Barrel 31

I had recently reviewed Barrel 31 a little higher because their food and drinks really are pretty good, but had complained about the service. I’m updating my review because the service was recently so bad I didn’t even stay long enough to have it made up for by the food.
We came in about 1:30 and were the only table in the place. They were aware we were there though, since we asked the server where we should sit. After about 20 minutes watching the server joke with the chef at the bar, we decided to leave. No one even glanced over on our way out.

Horrible service. Everytime I have been here has been worse than the last. Management clearly does not care about their staff or customers. Don’t eat here.

Barrel 31 — what happened???
My husband and I were just there and our experience was awful. Everything we loved about the place was gone.
The pub chips are different. And the ones we got tonight…45 minutes after we ordered them… only had about 8 potato slices. Everything else was a chorizo and cheese mix with too much jalapeño.
Our dinner actually came BEFORE our appetizer… but they took the meal back into the back when we said the appetizer should have come first.
We were told it was happy hour. But we never had the specials explained. And apparently nothing we ordered was on the happy hour menu.
My husband didn’t get his whiskey, which was just a straight pour, until 20 minutes after my mixed drink came. We ordered them at the same time. And my mixed drink was done wrong. Also — our server didn’t know what Elijah Craig was. Nor did she understand market value.
Now let me get to the meal… when they brought it back out, it was evident it had been sitting under a warmer for a while. My husband was brought the wrong item entirely. And he never got his side salad which we were later charged for.
I ordered the roasted chicken and Mac and cheese. Gone is the fabulous duck fat fried chicken. In its place was a chicken dish that was mediocre at best. The skin was good. But the inside of the chicken was dry. The Mac and cheese, which has long been a favorite of mine, was totally different. It’s now closer to an extremely (and unnecessarily spicy) queso as opposed to its original sour cream and onion goodness.
When I used the bathroom, it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a week. I’ve used nicer port-​a-​potties.
And gosh. The service was just horrible. Our server didn’t know what she was going. And she would randomly disappear for long periods of time. She wasn’t on the other side of the restaurant because we could see it from where we were sitting. And we weren’t the only table having problems. Three others complained or had issues while we were there.
All of this — and the lower level of the restaurant was less than ¹⁄₃ full and the upper levels were empty.
I hope this was a fluke. However, it looks like others have had similar experiences recently.
I’m almost heartbroken. Barrel 31 is one of our favorite spots in the city. We’ll give it one more chance. But if it’s even remotely like this again — we won’t be back.

Servers were amazing! Working their booties off and hustlin’ to make sure everyone is getting taken care of. However, I guess they are under new management so they have done away with the bottomless mimosas for brunch. :(
Also, the wait for us was pretty outrageous (again, not because of the wait staff). We’re about to leave and the people next to us came in at the same time as us and they JUST got their food. My friend was not impressed with her gravy, it was underwhelming.
Bummer, we were excited about making this our brunch spot.

This place went downhill fast. It was dead at 8 pm on a Friday night. The server took our order and then came back and said she wasn’t sure if we were going to get our food because she didn’t know what was going on in the kitchen. She came by our table for the second time and took a back up order for one of the guests in case he couldn’t get his original order. It took an hour to get food and there was no one there. When we finally got the food it was terrible. One whiskey drink was ok, but I ordered a vodka soda and it was flat and gross.

Would have love to actually eaten dinner here. It took 45 minutes to get happy hour appetizer.
They lost the order. Employees are string around eating. Our dinner never arrived. The gave us a free drink not made right. They were doing a party upstairs. If u can’t handle party plus customers give it up. This could be a kewel place. Bathroom not recommended. They gave us a sandwich to go.
90 minutes later with lots of questins fron us. Wow! Where is manager? We were not only table with issues. Bad deal. Good luck.

I cannot say enough great things about Barrel 31… our bartender Blake was so interesting to speak with and his drinks were delightful. I ‘d the bacon Mac & cheese and it was to die for! Loved the ambiance too. I am going to undoubtedly be back and can not wait to try more of their food and beverage choices.

Mothers day brunch. Reservation was at 11. Arrived early had to wait a few minutes. Started with cocktails. Tried regular and habanero bloody marys they tasted the same. No spice at all. Peach bellini warm. Tried to order mimosa and they are waiting on mix on a sunday that has bottomless cocktails…
Fat madame was mediocre. Not enough pork belly and lacking seasoning.
Eggs ben-​addiction potatoes were cold and no traditional hollandaise flavor.
Hakuna frittata was lukewarm and put salt on your dishes! Also other tables walked in and ordered and received their food before us.
Overall don’t think I will return.

