Mockingbird Lounge – Hidden Gem

Let’s start off by saying something brutally honest.

All the Yums knows nothing of Kansas City, KS or Strawberry Hill. We’re the Jon Snow of KCK.

We’ve just never spent much time there. And by much, we mean never. We’ve never been around these parts for food. Not even for Slaps (which is on our list). So when a bunch of y’all started emailing us or sending us Instagram messages saying that we need to try places around here, we were finally like “OK FINE. WE GET IT. WE’RE SHELTERED LOSERS WHO ONLY HANG OUT IN PLACES WITHIN EYESIGHT OF A BARNES AND NOBLE.”

So where did we try first?

As the title of this blog post that you clicked on said, we went to the Mockingbird Lounge.

So let’s start by saying it’s hidden.

And by hidden, we mean this place was apparently placed like 13 year old me placed a swimsuit catalog – hidden af.

Don’t take that as a bad thing. It gives this place a secretive feeling. It’s almost like this place existed pre-Yelp. Like you could only find it by befriending some cool, devil-may-care, free spirited vagabond who only appeared to be down on their luck when, in fact, they were a CEO billionaire all along who was just trying to find friends who loved him for him.

Yep. Exactly like that.

Once inside, you’re met with a bright, happy, fun space. It’s a long rectangular building with a decently large bar.

But more importantly, they have a video game media center straight out of Stranger Things.

Which is just fantastic. Almost made me wish we had to wait to be seated a bit. Would have been great to crush some bitches in Mario Kart.

Now, you might be thinking “How could you top an old school tube television video game center?”.

To which I’d Yu-Gi-Oh your ass by triggering the ultimate trap card, THE RESTAURANT PUPPY!

This is the owners dog. He was majestic.

If you’re a person who’s thinking “I don’t want a dog at a bar”, all I have to say to you is get out of our blog. I don’t want you here. We are not friends. I choose dogs over you in every situation.

Now that I’ve burnt some bridges and proved to everyone that this food blog will never grow, let’s talk food and drinks.

Mrs. All the Yums ordered a Bloody Mary and I went with coffee as I am a lush and over indulged on Highland Park the night before. They serve Blip coffee  here (coffee place in the West Bottoms. Super cool).

Coffee was great.

Blood Mary was super great. They have GREAT pours here. 100% got our money’s worth of booze here.

From there we ordered some brunch.

The Mrs. went with the Tamales.

They were covered in pico, chorizo and an egg. Very tasty. It was simple and satisfying. The hot sauce is a must though. It stepped everything up several notches.

As for me, I ordered some Biscuits and Gravy like I always do.

It was just what I needed. Something to soak up all the shame inside of me.

Like the tamales, it was covered with chorizo. The meat was salty, spicy and fatty. My three favorite things and, more than likely, how my coworkers would describe me.

It was great and I’d recommend both. If I would change one thing though, I’d make the biscuits slightly bigger. I had a decent amount of gravy left over and would have loved to clean my plate.

Worth noting:

They have a patio.

As this place is super hidden, whenever KC gets one of its famous “HOLY SHIT I CAN FINALLY SEE THE SUN” days and you don’t want to wait 3 hours for a patio seat, this would be an awesome option.

Also, there’s a pretty cool view of the city from it.

That, and it has what I assume to be a statue of a pissed off Moltres. Google it, nerds.

And the bathrooms?

Simple and clean, like a Jeff Foxworthy joke.

We liked this place, but were conflicted in writing the review. Not that we have an insane amount of readers or anything, but it really had that hidden gem feel to it. We want it to be successful but also want to keep it a secret. But we think you’re cool enough. So go check it out, get some stiff drinks and pet the dog.

How would we rate it?

Environment: 9/10

Taste: 7.5/10

Drinks: 9/10

Bathrooms: 8/10 for cleanliness 

 

Verdict? Give them your money but don’t invite your annoying friend.

 

204 Orchard St, Kansas City, KS 66101

Hours: