Monk’s Roast Beef

I’m at the KC Auto Show and the Monk’s Roast Beef food truck was there. The food was mediocre but the customer service was absolutely terrible. The menu said they had a corned beef Reuben and a pastrami Reuben. I asked for a simple and easy special order which was half corned beef and half pastrami on my Reuben. The guy making the sandwiches in a rude tone said that my request was ridiculous and brushed me off rudely as he dripped sweat all over the food he was making. He could have nicely said that they don’t do special orders but instead he was rude and derogatory towards me. I will never eat at this place again and will spread the word far and wide in social media. I’ve worked in the restaurant industry for years and I understand how hard it gets when your in the weeds but that doesn’t warrant talking or treating a customer in such a poor demeanor. Customer service 101. I ended up getting the corned beef Reuben and it was soggy and almost inedible. I ended up throwing it away. I can make a better Reuben at home. If you want a great Reuben hit up Summit Bar and Grill in Waldo or Lee’s Summit.

I ate there recently and the staff was unfriendly and had no sense of urgency to get the food out. I got the roast beef sandwich and it was sloppy and soggy. Arby’s does a better job. Probably my least favorite food truck in Kansas City.

Had lunch — went for the basic Roast Beef sandwich and poutine fries. Was surprised to see poutine (not common in KC). I opted to do the sandwich plain and the cooks were very accommodating in special-​ordering. It was great! The poutine was absolutely incredible! Just the right amount of seasoning, gravy, and cheese. Loved it. Portions are generous and this is a great truck if you’re looking to load up. All good. I want to go back and try other stuff. Ken is paisan, and runs a good operation.

This place could be so great. But it is as if they add detergent to their roast beef and it makes it impossible to eat. I have told them this but they seem a little proud of themselves and will not listen. Too bad. It could honestly be the greatest sandwich in town.

Monk’s is mmmmarvelous!
The first time I ate there, my roommate got one of their barbeque sandwiches, which was really good, but I can’t, just can’t order anything but the original roast beef. Great BBQ brisket and pork sandwiches can be had all over town, but I’ve never had plain, unadulterated, unviolated medium rare roast beef like this on a sandwich, ever. It’s not that processed «deli» roast beef; no, this is the real deal, like right out of the oven. It comes on a plain white bun with mayo and what they call barbeque sauce, but… it’s different. Not at all sweet, vinegary, but not Bryant’s vinegary. I don’t know what’s in it, but it’s marvelous!
I splurged and tried the Poutine Fries, too, with the idea of sharing with my friends. I was delighted that they all politely took a few and left me the rest, because it’s just stupid how good these things are. The fries are great on their own, but with brown gravy and cheese curds they’re just completely off the chart. Combine great food with great, fast service, and these guys are probably my favorite food truck.

Well I’m going to be the Debbie Downer here and it sucks because I generally don’t rate things low unless I am doing an exit speech. I had two sandwiches today. I specifically asked for no mayo. When I got the sandwiches, I asked again are they without mayo? The response that I got was well if it does have mayo, you won’t taste it. I absolutely will. Why? Because I hate MAYO!!! When I got back to work, they had mayo on them. So I guess I can only rate on their customer service because I surely can’t rate on the food since I won’t be eating it or going back. It’s crazy because my first experience, I only had the fries but my sons both had the sandwiches and they weren’t fans but I thought hey, give them another chance. Fool me once, shame on you… Thanks for having me spend the money just to throw them in the trash & go spend more at my work’s cafeteria. I appreciate it.

So all my life I have based a decent roast beef sandwich off of a fast food chain with a big hat as a logo. Beings I am not one to talk a lot of crap, I will from now on refer to them as Ardie’s for the duration of this review.
Ardie’s has nothing on Monk’s! Monk’s beef was thicker, juicier and more flavorful. The sauces were a prefect compliment to the beef and the bun was fresh and sturdy to hold the massive amounts of meat. Even the fries were better, yes Ardie’s has curly fries but the fries at Monk’s were excellent!
My Twitter and Facebook feeds are now set to alert me when Monk’s is in the area because I can not look at an Ardie’s roast beef sandwich the same way after Monk’s!
In conclusion, Monk’s is greater than Ardie’s (it’s actually not even close)

