other things to do rather than post..also not sure what a(ims) is?

wtf lol n00b

Just kidding, I wouldn't expect you to be a seasoned pro at chat & forums.  I was referrering to  instant messages, personal text messages (like what you get on your cell phone) only via this forum.  But there are options to have them off.

BTW-what's CSI?

[voltopt]

Best service ever last night!!!

true.  sad, but.