Gambals Social Club

A group of my friends and myself showed up here to have some drinks. I was the DD. Everyone sat down at the bar, open seats. I was right in front and ordered a round for the group, 12 people. As soon as the drinks showed up the bartender started telling the group we had to leave because there were people sitting in these seats. He claimed he told us when we sat down and I understood when you’re dealing with drunk people this might be OK. I’m completely sober, the DD and he never made any mention of this. He started being extremely rude and threw the entire group out. Completely ridiculous, we will not be coming back.

One of the best Clubs In the Westport Area. The staff are so friendly. The Prices are reasonable as well. The Food they serve over there is really good. If you wanna have wonderful weekend Gambals is the place.

Great place with a great owner and staff, definitely a don’t miss spot if you’re looking for shenanigans!

Rude staff, moronic door staff (read: busboys), awful atmosphere. In my opinion, this is among the worst spots in KC.

Let me start off by saying that I have frequented Gambal’s on several occasions. This place is a treat on the weekends — decent prices, fun atmosphere and eclectic crowd. So, this was not my first experience, but it was my first negative experience.
Gambals doesn’t tout themselves as a sports bar (even though Unilocal has them in that category), but with the number of TV’s around the bar, my friends and I thought this might be a decent place to catch a game. Also, it helped that we had 2 for 1 taco coupons for KC Taco Company (they’re bomb!).
The first issue was had was that the staff didn’t seem too concerned with the game, we had to ask them to turn the channel. Second, I assumed like other establishments, they’d cut the music during the game. No such luck here. The music is so loud you can’t hold a conversation with the person sitting across the booth. They wouldn’t even turn on the closed caption. But, that wasn’t the biggest problem of the night.
The waiter seemed a bit preoccupied with the table next to us (large group of ladies), and when that group left, he spent the rest of the night at the bar helping serve up there and we didn’t get service. Between our last drink order and us finally going up to the bar to get our tab because we were tired of waiting, there was 30 minutes or more — «or more» because it was 30 minutes from when I started keeping track of how long we’d been waiting, we’d been waiting before that. When my fiancé tried to get the tab, the waiter fought him on the number of drinks we’d been served. My fiancé ordered 1 beer and received 1 beer. Good record. I ordered 3 drinks during the night and received only 2. And the other friend with us ordered FOUR beers and received only TWO! The waiter/​bartender finally changed the tab and we left. Not sure if he really thought he’d served us, or if he was trying to make a couple extra bucks. Needless to say, we won’t return on a week night, for a game, or any time soon.

A solid Taco Tuesday evening with skee ball & pool.
Tall Boys are on special as well as 3 out of numerous taco offerings. I had the steak chimichurri which wasn’t on special but really tasty. The chimichurri sauce had a yummy garlic kick in mouth taste. The steak was a little chewy but not too bad. My husband had the mojo chicken and it tasted good too. Our friends had the old school and black bean. All of us enjoyed our selections so 4 out of 9 ain’t bad at all.
The Tall Boy special includes Stella, Guinness, Newcastle for $ 2. Nice!
The game room had booths too. We set up shop while playing a few games of pool.
We didn’t stay long after trivia started. The place does fill up for it plus it’s free to play. Maybe another time.

Decent bar, and it has games! Definitely a good place to hang out.
Gambals is split into two sides, the first is a traditional bat set up. Booths line the wall all the way to the bar at the back, the bar is somewhat small, acommodating maybe ten people. The second part is the «game room», it has two pool tables, several old arcade games, a skeeball machine, and a few pinball machines.
I stopped by on a Thursday night, and it was close to empty, which made me wonder if I should stay. Only a few guys hanging out at the bar who seemed to be regulars. Everyone was friendly and the $ 2 tallboy happy hour was great. While they don’t have a tap, they still manage to have a pretty good beer selection, although it’s hard to make out what they have in the fridge unless you know what you want.
They partner with KC Taco Company to provide food. I’ve always found tacos kind of expensive, and this applies to most places that focus on tacos. I mean, over $ 8 for two tacos (which amounts to a snack as far as I’m concerned) seemed pretty steep, they were good, but not great.
Again, the place was pretty empty, which made it great for playing pool or any of the other games, but it would be pretty uncomfortable on crowded nights.
Overall it’s a good spot to hang out and grab a drink.

Pleasantly surprsised by this place. Salsa was ON POINT and super fresh, chips were excellent and if not home made, they were fresh and warm as if they were homemade. Service was good, considering this is more of a bar atmosphere. Tacos were excellent. Friend had bang bang shimp and i had the asada tacos and they both were perfect, not too overdone, just right. Will be back.

Visiting from chicago and went out for a friends bday in Westport. «Robbie» at the door (could or could not be his real name) was awful and wouldn’t let me in bc he’s unfamiliar w other states IDs. All of my friends were inside and spoke to the «manager» who basically said sorry no. Calm down bro and take a servsafe class. Not worth it!!!

We’ve always enjoyed our time in Gambals, from evenings spent playing pool, to Tuesday night’s Taco Tuesday/​trivia combination, to the nights where we just wanted to enjoy the communal bar atmosphere instead of the noise and posturing of other Westport clubs. There’s tons to do in here, from oversized games, pool, video games, poker nights — they are really doing what they can to bring as wide a variety of people together, and even on the packed nights, the place has a joviality to it that reminds me a lot of a private club or some other sort of close-​knit social organization. On some nights, that translates to «frat» but quite frankly, it’s one of the few places that make me think twice (for half a second) about what I might’ve missed out on not pursuing that path in school.
This review, though, is specifically for the great service we had w/​Adam last night. We came in for Kansas City Taco Company tacos, and when Adam found out we were on the way to a show, he made sure everything came out superfast, our drinks were filled ASAP, and the check was wrapped up and a to-​go box brought without delay. We really appreciated his enthusiasm towards us enjoying the rest of our evening.
On the way out, he was outside on break and asked us whether Carina Round was opening for Tears for Fears that night, and while I wasn’t familiar with her, I did recognize the name as the opener. He gave a rousing thumbs-​up recommendation and then shoo’d us on to get there in time to catch her set. Well, Adam — she was great and also served as the back-​up singer for the band — she even did Oleta Adams’ part in «Woman in Chains,» no small feat in front of Oleta’s hometown crowd.
Thanks again for the great service, looking forward to our next visit!

