Dempsey’s Westport

Disgusting! I decided to try this place because I told it was similar to The Casbah in Lawrence. This place isn’t even close to being like The Casbah. I ordered the bacon, mushroom, swiss burger with a side of duck fat fries. The duck fat fries were drenched in grease and the bottom bun of my burger, soaked up a lot of the grease and was soggy. My fiances’ fries were also very greasy. There was a pool of grease in the fry basket. I couldn’t eat the fries. I removed the bottom bun of my burger and tried to eat the patty, but it just seemed like everything was coated in grease. By the time our waiter showed up, to ask us how everything was, we were ready to leave and hardly ate any of our food. My fiancé told the waiter that we were disappointed in the food and showed him how greasy everything was. The waiter nervously told us that he was sorry and hoped that we come back maybe. No we’re not going to come back. I felt sick for paying $ 40 for crappy food and I felt gross for even being in this restaurant.

I traveled for this burger. Before they opened the location in Westport, I would make up excuses to go to Lawrence just to eat this beautifully delicious burger.

Burgers and salad quite good. Service was slow lousy and totally inept but that can change with waitress/​waiter as we know. Menu very limited. Sides are a joke. Side choices are fries, fries, fat fries and just fries. No cottage cheese, no soup, no side salad, no pasta. Burger is good but not great. For $ 10 you get a burger. Thats it. Not even fries come with it. Or your other choice of sides, fries or fries. They also ration catsup like it was gold, forget pickles or grey poupon.

very different menu service was awesome!!!

The wings are awesome! Salmon burger is highly recommended. The pineapple wings were a surprise. We were skeptical but so glad we ordered them. They were the best wings in KC!

I was in the area and wanted to grab a bite. I was initially walking to Harpos when I saw the sign for Dempsey’s burger bar two things that certainly go together. Long story short I had the stack with pepper jack and those house cut fries were on point! I pondered thought my entire burger what the three sauces were made of. I only got one right lol

You know what they say — the original is always better. And in this case, it couldn’t be more true. Reading through the other reviews made me a bit sad actually because Dempsey’s is my favorite burger place in Lawrence. In Lawrence, you’re generally a Burger Stand kinda guy or Dempsey’s kinda guy. I’m obviously part of the latter camp. I moved back to Kansas City after a few years in Lawrence, so I was ecstatic when I found out they were opening another location in Westport. I missed my Dempsey’s, and now I could have it as much as I wanted.
My first few initial visits were not great. Service is always a hit-​or-​miss at this particular location, it seems like. I do feel like they’re understaffed, and they should have more servers. It will be absolutely dead, but the waitress will disappear for an inordinate amount of time, so we’ll be sitting with empty water glasses until she delivers our food. And when they’re busy, they’ll be all over the place, so we won’t get water refills until we’re done with our meal. Basically, they need to figure their staffing issues out.
As for the food… It seems like people are saying all kinds of things with their reviews. Dempsey’s in Lawrence has the best fries ever. But this Dempsey’s was an utter disappointment the first few times in that category. They were consistently burnt or too salty. But on my last visit, they finally got it right. Finally reminiscent of the Lawrence location. It gave me hope that my future visits might finally get better. My 4-​star rating is based on my last visit, as I’m optimistic that things will be better.
As for the reviewer who commented on the buns — the buns are not as good as the ones at the Lawrence location. They use a local Lawrence bakery’s buns, so I’m guessing the KC location uses Farm-​to-​Market or another company’s buns. I believe the one in Lawrence uses a brioche bun that is incredibly soft compared to the thicker texture at the Westport location. So, it does take away from the burger in that standpoint for me.
Despite trying several different burgers, I always go back to the Egg Burger. It’s my favorite. I love runny eggs, and what’s better than a runny egg on a burger? For those afraid of getting salmonella from eggs, but not afraid of it from partially cooked beef — I’m sure you could get the egg well-​done, if that’s your prerogative. But after eating runny eggs all my life, I have yet to contract it.
I really hope that this location makes it. I know people are all about Beer Kitchen, but I feel like they’re not the same whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, I love Beer Kitchen. But they’re a bit different, in my opinion, so you can’t really compare them.
Overall: 3.5÷5
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ²⁄₅
Atmosphere: ³⁄₅

