Cleaver & Cork

We dined at Cleaver and Cork with another couple during restaurant week. We had a reservation and our table was available shortly after we arrived. We enjoyed a cocktail at the bar first. The look and feel of Cleaver and Cork is very inviting. In the dining area they have put glass partitions between the tables, which reduced the noise while keeping the restaurant feeling very open.
I chose not to order off the restaurant week menu; but two of the other three did. The special menu included a choice of soup or salad, an entrée choice and a dessert. All of the items on the special menu were on the regular menu as the server said they were trying to show off their offerings since they were a newer restaurant. Hubby ordered the soup to start and the pork chop (that’s what we’ve always associated Alex Pope with since he opened Local Pig). Our friend ordered the 22 oz. sirloin and his wife ordered the steak on RW menu with a salad. I ordered the Osso bucco off of the regular menu and a beet salad. When the others received their salad and soup, mine did not come. The server said he was in restaurant week mode and that my order threw him off. I didn’t get my salad for at least ten minutes. The pork soup was marginal, the house salad was nice, and the beet salad was just a plate of three beets, no greens — very disappointing. Our meals were delivered a short while later. The pork chop dish was more like the size of a thin breakfast chop. The large steak was undercooked. The Osso bucco had a nice flavor and the presentation was good; I’d definitely recommend this dish. We couldn’t find our server to express our disappointment; he literally disappeared. We finally were able to flag down another server who got a manager. She brought out an additional pork chop, but didn’t really seem to care about our service and food quality issues. The desserts were marginal, the doughnuts were extremely over cooked.
We know restaurant week is a busy time, but if you’re serving your regular menu items I’d think you’d have a better execution for your guests. On our way home we drove past a billboard that had a Cleaver & Cork ad for restaurant week and a picture of the pork chop dish that my hubby ordered. I wish I would have taken a picture of both to post with this review to show the vast difference. A very disappointing evening in all respects.

Service was fine but the overall experience was mediocre. My companion enjoyed a well made Manhattan but my beer was not quite cold enough. They were only serving Happy Hour in the bar, which was disappointing because it was a beautiful day and we wanted to sit outside. We decided to go ahead and sit outside but found the menu options limited. I had a chicken salad sandwich which turned out to be more like sliced chicken with a heavy herb mash layer. The flavors did not blend together; however, the bread for the sandwich was delicious. Given the great location, upscale atmosphere and price point, I guess I just expected more menu options and better tasting food.

Service was great but the food was only okay. Ordered a BLT, bacon was raw and i couldn’t eat it. Husbands pasta was okay but not worth almost 19 bucks. Too expensive and not good enough. Much better places to eat in the downtown area

Last night the service was above what it normally is at Cleaver & Cork, which is usually pretty good. Our waiter was personable, as well as knowledgeable about the menu.
I have come to Cleaver & Cork three time before. Once for lunch and twice for dinner and cocktails. Their quality cocktail’s are made with local liqours when possible and I have never had one I did not like. I find that for the central P&L location that is hard to find. The menu seemed to be heavy on pork, but a wide variety or cuts. Seeing as they use Local Pig as their butcher and receive all of their meats locally, I can understand the emphasis on different cuts. My fiancé got the chipotle pork chop. He said it was cooked perfectly and the chipotle did give it a big kick, which he said may have been a bummer with such quality meat. My sister had the ribeye, and loved it. No complaints about a well cooked steak. I got the jalapeño pulled prok this time. Personally, I thought the sandwhich was mostly bread and not a lot of meat, which was disappointing. We also split the cheese curds and pickles. Our waiter said the chef came from Wisconsin, which explains why this dish is so amazing. Overall I have seen huge improvements over my now four visits. If you have only given it one shot, I recommend giving it another.

An okay bite, but a bit overpriced and just seems unnecessary.
The food… the menu seems limited and not too impressive. I’ve only come during lunch, so perhaps the dinner menu is more impressive; however, the lunch entrees seemed very limited. I had the steakburger and it was decent, but seemed overpriced. There definitely seem to be more options near by. My co-​worker seemed much happier with the hanger steak than I did with my burger.
The venue… a slightly renovated version of the makers mark restaurant that stood in the same location. Service was okay, but not amazing (I came toward the end of the lunch hour). I’ve never seen the place too busy during lunch either, so seating probably isn’t an issue.
Overall… I’ll stick to some of the other restaurants near by.

Great food, service, location and ambience. Right across from sprint center in the p & l district. Recommend trying the appetizers!

Great ambience, waiter was very nice, if not too observant. I started with the sweet potato soup and it was amazing! I thought wow! this place is going to be great, but then… I got the jowl, and the polenta cake was overcooked, and while the jowl was cooked wonderfully, it was way too fatty for me. The side of Brussels sprouts was awesome, but the side of polenta was way too greasy (covered in butter, which I normally love, but not that much!). I wish the waiter would have noticed I didn’t eat my food & offered to assist, but alas, he did not. I’d definitely eat the soup again though. Just a lot of $ to sample two things I didn’t enjoy.

