Lakeside Tavern

I’m so glad this place is out of business. They started out with potential, but over the last few visits it’s steadily declined to just plain awful. We vowed to not go back for 6 months after our last visit. I’m glad they’re gone.

I’ve been to the Lakeside three times and in every case have experienced some of the slow service & inconsistent quality issues in the reviews. My first visit was with a group of nine from my office. There were two other tables occupied during yet it still took them the better part of an hour to get our order taken and food to our table.
I’m a vegetarian so on my first two trips I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of choices the old menu offered. My food those first visits wasn’t anything memorable to the good or bad but a couple of the meals served to my co-​workers were cold.
My last visit was this past weekend — we had a basketball tournament and I was looking for someplace with a decent veghead selection. Imagine my shagrin when I saw a completely re-​tooled menu that had exactly one vegetarian option, a strawberry salad that doesn’t have bacon in it (puke).
I ordered a $ 9 Asian chicken salad sans chicken. Without the chicken the salad was a nine dollar bowl of lettuce, a couple of cut up peppers and onions and balsamic dressing (which admittedly was good). It was quite the value having them remove the most expensive item in the meal — I’m sure there profit on vegheads like me has gone up.
As a side note, I did ask if they had any veg patties for burgers in the back (no) but about 10 minutes after our order was in the waitress came back and said that can sub a portabella mushroom for any of the burgers. –Thanks for the timely advice.
My son’s $ 13 chicken tender meal was a joke. Burned chicken, underdone fries and coleslaw out of a plastic bucket delivered by Sysco. The BLT my father-​in-​law ordered looked average and my wife’s salad was decent.
Did I mention we were there at 4:30 on a Saturday, were the only diners in the place and it still took them nearly 40 minutes to get our meals to us which put us right up against our deadline so we had to rush to eat and get back to the gym. I guess it takes a while to microwave some bacon, throw some lettuce in a bowl and burn come chicken in a deep fryer.
Don’t let the Lakeside ambiance fool you either — the place is in a glorified strip mall next to a pond. They do have a nice patio so I suppose if you want to hang out and have a brew or two after work it would be fine. I’d just recommend having dinner at Blanc or Zest.

Home to Kansas City’s worst falafel!

We visited this past Friday night. Went because we bought a coupon from
Living Social. I read all of the reviews, but we still went with an open mind. We sat at the bar, because there were two parties of 40 on the deck. It was a shame, because it was a beautiful night. We will come back to sit out there. It’s shaded, and looks to be very comfy.
We sat at the bar, and had 2 for 1 appetizer until 6pm. We had nachos and guacamole, which were both very good. Our cocktails were good, and the prices were reasonable.
We shared a tenderloin sandwich was very good.
We will come back.

We finally visited late Friday night, and we had quite a nice time! I had read the Unilocal reviews about terrible service, and I fail to concur. Every staff member we encountered was friendly! Perhaps they were on the immature side (bartender a little too into silly conversation with his friends at the bar), but definitely nothing to complain about on our end.
Unfortunately, if the Friday late crowd was any indication of usual traffic, this place won’t last long. That’s too bad, as the huge patio overlooking a mini-​lake (I guess the name came from that, but where I’m from, it’s called a pond) is really fantastic and has lots of potential for summer fun. I posted a pic to try and show you how cool it is. Sadly, as you will see in the pic, this is apparently a place where parents feel OK keeping their kiddos out till midnight while said parents get their drink on. A few different groups had little kids with them. It was 11 pm! As I have mentioned in other reviews, I have issues with kids being in a bar environment. Although it is also a restaurant/​grill, after a certain point in any evening, people are there primarily to drink, and I don’t feel comfortable doing this with children nearby.
We didn’t have any food, but we were impressed with the tap selection! Some Free State, Tallgrass, New Belgium (several options), Magic Hat seasonal, Murphy’s, and several others not usually found in a JoCo bar.
Décor was OK. A band was there and did some decent Radiohead covers that sold my BF on Lakeside. I know we will be back on some future Fridays. I wish more people would try it out. Lakeside Tavern needs more weekend life!

