Bluestem, Kansas City, Missouri Restaurant Details

Food:

Zagat reviews are compiled from individual user reviews.

Food:

If you love all the good places in midtown westport area, then this place will be superb! I love my Room 39, Corner Cafe Restaurant for breakfast, and Thomas for lunch, Bluestem, all the above! Just put it at the top of your places to go if you're a newcomer. I'm lucky to be able to walk to it. Bring your wallet, but it's worth every bit, you'll walk out without a thought about your ticket-price and how much your meal was, nearly invaluable : ), It's my Sunday hangover spot on occassion as well.

Food:

This is our second time visiting BlueStem. The food was good and service was excellent as expected. What was unsettling having an open air kitchen, I observed the gentleman with the strawberry blonde beard touch his face and stroke his beard, then touch food he was placing on the plates numerous times.

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Stopped in for dessert, incredible experience! Sat at the pastry bar and watched Jess make works of art. We enjoyed cocktails and banter with Jess before experiencing a mind-blowing souffle with caramel sauce and delectable macaroons. Exquisite!

Food:

Some good friends, my husband, and I had the privilege of enjoying dinner at Bluestem yesterday night. It. Was. PHENOMENAL. We were seated next to the kitchen, and I was in awe throughout the night at how quiet, efficient, and professional the entire kitchen staff worked. We chose the 10 course dinner, and were overwhelmed, in the most pleasant of ways. Each course was carefully composed and artfully plated. Every single thing we ate was spot on. The service was beyond excellent. This is an excellent choice for a special night out, particularly if you appreciate the culinary arts and fine dining. I would do it over again in a heartbeat. I look forward to checking out the bar side of the restaurant next time!

Food:

My daughter and I recently went to Blue Stem for dinner. Where we dropped over $160 in cash - that's without any drinks/extras.

Prior to making our reservation, I called Blue Stem and told them I would be using an expired $80 Groupon. They initially gave me a hard time about accepting the Groupon at all, but finally agreed to honor their contractual obligations to accept the Groupon for the original purchase price ($40) .... which, as it says right there at the top of every Groupon: "will never expire." "Never" here is probably used to connote the condition of .... neverness.

(And speaking of never, I have been using Groupons for many years, and have NEVER received this kind of rude, unprofessional flak from a participating business over the standard usage rules.)

I gave our waiter the Groupon before he took our order. When he brought us our check, my daughter noticed that the Groupon had not been deducted, so we had to ask that it be redone. He brought us a revised check and everything looked (looked) fine. Other than what we assumed was an honest mistake on the check, he was a great waiter, so we left a generous tip.

But here's where it gets Alice in Wonderland: When I got home that night and looked more closely at the check, I saw that, despite the receipt listing a $40 ($20 x 2) deduction, in fact only $20 had been deducted. Again, the $40 purchase price was both PROMISED by the man taking our reservation (after some unpleasant static) and is absolutely REQUIRED in the universal rules.

So I called Blue Stem and spoke with owner Jeremy. He gave me a huge, pissy argument, and asked me when the Groupon expired (Price of tea in China, and this is a Groupon in Neverland). Jeremy kept insisting no mistake had been made at all; that they deliberately deducted only $20 because "$20 is all the Groupon is worth to us." (That's my problem? I guess it was.)

So, this situation was actually much worse than a careless, honest mistake .... one that is normally redressed with: We're so sorry, how can we make it right? I think the word here is "greed." And the message is: "You can just kiss our 5-course posterior if you don't like it."

I tried, in vain, to get this man to put himself in his customer's shoes and understand that this really could not be more simple: Blue Stem, just like all other participants, needed to honor the Groupon rules - not to mention the explicit assurance they had given when I made the reservation that we would be credited the full (and required) purchase value.

Talking to a wall. Over a trifling sum of money that was way less than the tip we left. Probably two drinks in that place. And I was the one being petty and difficult.

Jeremy said, "I'm not going to get into this with you," and added that this is why they will never do a Groupon again - because of "all these arguments" they get into with their customers over use of the Groupons. Was not surprised to hear that.

Well, just to make me go away and endure no more of my crazy sense of fairness and obsession with the contractual rules, Jeremy finally decided to do me a big fat favor and said he'd run a $20 refund on my credit card. When I told him we paid cash, he asked if I wanted a gift card. No thank you, please just send me a check to replace the cash we were o-v-e-r-c-h-a-r-g-e-d. Ok, he says, he'll send me a check.

And now the coup de grâce: Several days later I get a letter from Blue Stem with a .... GIFT CARD! (no check, much less an apology) and a note worth framing: ".... Enclosed is a gift card as Groupons are not redeemable for cash. We look forward to your next reservation." - Megan Garrett, Owner

What planet are these people on? Business 101: The rules is the rules. And they are totally fair to everyone:

This is a very pricey, extravagant establishment; not the kind of dump where you expect (or are paying for) this type of rude, bean-counting smallness. If the customer isn't always right (especially when he clearly IS right) in a place like this .... well, I don't even know what to say.