Pork shoulder was delicious, I don’t recommend any of the apps-​great happy hour drink specials tho!

Came here for dinner months ago during happy hour. The service was perfect even though they were quite busy, the food was amazing, the place has a great vibe. Ordered the steak tartare which was absolutely delicious. Fantastic place if you’re looking to grab a drink and appetizers. Will definitely be revisiting when I’m in the area.

I give this place about 12 more months. Great menu, terrible execution, bland food, service average.
Came here the night K state was playing Missouri at the Sprint Center. Commented to the waiter that they’re about to get slammed because the game is ending. His response was, and I quote, I don’t think so because we’re going to be closed. I don’t think they understand how you make money in the restaurant business.

I am surprised by the reviews and wonder if I just went on a bad night. My husband and I stopped here for dinner before a show at the Midland. We asked the waitress what was good there and she told us the hamburger was ranked #1 in Kansas City (I didn’t ask by whom). Both my husband and I got the burger and were both very disappointed. The meat itself was extremely bland and the sauce that might have made it better was minimal. There was nothing special at all about the burger.
I felt the service was sub-​par also. Although our waitress was nice we sat often with empty water/​drinks and it took her a while to come back to our table after our food was served to see if we needed anything. It was not busy either, I would guess about 25% capacity, if that.
Both my husband and I agreed we would pick a different place the next time we are in the P&L area.

I love the location and the patio has a great view/​access to the Power and Light. I have only been here once outside a Unilocal event, and then only for drinks.
The service was good, especially since it was super crowded. Drinks are good, location is good.
I am hoping to try the happy hour M-​F, 4 – 7 where they have $ 4 beers and $ 6 cocktails.

Good not great.
First off maybe its my mistake but pulled pork is pulled pork not pork as a burger. but I tried its new different option but the flavor was lacking especially when you make pulled pork in Kansas City you better show up or not even try it just missed that umami water in your mouth taste
Good service good beer selection maybe other options are good, my team had a few things they lked but I wanted pulled pork but got a burger :(

Decent meal in a great atmosphere. Had heard a lot of good things about this place so thought we’d give it a spin. Sat outside on the patio, which was pleasant on a Monday night – not sure how nice it would be on an evening when the bar scene is in full swing.
I had the 43^rd St cocktail – gin, St. Germain, crème de violette, and lemon – and found it refreshing on a hot evening. Liked it so much I had two. Next time I want to try the Horse Feather – whiskey, ginger beer, and bitters.
We started with a cheddar stuffed brat for an appetizer. It was good, but I’d probably go for something different next time we’re there.
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which came with goat cheese, BBQ sauce, and a fried jalapeño. I feel like I can put up with a decent degree of spiciness but this jalapeño did me in. About half way thru the sandwich I took it off completely, which was a wise decision. Overall, I liked my food but next time, I’d like to try something more adventurous.

This place is awful.
We had a group of 8 tonight and left very upset.
Our waitress was not only rude, but unwilling to help when we complained that the scallop appetizer seemed a bit misrepresented. It’s not scallops, it’s thin sheets of a scallop.
Our main course took forever and tasted awful. The pulled pork was super dry and the pulled chicken sandwich looked like 2 pieces of wonder bread with some chicken salad on it. After bad tasting food arrived at the table, we also noticed that food allergies were also ignored.
We asked to see a manager and he totally avoided us until we basically stood right in front of him. Not worth anyone’s time. Hopefully this place goes away like Makers Mark before it. What a waste.

My companion and I dined here after checking out the power and light district. We decided to check it out as the menu looked appealing and the place looked moderately fancy.
For appetizer, we got the cheese curds and pickles. Very good, but needed more pickles. Also should have mentioned they were zucchini pickles rather than cucumber. I liked that but others may not.
Gin and elderflower cocktail expensive but very good.
Now for the main course. My companion got the sausage and penne pasta. She could not eat much more than a third of it or so. She said it was too salty, which surprised me as she loves salty food. I tried a couple of bites and it was inedible, sure enough.
I ordered the pork osso bucco. Good flavor, but quite cold in the center. The polenta it came with was super salty just like the pasta my companion ordered.
When the saltiness was politely complained about, nothing was done except a few minutes later a dessert was brought out. It was their ice box pie, which had a salted pretzel crust. After we complained about overly salted food.
The manager never came out and asked how things could be made right. Instead after an outright bad entrée was served, a poor dessert was picked out for us that featured the same taste we experienced in excess with our entrees. At the price range there is no excuse to not do more to make things right when the entrée is a complete strikeout.
Good appetizer and cocktail, that’s all the good I can say.