This is not the first time I have been to this place, I belong to a cycling group and we frequent this tavern once a week and we get the same bad service over and over. We are currently looking into other spots. The only reason we are trying to support this place is because of recommendation from one of our friend who rides with us. You cannot just put a pretty face in front of that entrance and expect to get good service the owners should take a closer look at the overall service. The only positive thing I can say about this place is the bar tenders if you are sitting on their bar. They have excellent service and off course the beer selection. I hope the owners are reading these reviews because its just not me who have similar opinion about this place. Below is our comments in our group
From Facebook
Derek:
Lakeside Tavern and the service SUCKS!!!
Unlike Unfollow Post Tuesday at 9:42pm via mobile.
You, Vance, Ed and Mark like this.
Mark: I didn’t think service could get much worse than Los Cabos had last year, but Lakeside is just somethin’ else.
Tuesday at 10:50pm Like.
Maggi: The service was so bad the night of Beth’s birthday Ride I have not wanted to go back since.
Tuesday at 11:26pm via mobile Like.
Aaron: Los Cabos started a curse. Every business that goes into that space is doomed to have bad service.
Wednesday at 6:15am via mobile Like.
Amy: We need to find another fire pit. Isn’t their a field kind of behind the parking lot…
Wednesday at 6:26am Like.
David: Do it as a tailgate party.
Wednesday at 6:36am Like.
Frankz: Service was horrible again…
Wednesday at 6:45am via mobile Like.
Capi: Those women over there are more busy trying to show of their Tush instead of serving customers. I missed that black gal who used to work there when it was a Mexican restaurant. She was really good. Lets convert that into a tailgate party Teusday ride from now on. I like that Idea. We can always order pizza and have it delivered… Mr Allergy
Wednesday at 7:15am Like 3.
Beth: Maggi is spot on: the night in question many never received their food order; someone in our group got into the kitchen, witnessing lots of help which never equates to service outside the kitchen. Must be quite the party going on back there.
Wednesday at 7:41am via mobile Like.
Wallace: Los Cabos was actually the second to fail at this spot. Lakeside will not be «third time is the charm.» There are reasons we usually just head home… this is one of them.
Wednesday at 7:43am Like.
Kevin: We need to find a new location for the Tuesday night after party. The waitress was rude and the service was awful. The route is good, we just need to find another bar/​grill that actually wants our business.
Wednesday at 11:19am Like.
Todor: There should be some bars around Town center or Camelot court. You could go north on Tomahawk, make a loop by the 3 deer (or go further on mission), and go south on the same route.
Wednesday at 2:44pm Like 1.
Capi: I can speak with Cactus Grill again if you guys want. They are not bad (:
Wednesday at 4:53pm Like.
Greg: I love mexican, they also have outdoor seating.
Wednesday at 5:01pm Like.
actually

It was an okay experience, but in my opinion, they do not do well with large groups of people. We were in the Theater room for a birthday party. My family member works there and it was for his daughter’s 18^th birthday. There was only one server, he was overwhelmed, and missed taking orders for a few people. When the food came out, some of the orders were mixed up. The food overall was really good and the price was decent. I enjoyed the outdoor patio, lake, and grassy play area for the children. If you want to have a romantic dinner with your love or with a friend or two, go for it. However, if you have a big party then it’s a pass. The best time to go is between 3−6pm. It’s buy one get one appetizer free. I had the fish and chips and it was good, as well as the fried mac and cheese. I would visit here again.

I had a business lunch here with 8 people. The staff was helpful and friendly. The service was good. 1 plate came out slightly wrong (grilled chicken instead of blackened chicken). The consensus was that the food was very satisfying. I like to eat like a kid occassionally so I got the chicken tenders dinner, and I would compare theirs to Nick and Jake’s. We sat outside, they have a beautiful outdoor dining setup. The servers did seem like they weren’t well managed. For the location and prices, I would expect to see at least some semblance of a dress code.

Sadly, something remains to be amiss at Lakeside Tavern. I have had 6 lunch meetings here over the last several months. Unfortunately, the service has deteriorated over time to the point where I no longer feel comfortable holding a business conversation at Lakeside Tavern due to the inconsistent service.
At time, I have waited 60 minutes for meals to be delivered to the table after ordering. The waitress even gave us the «5 more minutes» line multiple times along the wait.
On the other hand, I’ve also had meals where I have received excellent and timely service.
Unfortunately, I have business to conduct and inconsistency is not something that I can accept. We have other appointments, planes to catch, etc…
Lakeside Tavern, I won’t be back…

Thought we would give this place another try after getting an email from the owner.
So, it’s pretty cold and windy outside which calls for a bowl of chili.
One question, how do you get chili to taste like its burnt?
On the other hand…
My wide liked the nachos.
Most likely will not go for a third time.