My girlfriend introduced me to the original Dempsey’s location in Lawrence. It was about her favorite restaurant there, as she’s a sucker for good truffle fries. And the truffle fries were awesome, as were the variety of burgers. Now that she lives in Kansas City, she was ecstatic to hear a Dempsey’s would be opening locally.
The first (and second) visit to the Kansas City location was disappointing to me, and especially her. It simply wasn’t as good as the Lawrence establishment. She’d been to the Lawrence location several times and had never been disappointed, as far as I know. We didn’t lose hope though, and by the third visit, it was more on par with what I’d remembered and she’d come to expect. I’ve never had a problem with burger preparedness, and I think they’re probably the best truffle fries I’ve had in Kansas City (The Reserve is a contender, as well). The menu is limited, but varied. Service has always been just fine for me, too.
This might have been a fiver, but I’m just partially reserved still from the two initial visits (but it definitely seems to be on the upswing). If you haven’t tried them yet, definitely stop in. I know a lot of people in Kansas City are attached to Beer Kitchen right up the street, but don’t sleep on this place. Maybe stop in if the wait at Beer Kitchen is too long or something, if nothing else. You shan’t regret. Located just south of Beer Kitchen, across the street from the overrated Doughnut Lounge. Casual attire fine. Speaking of which, how do you spell the abbreviated colloquialism for «casual»? «Casjh»? «Cajjj»? «C@5\/@|_»? Oh well, whatever.
Truffle fries: ⁵⁄₅
Burgers: ⁴⁄₅
Hipster level: 2.5÷5

What can I say, amazing!!! Love this place. Food was great and our bartender was even better. Stopped in on Valentine’s Day and had the best old fashion I have ever had! This is going to be our new hang out place I think!

So, my buddy and I were walking to Beer Kitchen, a place we frequent often, when we came across this little place. It must be brand new, because I ain’t never know it was here. Funny coincidence, i pulled up Unilocal to see what people had to say and some jackass was complaining about wondering whether or not they were to wait to be seated or seat themselves. It clearly states on a sign to seat yourself, you oblivious poor excuse for a human being.
Alright, so we sat down at the bar and got service pretty fast. Mainly, because im not a jackass like the guy I previously stated. We ordered the beer cheese and 2 burgers. That beer cheese though. Its delish and im a fan pf delish. I ordered the southwest burger, my boy got the BBQ one. BBQ one was good, but nothing special. Let me tell you about this god damn southwest burger. Holy hell! They put the whole damn batch of jalapeños from the garden on it. Im over here crying out my right eye like usual. My chest tightened up. Im lookin’ like a little bitch tryin to eat this thing. I mean, who in their right mind decided it was a good idea to put that many jalapeños on a damn burger. I can already tell you I’m going to be shitting fire at work tomorrow. You know, because i cut costs at home by saving flushes and toilet paper!

We are from out of town and stumbled on this place and it was great! Our server was so friendly and had great recommendations for fun in the area. Ordered a burger and the truffle fries and they were to die for, not too greasy and perfect flavor. We got our food quickly and she made sure we always had something to drink. Cool atmosphere, would definitely go back!

Good bar to grab some drinks, the food was ok.
I stopped by Dempsey’s on a week night and the place was pretty empty. The bar is large and open, but very dark with dim lighting and a dark color scheme. There are plenty of windows so it’s bound to be brighter during the day time. You can’t get a good look at the dinning room from the bar. The bar has several TV, which are rather small for the size of the bar, but get the job done.
The servers were very friendly and attentive, mostly younger girls who were having some fun near the bar, due to the low volume (hopefully they weren’t neglecting customers while chit-​chatting).
I tried their sliders and they were, nothing special. They duck fat fries were actually very good, a bit greasy for obvious reasons, but still crispy and flavorful, but I could’ve done without the orange zest.
Overall a good spot to unwind and grab some drinks, maybe lunch. I’d hesitate to stop in for dinner though.

Great place to watch KU games and even better place to have a burger! Don’t forget to try all the sides and condiments, it is worth your time.

A group of friends and I went to Dempsey’s last night for dinner and had a great time. Our server and the back waiters never left a glass half empty or empty dishes on the table. Our server was super attentive and provided her suggestions on the menu (both drink and food). I had the mushroom Swiss burger and for the table, we ordered a plate of the truffle fries and an order of the duck fat fries. First, how awesome is it that duck fat fries are an option here? It’s rare and we were presently surprised that they had it and that it was delicious! There were three sauces served with both sets of fries. The orange-​flavored sauce with the duck fat fries was not our favorite. We saw what they were going for, but it just didn’t land. The fries by themselves were great. The burger was fantastic. It was cooked to perfection and you can not go wrong with a pretzel bun. Garlic aioli was a superb touch on the mushroom/​Swiss as well. They offered both drink and food specials (I did not partake in the alcoholic beverages but there were no complaints from my fellow diners). The burgers don’t come with a side so if you’re there with a friend, for sure share a plate of fries. I’ll definitely be back!