Good food truck! The only downside was how long it took for the food to be finished, but it was SO GOOD.
I went to the Food Truck Stop at First Friday’s in the Crossroads. Totally starving and this truck looked good (especially with its shorter line). They had the Roast Beef sandwich, an Au Jus sandwich, some chicken sandwich options, fries, onion rings, and Poutine fries! My brother got a Roast Beef Sandwich and he loved it, my Au Jus was really great! I got it with lettuce and grainy mustard on it, too. The beef was thinly sliced and delicious :) the broth for the Au Jus was piping hot and flavorful, just perfect.
And oh my, the Poutine fries… da bomb. If you’re unfamiliar with Poutine fries, they’re regular fries (fried to perfection, here) topped with Shatto cheese curds and a homemade brown gravy. So delicious!
We left stuffed and very satisfied, just what I want out of a food truck.

I only had the poutine fries with beef. Fries were good and gravy was good. Roast beef was good but man where is the fresh cheese curds? Shredded chedder does not belong on puotine.

We decided to try Monk’s at the Waldo Fall Festival and we are glad we did. The service was friendly and the roast beef sandwiches are amazing — served piping hot on a buttered roll, tender beef, delicious sauce — simply awesome! Highly recommend.

what a fantastic sandwich. Really good Arbys better watch out.

The truck swung by my work today at lunch and I couldn’t avoid the smells coming from the office. It smelled amazing! I wandered down to the parking lot and saw monk’s food truck. I ordered the BBQ chicken sandwich. I didn’t know it was breaded, but it was. I was trying to be a little healthy. Oh well. It was very good. The chicken was a little spicey but not bad. Everyone raved about the fries. I am allergic to potatoes, but I believe everyone when they said they were delish. The lunch special was $ 8.50 for a sandwich and fries. Not a bad deal. The line took a while, but they do accept credit cards. (Bonus!).

I’m still new to the whole food truck idea and I will admit that I have been recenlty introduced to the reuben sandwhich. I got the reuben and it was delicious. The meat was cut thin, was juicy, and not fatty or bistly. The bread was very fresh and the sauerkraut was tasty. I asked him to go light on the sauce and he complied. Very tasty. I hope to have the truck back one day soon.

Saw their truck at Crown Center. I had a roast beef sandwich with fries. Loved all of it! Fries were crispy and seasoned. Yum. Meat was tender. It took a while to get the food out, which was weird because it was early in the night and I was the only customer at the time. Maybe they were still getting things set up? Good thing I wasn’t in a hurry. Look forward to seeing the truck again.

Someone suggested trying Monk’s in a French Dip conversation. Being a French Dip fan, I was intrigued.
They were down in JoCo so that presented the perfect opportunity to run over and give them a try. I was nervous because I was cutting it close and they said they would close at 1:30. I use to manage restaurants and had a rule that we always opened at least five minutes early and stayed open at least five minutes late. If people were pulling in you did not lock the doors. It wasn’t about revenue, it was about customer service. As I pulled into the parking lot at 1:30 I was happy to see they were still open and they did not hesitate to serve me and a few others that came up after me. Not only did they stay open for the people that kept coming up, they were exceptionally friendly! The lady taking orders tops my list of favorite servers. You could just hear the smile in her voice and she was genuinely friendly. I was won over at that point! She is the type of person that would make you go somewhere often for mediocre food because the service is that good!
As for the food, not mediocre at all. Pretty darn good! I couldn’t decide on a sandwich even though the French Dip was the original reason I went. I also love a good pastrami sandwich so I was torn. I decided to get both and not have to worry about dinner that evening. Best choice I made that day, maybe even for the week! I also ordered some of the poutine. I had never had poutine and a talk thread had me curious. (Talk threads are good! In the last week they have influenced me to try two eating establishments!)
The poutine was good. I am not a huge gravy person and really have to be in the mood. I also generally prefer milk gravy to brown gravy, but the gravy on the fries is really good. Don’t tell my Granny, but maybe the best brown gravy I have tried. It was thick, clinging to the fries and you could taste the beef drippings. I would have preferred a little less gravy and a little more cheese, but that is just being picky and more of a cheese lover than a gravy lover.
The French Dip is close to being perfect. The roast beef is so tender and juicy it stands on it’s own without even needing jus. One of the best roast beef sandwiches I have had. The beef is cut thin and piled onto the roll. The bread to meat ratio is perfect. So many places fail at this and the bread overtakes the sandwich. Not Monks, you won’t be asking where’s the beef! My only beef (pun intended) is the bun. It is a little soft for a French Dip and becomes soggy when dunked in the jus. The jus was perfect. Not to concentrated, but full of flavor. On another bun, this would become my new favorite French Dip. Defiantly in the top 5.
Even better than the French Dip and roast beef is the pastrami! I know they are known for their roast beef, but try the pastrami! Hands down the best pastrami sandwich I have had. What makes it the best? It is tremendously lean, but not lacking a touch of fat that pastrami needs. The flavor will make your eyes roll back and you will not be able to stop the mmmm’s from coming out. It was served on a toasted bun that again, perfect bread to meat ratio with pastrami piled high. I got it with mayo, spicy mustard, and lettuce. The spicy mustard was perfect for the pastrami. Seriously people, try it!!!
I would say I am excited to try the other options on the menu, but honestly I will probably stick with the same every time. Thanks to whoever suggested Monk’s on the French Dip talk thread. You are my new best friend for the week! :)

