Ruins Pub

Fried bread: good. Chicken tacos: okay. Fish tacos: awful

First time here, and I must say lunch was great! While waiting for my friend to arrive, I asked my sever Tiffany about the Langos fried bread. She said the Tzatziki was her favorite. So I ordered it as something to share as a starter, and was very happy when it arrived. It was a warm and refreshing combination of flavors… not heavy at all. I HIGHLY recommend you try it.
Chef’s special was a Chicken Philly with their thin fries, which my fiend said was very very good. I saw that many in the restaurant had ordered it as well, so I wasn’t at all surprised. As tuis was our first time there, I decided to try a Cuban sandwich with thin fires. Again, I wasn’t disappointed at all. Very well done. Bread crusty, chewy, and warm. Ham, pork, cheeses, perfectly balanced with the aioli and pub mustard.
All in all a great meal. Looking forward to coming back and trying the other interesting items on the menu. Thanks, Chef!

I had never been here before. The server, a gentleman, was rude, talked down to us, and wasn’t helpful in helping understand what this bar was about. Not impressed, and sadly won’t be back to a bar that seems like such a good concept.

This was our first time at Ruin’s. The food, beer, and ambience are all fantastic. We had the Tzatiziki Langos as an appetizer and it was phenomenal. The bread was thick and also crispy on the outside. The vegetables were fresh Tzatiziki sauce added another layer of freshness. We tried the Rueben Tacos and the Pork Belly Tacos. The meat was seasoned perfectly and all of the ingredients mixed well together. The addition of the wasabi aioli was perfect. We got sweet potato fries and thin fries for our sides. They were cooked perfectly and the cinnamon seasoning on sweet potato fries went perfectly with the fries.
Now, on to the beer! They have a wide selection of hard to find beers and fresh seasonals. One of the coolest things if you can pour how ever much of a beer you want. The beers are reasonably priced per ounce. We were able to have full pours of two very fresh, seasonal IPAs, and a couple small pours of Boulevard’s Rye-​on-​Rye-​on-​Rye.
I don’t want to leave out the greet service we received. Kyle was our bartender. He gave great recommendations on food and provided excellent, personable service.

A few colleagues decided to try Ruins Pub for lunch today, since it was gorgeous weather. We were thrilled that Ruins has a lot with generous parking, unlike many KC spots.
We entered a large, open, relatively empty place at 11:30.The garage door to the side patio was open to soak up some warmth and fresh air.
The décor is eclectic. If you are afraid of clowns, don’t look up for the love of all that’s holy.
We were greeted at arrival and told to choose a table and given menus.
Our server, Tiffani, was great. Very friendly, very helpful and with good recommendations.
She explained their «wall o’ beer» system to us and helped us use it. We really enjoyed being able to try as much or as little of any beer as we wanted to. The selection was quite good and Tiffani’s recommendation for me was perfect.
We tried their tzatziki fried bread and the daily fish sandwich special.
There was a mix up with our bread order and it didn’t actually come out until we’d received our entrees and were half full.
All of us agreed, the food was quite good and we wanted to come back to try other things.
We all enjoyed the service as well.
The only real downside was the wait — we were there for 1 ½ hours and our lunch period is only an hour.

I went there with 3 friends on a Monday at 6:00. We sat down and were greeted by our server who looked really unhappy about having to show us how through whole server yourself thing works. Once we all grabbed drinks we sat down and didn’t hear a peep from our waiter till we asked for our tabs. This would have been OK except we were all HUNGRY. We didn’t think they served food because we were never offered menus.

Really cool concept. If you want to try it out, I recommend going during weekend/​evening hours when it’s busier. We came during the day, and the service was sub par. Yes, you pour your own beers, but it would still be nice to have employees present to answer questions/​refill water. At one point not a single person who worked here was anywhere in sight for almost 10 minutes. I myself wasn’t drinking, and my water was never refilled. Luckily my friend let me drink hers. The sweet potato fries were cold. The bartender seemed very aloof and only checked on us when we arrived, and again when we tabbed out. The rest of the time she was out of sight, or laying her head down on the bar. Beer selection is great. Atmosphere was great. Hopefully the staff is more attentive during busier hours.

This place has a really great concept and I did enjoy the pork nachos. The space and the service could use improvement. Using the women’s restroom is like taking a pee in a cave. The stalls were poorly lit and you could tell absolutely no money was spent in upgrades.
The service was mediocre. Yes, they gave us a demo on how to use the taps but I had to flag down a server for our tab as our server had disappeared for at least 20 minutes. It had gotten somewhat busy but by no means crowded on a Saturday afternoon.