We have attempted to eat here on two occasions and left without having done so both times due to the extremely poor and apathetic service.
The first time was understandable, it was the day of the Royals parade and they were swamped. We waited fifteen minutes to be seated, it was apparent that there was only one waitress dealing with a huge crowd. After another fifteen minutes or so without any further attention from the staff, the bartender did come and apologize, explain that some of their employees did not show up and offered to get us drinks while we waited. We waited another twenty minutes but we’re starving and our order still had not been taken. Decided to try again another time.
We returned on a Saturday for lunch. Business was slow, only two other tables. Once seated, we were given waters and menus and never saw our waitress again. We made eye contact with the bartender several times, which he ignored. Another girl filled our waters and didn’t even attempt to be friendly or say anything at all. After twenty minutes without our order being taken, we left. We will not be going back.
Very disappointing, we were looking forward to trying this.

This was a back-​up choice for supper when our favorite Westport eateries were packed. Very subpar service– everyone looked young, acted inexperienced, and a bit scatter-​brained. For a week night, it took us 1 ½ hours from start to end to get seated, served, and paid. There were no drink lists on the tables, which was frustrating– I didn’t get a beer, because I couldn’t see what was on tap and the server already seemed so overwhelmed. I had the Kobe burger and surprisingly enjoyed it. It had a really delicious tomato and shallot confit on it. I’m glad I asked for the burger well done, because if I truly had wanted it «well done,» this wouldn’t have satisfied that– a lot of pink. Oh well. I don’t think we’ll be going back.

Quick overview: Subpar service (weren’t busy or would have been understanding), meat taste frozen and pre formed. 10 dollars for a burger 4 to add fries. Not very large portions. Seemed like more of a bar than somewhere to get food.
Wait 5 minutes at the door with no host, we weren’t sure if it was open seating or if needed to wait to be sat. Over ten minutes for our server to come over once sat. It’s a slow Sunday around 3 a clock. There are 2 other tables eating in the place and they had a different server. We had plenty of time to choose what we’d like to eat.
Food was mediocre. Medium cooked burgers with not spot of pink. Thin patties. Pre formed patties it seemed. You would think a place with burger in the name would have fresh meat, and large patties. One thin piece of butter lettuce. I did enjoy the fries that came with a variety of Sauces. We had to wave down a different server to ask for mustard. Water was never refilled. Had to drink the ladies once mine was done.
Overall lack luster experience, not worth returning.

So, I walked into Dempsey’s, expecting to enjoy it based on word of mouth.
We were promptly seated, and informed of the beer specials. After looking at the menu, we ordered a Bleu burger and a South of the border, both ordered medium-​rare, and a basket of Truffle Fries.
The waitress returned with our drinks, and then disappeared and never returned with the requested sweetener for the Iced Tea.
Both burgers came out in timely fashion, and the fries came with a meager quantity of their sauces. The ketchup has an overly sweet taste to it, and is off-​putting.
First bite into the burgers revealed they were well done, and dry. They put lots of toppings on the burgers to mask the terrible quality of the meat.
The bill came, and it was 35.00 for two burgers, a basket of fries, and 2 drinks — Hardly worth the price.
Needless to say, there are a thousand better burger places in the metro, that won’t wring your wallet dry and assault your tastebuds.

I got home from work and wanted to see the end of the Royals game so we walked over to the
My wife and I are plant-​based eaters so I look for a good selection of veggie burgers and the like. They have a couple so we each ordered one. I chose the quinoa and she chose the Portabella. At first our server came back and said they were out of quinoa, so I chose the Portabella. Then she came back and said they had made another batch of quinoa, so I could go with my original order and the truffle fries. This may have put some people off but for me, it was a good sign since that showed me that they made the quinoa burgers up fresh. The burger was tasty but sloppy. Fries were great and she brought an assortment of house made dips in little paper ramekins. The sriracha aioli is tremendous.
Nice selection of beers on tap and bottles and the service was attentive and prompt despite being in the middle of a Royals game-​day rush. The front room had plenty of TVs and was super noisy but the back room was quieter with a view of the game on the TVs.
This is a nicely run, friendly place and a great addition to Westport.

It was slow afternoon. Service wasnt great. Burgers were a tad dry and felt like the add ons were needed to mask a subpar burger. Its good not great. Will I come back? Probably not. But you should try it! Maybe its your style.