A locally owned, farm-​to-​table style restaurant taking over the P&L District? Count me in!
I was thrilled to hear this was opening in the former Maker’s Mark space, because I firmly believe there needs to be more locally owned restaurants throughout the P&L District — I think it should’ve started as an all locally owned district many years back.
The décor in here is perfectly suited for KC — upscale but rustic. It’s friendly and unpretentious, but could make for a great date spot or place with the family. I like the big open feel inside, and the outdoor (but covered) patio is nice too, although smaller than it looks.
I tried their lunch menu which they’re just now rolling out and was very impressed — the salad was phenomenal and could’ve been my stand alone; crunchy green beans, light vinegary dressing, arugula and olive oil croutons. We also tried the Fried Green Tomato BLT which is AMAZING. It’s got that good, thick cut Local Pig bacon and crunchy fried green tomatoes.
Lastly we tried the hangar steak which was brined and the flavor was on point. You definitely don’t need a sauce with this, and the fries it comes on are well-​flavored.
I think what helped make for a great experience was the wonderful service from our server, Odessa. She was so helpful and has a great energy about her!
I can’t wait to go back for a big sit down dinner sometime soon, and think they’re in the right spot for what they have.

After attending a Unilocal event here and sampling the yummy possibilities for dinner, we decided the night was still young… and we were still hungry!
Flash forward and we are in the dark and mysterious, but still warm and welcoming interior of the restaurant. We were quickly seated (it was Tuesday night after all) and our waitress came out almost bubbling over with enthusiasm. She welcomed us, explained the menu, described many items that we asked about and in general knew her stuff.
Locally made bread was brought out with their version of butter. And by Cleaver & Cork version of butter, I really mean lard. Yes, light and fluffy and infused with some herbs… lard. I have to admit… it was just okay. I prefer my real butter. But that’s just my preference.
We both ordered Pork Osso Bucco. It was served over a smooth, creamy polenta with some braised apples on top. Yummy! It came out looking very intimidating. It was a large portion indeed! Curiously enough, my friends portion was noticeably larger than my portion. Hmmm. Funny thing is, something like this doesn’t bother me at all, but I would imagine if two dudes ordered the same meal and one came out looking obviously larger than the other dudes, there may be a fist fight involved over who got the larger portion. LOL!
I really wanted to have a meal of BBQ pork ribs as I had just sampled one at the Unilocal event, but noticed they are only on the appetizer menu? That was a bit of a let down. I guess I could order them as a meal next time, but kind of wonder if I would still be hungry afterwards. The menu itself had a decent range of items to choose from. The salads looked delicious (roasted beet… I will try you next time!) but I think I will go for a Pulled Pork Sandwich next time I’m there to get my BBQ fix in.
Very happy we stuck around to experience the full meal experience here! Can’t wait to go back!

Oh, yeah, I had to come back and repay C&C for their hospitality at Cleaver & Unilocal!
Our plan to delve deep into the big stuff on the menu was derailed by Happy Hour. We decided to split a pulled-​pork sandwich off the starter menu, thinking it would be a smallish thing all by itself. Nope, this is a $ 7 meal all by itself, accompanied by a pile of crispy-​fluffy french fries and zucchini pickles that YD had to have more of.
Having already decided dessert was a must-​do, we ordered salads instead of Big Stuff, and YD slipped in a side of polenta, which was creamy and delicious. I ordered the roasted beet salad, which came with a wheel of house made buratta cheese with a nice tang and the consistency of firm cream cheese. There was way more cheese than I needed for the salad, so half came home to be caprese salad later. The yellow and red beets were roasted perfectly, and the balsamic dressing was actually more like a glaze. They were wonderful! The only thing that held back the 5^th star was that the fries and polenta needed a little more salt, which high-​end restaurants never seem to offer anymore.
Orange icebox pie with pretzel crust was just too intriguing to pass up. The crust was topped with a tangy panna cotta and marmalade, and came with two sugar-​coated pretzel sticks. It’s a great break-​out-​of-​winter-​mode dessert. YD ordered the pecan butter cake and bourbon ice cream, which we discovered was the «bread pudding» everyone was swooning over at Cleaver & Unilocal.Know what, fellow Unilocalers? With ice cream and caramel sauce, it’s EVEN BETTER!
Sara was our waitress again, and again she was fantastic (I told her they all deserved combat pay for Tuesday night). We sat on the patio again because the evening was so nice, but next time I think I’ll try the dark, swanky-​looking inside, away from all the touristy P&L distractions. And the birds flying overhead…

It’s as good as the hype, this is unusual, people usually just say all this great stuff to make everybody else only think their having a great time and great food. I only had high expectations because of all the hype but its legit amazing food.
We walked in on the courtyard side, the place was packed and I’m thinking I wanna kick my self for not making reservations. It was ok though, we waited a mere moment for the table to get cleared on the patio. P&L had particularly good people watching on this stunning spring evening.
So we settled in and got serious about the menus, it was hard but settled on zucchini fritters, I really liked those, my fella liked them just not with the citrus jam but that was what sealed the deal for me.
He got the Beefsteak burger and I got the Lasagna, they were incredible, came out but not too hot. Bothers me when stuff comes out so hot I have to wait to eat. Presentation was art, service prompt and courteous. Comfort food at its best.