Ordered the «Banana Bread Pudding», it was a slice of burnt, crispy banana bread, with one spoonful of vanilla ice cream. What do these people think bread pudding is?
I’m sure they think most people will be drunk enough to not really care
Our waiter was noticeably angry about God knows what. He looked to be the only wait staff working.
2 stars because I liked the inside of the place and the patio

Had a 12:30 reservation for brunch today and it was a train wreck. Our group wasn’t sat until 12:50 — not because they were busy, but had to «get the table ready.» After we order our drinks, we were informed the restaurant was out of bloody marry mix and down to one bottle of champagne. I suppose «bottomless» means until they run out? They were also out of potatoes and other menu options. We finally cut our losses and left. This place was out of EVERYTHING and didn’t seem to really care. Great venue, but everything else was a huge letdown.

Came for the brunch. I love the ambience of this place– pretty rustic with exposed brick everywhere. Brunch was ok. I ordered the Fat Madame (Brioche, Fried Egg, Crispy Pork Belly, & Gouda Mornay) — there were exactly 3 small pieces of pork belly on my sandwich. 85% of my bites were just bread, egg, and cheese, so I was not impressed.
Everyone else seemed to be satisfied with their meals. Our service wasn’t the best. Brunch ends at 3 and we arrived at 2:30. We all ordered the bottomless mimosas, hoping to at least get 2 – 4 drinks within 30 minutes — we’re pretty fast drinkers. It took our server about 15 minutes to bring 1 drink each time, despite us requesting he bring two mimosas at once, to optimize the time left. The drinks were also on the weak side.
Some of my party asked for bellinis, which all tasted and looked like mimosas. They’re really just mimosas with a drop of peach schnapps that you can’t even taste.
Overall, we all just thought the place was ok. The brunch isn’t anything to rave about, but I’d come back to try the whiskey.

We stopped here for a drink on a dead Saturday night. The space itself is pretty cool — a few different levels (though the upstairs two may be for private parties only?), nice exposed brick with a rustic feeling, and a large back patio with bar, with games.
As a whisk (e)y lover, I was excited at the possibility of having lots of deliciousness to choose from, but in the end their selection is good but not exceptional. It seemed like, all in, they have 60 – 70, but that includes some mediocre selections like Jim Beam and Seagrams. Also, the first two whiskey’s I ordered were out… so I am not sure how many of those 60 – 70 they actually had, since after that they just recommended one to me. They do have some mixed drinks available with whiskey, of which my wife tried one (B31 SIGNATURE — Cherry & Fig-​Infused Rye, Sweet Vermouth, Angustora Bitters for $ 11) and it was decent but nothing spectacular. Beer and wine selections aren’t bad. But in the end, this is a whisk (e)y bar.
The service was lacking too, I must say. Our server seemed overworked, despite it being fairly quiet, and in the end wasn’t all that friendly.
All in all, I hate to say, I was disappointed.

I chose Barrel 31 for my husband’s birthday get together because he is a bourbon fan and they have whiskey flights. That said, the drinks are good, and he enjoyed a whiskey flight. The good part of our experience ends there.
I made a reservation for 15 people at 4:30. When we showed up at 4:30, they had nothing set up for us, but scooted some tables together that would accommodate 8 – 10 people. Our friends started trickling in and we kept making room. Eventually, we had to add another table, which management was hesitant to do.
All of this would have been fine if our server were not a complete jerk the whole time. I really feel that since he was adding a 20% gratuity he felt that he didn’t have to be civil at all.
Examples of his rude behavior are:
Holding his hand up and telling someone they have to wait until everyone gets there to order
Telling me that coleslaw does not come with my dinner so I order a side. Then, when he brings out the same thing I ordered with coleslaw on the plate and I try to take it he tells me that it comes with coleslaw and that I am getting an additional side of coleslaw.
When I told him that we were expecting one more person, he did a fake gun to the head motion like «shoot me».
He made a rude comment when I was squeezing back into my chair and tripped over a table leg in the process.
We were lucky everyone was just there to have a good time and were being really laid back. Otherwise, this would have been a much bigger issue. Even this guy couldn’t ruin our good time, though, try as he might.