A girlfriend and I decided to venture here since its nearby her loft on a Monday night. There were only a handful of other groups occupying a few tables so it was more of a quiet atmosphere when we visited. The décor is definitely interesting and gives you something to stare at other than your date for sure. There’s Raggedy Ann over behind the bar, cardboard bodies with faces on the ceiling, the infamous VW van in the center, and a bevvy of other interesting things like Santa with a machine gun. This is how I would decorate my house.
The self help beer station is very unique as I don’t believe there’s another in the city to my knowledge at the moment. I would recommend walking the taps to make your decision since the clipboard beer lists can be out of the loop. It’s beer ya’ll. There’s always a new seasonal or perhaps they’ve run out, rather than staring at a list, just walk the line. The displays are clear while showing you how many ounces and what your glass will run you in a monetary sense which is pretty awesome. To start a tab, you’ll just hand over a debit/​credit in exchange for a tap card. Easy peasy!

Really enjoyed the concept of sampling beers per self serve. Taking as little as you wanted or filling up a pint. Not an inexpensive way, but a perfect way to see if it’s something you would like to try later or purchase in larger quantities. My favorite at $ 1.30 per ounce was a Belgian Lambic. Couldn’t justify several tall glasses, but a great start, then downgrade for budgetary reasons. The vibe is awesome with cool and eclectic designs and paraphernalia scattered about. The 2 gents I encountered behind the bar were cool and so was the DJ that played some great old school funk/​soul/​hip-​hop. The $ 1 a piece Charred wings special I tried were perfect.

The concept is fantastic and the amount of local beer is great! The décor is zany, with bathtub couches, a hollowed out VW Van made into a type of booth (this is where my group sat), and a projector playing black and white Popeye cartoons. The food at first sounded strange, but was surprisingly good! I really loved the self serve taps and the way you paid. I didn’t find it to be overly expensive and I liked being able to try small amounts of different brews! I had the tacos and quite liked them. My fries were good though my husband’s sweet potato fries were more of a dessert really (tasted like cinnamon and sugar was used as the seasoning). The only bummer was that several pumps were tapped out when we visited. All in all, I love the addition to the KC beer scene and would go back!

Kansas City is up and growing. This Ruin Pub branches from popular ruin pubs in Europe (specifically Zsimpla Kert, my favorite Budapest, Hungary ruin pub, inspired). The spot is only ruin pub you’ll find for hundreds of miles. The beer taste testing is exquisite. At least 40 self serve taste tester taps are available. So unique. So physique. So technique. Come get your self a peak. This is the spot of the week.
YOU. WILL​.LOVE​.IT.

This is a really cool concept, and the self service taps operated perfectly. Even someone who has never poured from a tap before could fill a pint glass with minimal foam. The beer list had great choices and variety.
The issue I have is the price. I imagine the start up cost of these taps could not have been cheap and they need to recoup that. I get it. But the beer prices were listed anywhere from $ 0.32 per ounce up to $ 1.83 an ounce. That’s a range of $ 5.12 — $ 29.28 a pint. That is fairly pricey — insanely pricey, even for craft beer.
I imagine the price is to discourage folks from over serving themselves, and it is nice that a tip is not necessary since you are serving yourself so you can reduce the total cost by 20% (or whatever percentage you use).
It is worth checking out and bringing friends out to experience it. But I don’t see myself going there for more than a pint or two.

I didn’t try any food and when i sat down to order a few beers i was never even offered the self-​serve system. I asked if they had a beer menu and was told that since they had 40+ beers it would be too complicated to have a menu for them. Huh? having 40 beers is EXACTLY why you need a beer menu. Seems like the self-​serve beer thing is what make this place unique and would CLEARLY be the selling point so it surprises and puzzles me as to why i was never even given that option.
As far as the space itself, it is the former Bulldog. Essentially, it looks like the bulldog still if they ripped up the carpet (a good thing) and just threw up some random «crap» on the walls and ceiling (bad thing). there is nothing unique or interesting about the décor. it looks haphazzard and thrown together. i guess i am supposed to be impressed by a VW bus in the main area or 5 or 6 plants that looked more suited to the offices of Dunder Mifflin. there is absolutely nothing that remotely reminds me of some pub in eastern europe; which is the vibe they are aiming for. They have missed the mark completely in that regard.
Speaking of crap, the men’s room was disgusting. Again the place is fairly new and the bathroom was dirty and already in a state of disrepair. The stall dividers already coming loose from their screws. the toilet was disgusting and dirty and the sink was the same. this is in the middle of the day and there is no reason for the bathroom to be filthy and with as new as the place is there is no excuse for the state of the bathrooms. makes me really wonder about the cleanliness of the kitchen.
If this place lasts it will be a miracle.