Giant connect 4?! I’m there – I don’t even care if I get splinters, which I totally did btw.
Definitely a place for a younger crowd with mostly early twenty-​somethings running after giant jenga pieces that went scattering all over the floor.
Cheap drinks and a variety of games.
Bartender was very accommodating and recommended a few beers we had never tried.
The only sadness in my life here is the incomplete game of Operation.

The Gambals Social Club takes a nice stab at a couple of adult beverage genres known to thrive in the Westport area… games, dive bars and cheap drinks. I will say that while their attempt is a strong one the execution is still a bit to be desired.
The layout uses the brick of the building with a bar where you can belly up in the middle, booths along one wall and a room full of old 80s arcade and bar games. It’s almost like they built a bar in their basement… kind of that vibe. They offer decently strong pours at good prices (I think two whiskey cokes cost me $ 7 total) and some beers on the lower end of the price spectrum (PBR, High Life, Busch Light, etc…) for the quantity over quality crowd.
The layout could be a bit better. The bar features a life size Connect 4 and Jenga games, but they’re kind of in the right of way of people trying to walk. When it gets busy you’ll hear the Jenga crash because somebody walking up to the back bar stumbles and trips into it causing a premature end to the bout. The group cleans up and then ten minutes later it happens again. Be prepared.

bleh. Dive bar w/​games is a great idea, but the execution here is bad. the crowd is super young («im here for my 21^st birthday» kind of young).
pros: they have entertainment selection. games, arcade, pool, darts. most bars dont have that range of fun stuff to do.
cons: no space for any of it. the pool tables are crammed in the center so you cant play comfortably. Music was cranked up SO loud — way beyond comfort level, no idea why because its a small place.
all the young frat types, super loud pop music, lack of space and blinking lights made it feel like a chuck e cheese for early 20 somethings. if you want to sip a good beer and play some games and chat, I wouldnt recommend. however if you want to take shots, drink pbr and squeal while playing giant Jenga, go crazy here.

While I really, really, really didn’t like this place, I’m going to run with the idea that it’s simply not for me and leave them three stars. I mean, if you’re in your early 20s and interested in getting bombed on domestic beers or cheap liquor while playing giant jenga, then this is the spot for you. Lots and lots of people were having a ton of fun, but my friends and I weren’t part of that. But you can’t fault a college bar too much when you’re a decade removed from college.
While I am fully aware that I am going to sound like the oldest man in the universe, I was really annoyed by the packed frat-​party crowd. It took forever to get drinks. People bumped into you all the time. It was chock full of Woo Girls. Westport is transitioning to more craft-​centric restaurants and cocktail bars, and Gambal’s hasn’t gotten the memo.
That being said, some things are cool. They do have a nice collection of games, both video and analog. It was the first time I ever saw giant Jenga that wasn’t on a patio, and while it was annoying to have a delicate game right in the middle of a packed bar, people seemed to enjoy it. Lots of video games. It’s definitely nice that there are interactive options, rather than just being a place to sit around and drink.
Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks, I guess. But I’m gonna have to pass on Gambal’s.

I agree with other reviewers that the darts, giant jenga, and wall of video games are fantastic!
I had to lower my rating, however due to horrid service. The bartender was condescending, rude, and annoyed to have patrons. The bar was close to empty and you would have assumed she could make time for friendly out-​of-​towners, but it was bad enough that we nearly left during our drink order.
We would have regretted not sticking around to play ski-​ball and Ms Pacman though! What a delight!

Cool, laid back, hangout! The food I tried was tasty, and the guy behind the counter was mellow. They have a couple of ginormous old-​school games (see pictures) and poker, and other activities and random fun. I loved the diversity of the crowd and the very chill vibe of the place! It’s a bit dive-​y, but not at all grungy, so I could dig it. I could see this being the kind of place «where everybody knows your name», and they might even be glad you came…

A go to, as far as I’m concerned. Jenga is good both sober and tipsy. Its never overly crowded and not super duper loud. But that’s not to say it isn’t a blast. Big open booths and tables are perfect for groups of ten-​ish people. Good times.

Darts, pool, giant jenga, and tons of video games?!?
Oh, and really cheap drinks? (happy hour rules)
Plus delicious food from KC Taco company?
The only thing we don’t like about this place is that sometimes it gets too crowded, but that’s not a huge deal. It’s great when it’s earlier in the day and most of the games are available.

When in Westport this is the place to go. The guys and gals that work here are the best! The prices are far less compared to other bars in Westport or P&L. The bartenders are very friendly and they watch out for their patrons. The crowd doesn’t get too rowdy here, which is nice.
Go ahead and play some Jenga while you are there as well!!!

Small little bar in the heart of Westport. They got some games… pool and giant jenga and skeetball (i really dont even know how to spell that). They got some tvs to watch sports. They got booths. A fun college type bar.
When we went there was the Law School end of year social. So it was PACKED. Drinks were free and some law school guys wife who is not in law school and who was dressed REAL skanky was up on all sorts of dudes with him there. Then she had three brothas meet her there and started grinding up on them. (Not a club mind you). So that was fun to watch.
Actually a cool place to come and chill if you dont want to have huge crowds surround you whilst drinking.