The $ 9 bottomless brunch cocktails are a definite star on the menu, but as a lightweight, I couldn’t capitalize on this as much as I wanted to. I’m a «one and done» imbiber. I ordered my favorite drink, the Peach Bellini. Good stuff.
So funny story: The server recommended the breakfast burrito and said it was her favorite offering on the menu. Her sales pitch: «McDonalds’ burritos have always been by favorite until I had our breakfast burrito. It’s a thousand times better.» I think to myself, «Is she for real?» So I ask her, «Are we talking about the McDonald’s McSkillet burrito or the dollar menu burrito?» Because honestly, the McSkillet burrito was legit and and I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. But nope, she says, «The dollar menu burrito!». Girl, bye. You can’t upsell a burrito when your zenith of comparisons is the McDonalds $ 1 menu burrito.
I opted for the «Fat Madame» which came with a very good sauce, fruit, and potatoes. The sandwich itself wasn’t entire filling, but good, nonetheless. My mom ordered the breakfast sliders, and while good, she didn’t seem to think it was anything out of the ordinary.
Cool décor, decent prices, good drink specials, with an average brunch. Nothing to rave about, but certainly nothing to complain about, either.

Came out to KC from LA to visit my sister and enjoy a change of scenery. I’m a whiskey connoisseur and thought it’d be fun to try this place. We waited for two hours to be seated and had the most watered down/​bitter infested old fashioned I’ve ever had. The service was pretty bad, like these guys are above you because they drink whiskey or something. Anyway I was not expecting a vibe like this in the harmless Midwest. Got our food, and it was decent but overall it was a pretty bad experience.
–Len out

I had dinner here tonight, and from the solid mixture of one or two stars and four stars this place has been given by other Unilocalers, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The atmosphere was cool. Exposed brick walls, wood floors, and a nice downtown vibe. There were only about 8 other people in the restaurant while we were there, yet service was quite slow all evening.
I have to say that I wasn’t crazy about the food, but I’m not sure if that’s because of the quality of the food or if I just made a bad choice off the menu. I ordered the southern gentleman burger which had pimento cheese, a fried green tomato and caramelized onions on it. Well, it was supposed to have caramelized onions on it, but they forgot to put them on there. The pimento cheese they put on the burger was of the spreadable variety and pretty much melted off my hamburger patty and came plopping out of the sides of my hamburger every time I took a bite. The taste was ok, but nothing outstanding.
Would I come back? Maybe, but only to try their brunch or to have a drink. I will likely be finding my dinners elsewhere from here forward, though.

I enjoy this place and it’s namesake burger.
Admittedly, the first time I had it was better than the second.
The egg, bacon, sauce, and cheese make a perfect flavor team for me.
Service has been okay both times I’ve been, but it seems like their staff gets spread out sometimes.
That is may be a result of the the layout of the place. I really like the ambiance here… multiple levels in the main room, basement, and outside dining, handmade light fixtures with old light bulbs. It’s a cool space.

I love how versatile Barrel 31 is. Recently I scheduled a meeting here, and we sat on the back patio eating delicious apps with legit happy hour specials. Mystery beers are my jam in chasing that elusive Troutslayer. Keep an eye on the clock for that 6:47 end of the happy hour with a $ 3 shot of Jack.
Food wise they’ve always been outstanding, but it’s those deviled eggs that keep me coming back. They’re very easy to eat while playing giant jenga. I do have a sad memory here though, I watched game seven of the 2014 world series at the bar. Don’t do that to me, Royals. Kick some ass this year! I do have a superstition I’ve discovered, that if the Royals are playing my blood alcohol level has to be something, and I’m glad to make that happen at Barrel 31.

We went to Barrel 31 again last night. It was pretty crowded — about a 40 minute wait! We didn’t mind though, and we stood at the bar and had a drink while we waited.
Tonight we tried two appetizers that we hadn’t tried before. The bacon mac and cheese and the pulled pork sliders were DELICIOUS.

The service here really soured my experience. Our server reprimanded my friend for «yelling» at her «Ma’am is that Bloody Mary coming» after 15 minutes of waiting at an empty establishment. She was standing like 10 feet away and he wasn’t even being rude. Reprimanding a customer by giving him a stern eye and scolding my friend seriously ruined my meal. She was slow to take our orders/​drinks and our drinks were empty most of the time. Food was good but some portions were small leaving some people still hungry.
I’ve been here many times before but this will be the last, I don’t wanna get stuck with the red headed waitress again