Eclectic gritty space with a help your self beer line up and good food. If you want to try the beer it’s by the oz. and a step by step picture on the card you will use to try at each tap. Regular full service bar also available. Thought it might be a sketchy crowd as the location is under a strip club but it’s chill like any KC pub/​bar/​tavern scene.
Had a good solid time watching the Royals in the second game of the World Series. Enjoyed my Diablo burger, thick patty, jalapeño mayo, fresh tomato, lettuce and pepper jack cheese. Had my choice of a side, picked sweet potato fries. They were more a dessert covered in cinnamon and sugar, tasty but I’ll go savory next time.
Decent Happy hour until 7pm with $ 2 drink specials and ½ price apps. Found a decent parking spot off the road, the parking lots were a bit dark for liking.

Aunt Cha Cha and I hauled ass in here one afternoon for lunch on a Friday. Surprisingly quiet. We were greeted and seated immediately. Had a Cuban sandwich. It was pretty good with some fries. The atmosphere was pleasant. More of a drinking place than an eating place.

This place is awesome for trying a bunch of beers without breaking the bank or getting completely $h!t faced because you can pour yourself as little or as much as you want. Yes you pour your own beer and the prices vary depending on the brew but ranged from $ 0.30−0.70/ounce, give or take a few pennies. There are 40 different brews on tap so lots of options.
The only glass option though was a 16oz bar glass. I really wish they had a 10−12oz tulip glass and a smaller 4oz tasting glass available. When you pour two ounce into a 16oz glass you get mostly foam so a smaller vessel would be appreciated and when I want a full pour of a sour I would rather drink it out of a tulip as it is intended to be.
I liked the ambience as well. The photos make it look like a bunch of junk on the walls and ceiling but that is not the case. All of it is very cleverly located and actually once you are in the space you will understand that everything kind of flows together and isn’t as random as it seems.
The food menu looked interesting and had some things I would like to try but I did not have any food on this visit. So the rating is strictly about the beer.

I love the self serve tap. And when people say the beers are on the high price… Its not that high. You think youre getting a 16oz pour of that high ABV beer when you order at other bars? How many times have you faux pas and ordered a pint and stuck with something you dont like? I personally like to try every beer. This allows me to do so.
The atmosphere is very eastern european and with some of the rap music the vibe is complete.
Im interested in seeing how this place grows and evolves their business plan.
They already have a $ 20 for $ 25 card during Happy Hours… Like I said… Im interested to see how Ruins Pub evolves going forward.
*I havent had the food*

Eeeee… The beer taps were cool?
I know this was a soft launch but Jesus. The food was cold. It took 2 hours to get food. A friend had to get his cold food back to the kitchen and it took him 35 minutes. He never got his food back — which was comped.
My salmon blt was cold and the cucumber salad was «wet».
The coolest thing was getting our own beer and drinking when we wanted to. We probably couldn’t have relied on our server to get us beer. Or water. Or ketchup.
I hate to say it but it made me miss The Bulldog.
Also, why the *!%# is Eminem playing in the background? This place is true to its name. The Ruins.
EDIT: I may go back in a month and try it but I will say, if the server doesn’t take 20 minutes to get us our drink cards (which it did) it would be a good place for just drinks.

There is nothing like this place in KC. And I love it.
First. The beer. You can order off the menu, order a draw or one of their specialty cocktails. Or you can load some money on one of their cards (think: a Dave and Busters Card) and you can try one of their 40 beers at a self pour station. I can’t understate the coolness of this. Each beer is a different cost per pour (from about $.30-​$ 1.20 an oz) so sure, you’re paying more per oz than you would a normal draw. I think we calculated a pint of moderately priced beer… say, $.75/​oz would wind up being $ 12 for a pint. But that’s not the point. The point is KC finally has a «beer flights» bar. This evening, we tried them all. It was glorious.
Next: The décor. Want to sit in a refurbished bathtub made into a low, pillowed bench? Done. Want to sit and drink in an old VW bus painted black and parked in the middle of the bar? Done and done. Want to sit at a table surrounded by random 2^nd hand chairs lifted from probably 20 different garage sales? You’ve got it. This place is a wonderland of sights from their insanely perfect graffiti art to the projector on the wall showing old clips of ancient Mickey Mouse cartoons (think: silent). This place has the wonder and grit and insanity of the best First Friday Gallery and you can bet once word gets out, it’ll be hard to get a seat.
Oh, and I should mention there’s a food menu too which looks amazing. But that’s for another day!