I had a chance to check out Monk’s at a recent Food Truck Festival at City Market… the line was long, but it was well worth the wait. The JR roast beef and fries sounded good, so that’s what I ordered (though the pastrami sandwich intrigued me).
Positives:
–Delicious, melt-​in-​your-​mouth roast beef, accompanied by a delicious special sauce and mayo combo that I never thought could be so good.
–Warm, crispy fries that definitely distance themselves from your standard fast food fries.
–Friendly service
Negatives:
–My one complaint is that the sandwiches could be bigger. They’re so delicious and I want more!

I’m not gonna lie, I’m a fan of Arby’s. To be fair, it’s mostly because of their curly fries, but as a result I end up with the occasional roast beef sandwich. And take it from me, Monk’s makes Arby’s its bitch.
I have been wanting to try Monk’s for quite some time, but we’d never been in the same place at the same time. That ended on Memorial Day, when we both opted to celebrate America at the same location. Once I saw the truck, I immediately booked over and gave the man my monies in exchange for their large roast beef sandwich. Then I wept tears of joy.
You see, this sandwich is just ridiculous. Bread so soft, meat so flavorful, and a sauce so delicious and creamy that it could make you slap somebody else’s mama! I wolfed down my (rather large) sandwich, and immediately wanted more. That speaks to two things: that’s one tasty sandwich and I have portion control issues.
Monk’s will never replace my love for Arby’s curly fries, but they are definitely the roast beef sandwich to beat here in Kansas City.

I saw on Facebook that they (the food truck) were downtown for lunch today and I decided to walk on over. I’ve haven’t dared to try a roast beef sandwich since moving to Kansas City from the Boston area in 2009, so I was pretty skeptical. I was even more skeptical that they put a special sauce on it along with mayo. Mayo on your roast beef? EWWW right? Well, I figured, what the hell? Let’s try what the chef recommends. He must know best. I’m used to no sauce and you just add mustard or A1 Steak sauce after getting the sandwich on your own if you so choose.
So, I walked on up and no line! I ordered two large roast beef sandwiches with their special sauce and mayo and plucked down $ 14 plus tax. I greedily attacked the sandwich and was pleasantly surprised. The meat melted in your mouth and seemed to have a smoky flavor to it. The sauce complemented the sandwich quite well and I ended up licking off the remnants off the wrapper (guilty as charged).
Why 4 out of 5 stars? Amazing food, but I felt the large was not that large (size of a hamburger bun) and $ 7 was a wee bit high for that size sandwich with the low overhead this guy has. He has a small menu and a food truck, which should keep costs low. Will I be back? HELL YEAH! I wanted to try his beef stew, but he had sold out :(

Once again I am not a big fan of roast beef. Occasionally, I will tolerate one from Arby’s.
So what pulled me here? It’s a food truck, nuff said in my eyes. It just has to have something I like. Just has to!
I tried the junior roast beef and this place is an exception in my books. Oh yum and yum again. All time favorite. I could even crave this stuff. You got to try this. They also have chicken sandwiches. They have constant updates of where they will be on Facebook. Check them out!

I’m in roast beef heaven! My first Jr had me craving a second so I caved. Wow! Uh… delicious mouth watering meat ecstasy. Oh and the sauce. The Sauce! I’ll take a bottle please. How ’bout an IV?