As I cruise over the other reviews for the Lakeside Tavern, I see a lot of recurring themes. «Slow service» «It seems like no one really cares about this place» «OK at best»
That pretty much sums up my visit. Upon arriving, my girlfriend K and I were greeted by 3 hostesses. They said it would be about a 20 minute wait, which was no big deal since it was a Friday night. The layout of the place was… strange. A solid 80% of the center floor space was left open with only sparse 4-​chair high tops. Seating could easily be increased in this location, but then again if they have staffing problems (PS — they do) maybe they need to keep seating lower.
After being seated, K and I began to review the menu. We were pleased to see a Boulevard Beer special (I love Friday night specials, so my hopes were high). Unfortunately, it was a solid 15 minutes before a waitress came over to say hi. After that, it was 10 minutes to get our beers. After that, 10 more minutes to put in an order and about 30 for our food (a burger and a chicken salad).
I don’t want to blame our waitress. As I looked around I realized how large the bar was, and that we were only seeing 3 wait staff working the entire place. Ridiculous. She also pointed out something on the menu that I had overlooked, so bonus points for her helping out.
The food was a mixed bag. Our appetizer was the «Grown Up Tater Tots» — hand rolled balls of hash brown cut potatoes mixed with Gruyère cheese and bacon bits. They were delicious and easily the best part of the meal. I ordered a no-​bun cheeseburger with some pink, and received it very over-​done and dry. K ordered a chicken and avocado salad (served «chicken salad» style) which was very good, if nothing spectacular.
The place is very sparse. It’s huge, spacious, but under-​utilized and dank. The hard concrete floor, walls, and ceiling also carry sound resulting in an extraordinarily loud buzzing throughout your dinner.
We didn’t dislike this place, but I don’t see us going back again either.

Drinks were fine food won’t bring me back.
(Husband disagrees strongly with me — he thought it was very good so how do I star it???)
Menu kinda looks like bar food, but then they pub-​it-​up. But the up-​scaling of it doesn’t make it taste good, it’s just out of context food.
Had fancy adult tater-​tots that were huge, rich and tasted like hush puppies with sugar. Didn’t go well with martinis. (Again, husband liked them)
Hamburgers were ok, nothing special.
Overall I thought was boring, husband liked.

this was definitely an odd experience, but not necessarily in a horrible way. my mom dined here with some friends and was excited to bring my husband, son and I here for dinner (she also had a coupon that I think was ready to expire).
we arrived and sat in a booth near the party room where a large group was dining. it’s a large restaurant and I don’t think they make the best use of the space in here. TVs were strategically placed all over the place, but not exactly easy to view (my husband was trying to catch some of the football game that was on).
I was having trouble deciding what to eat and our server convinced me that the salad with burnt ends was amazing. it arrived and I took one bite of a burnt end slathered in bbq sauce and just tasted fat. needless to say, I traded it out for the same salad with grilled chicken. I couldn’t get the fatty taste out of my mouth. the salad was pretty average. my husband had a chicken salad melt sandwich that was really good (I ate half of it for lunch the following day when he forgot to take it to work for his lunch).
the service is really the reason this is getting three stars. I’m pretty sure our server sensed that I was really less than thrilled with my salad and didn’t even end up charging us for it. when that’s done without any suggestion, it really does mean a lot.
I’d definitely try Lakeside Tavern again, but stick to the bar-​ish food options rather than than the more «creative» stuff.

In modern restaurants, the word «tavern» is one that can be taken one of two directions: either as a no-​frills, straightforward drinking establishment or a new-​American restaurant with deceptively simple food and a warm environment. Lakeside tavern takes some cues from both, but I wish they’d lay off the former to focus more on the latter.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: I find the dining room to be a bit cold. It’s a bit too open for my taste, as I definitely prefer the nook-​and-​crannies. Additionally there wasn’t a ton of design to the place, which surprised me due to its Mission Hills address. Additionally, I thought the staff looked too casual, some of them verging on sloppy. I absolutely did not like how they had brands of booze all over their shirts like they were the culinary equivalent of NASCAR drivers. Regardless, they were taking great care of people, so maybe I should just lighten up.
Now to talk about the good, which there was a lot of. The service here was quite excellent. I was approached by three or four different employees, and all were friendly and helpful. Most notably, the poor girl who brought out my food and was present when I realized that I didn’t know what the heck I had ordered. I had to fight her to let me keep the plate of food, so intent she was on getting me what I wanted. She finally relented, and I enjoyed my sandwich just fine, thank you.
Speaking of the food, it’s all quite simple, with only a handful of options beyond their list of sandwiches and appetizers. That being said, the sandwiches all looked quite tasty. Being that i’m going vegetarian, i tried to ignore the tempting recipes they had thrown together. I instead looked at my rather limited options and opted for what i thought was a veggie burger, but was in fact simply a vegetable sandwich on wheat. Served with a choice of side (i got some yummy mashed potatoes), this sandwich had a great flavor but I found it to be a bit unsatisfying. Not the taste, mind you. That was great, with a nice mix of textures as well. I’m refering to the volume. I just suspect that all of the other offerings were much larger. Just because I’m not dining on flesh doesn’t mean I don’t want to gorge myself! However, I did skip breakfast, so take my portion size complaints with a grain of salt.
Now, I wasn’t overly impressed with the dining room, but the patio… oh the patio! I want to throw a party here! Lots of tables and seating areas, some big fire pits, and a nice view of a «lake» (though c’mon really… that’s just a big hole that was dug to separate the shops from a subdivision). I can imagine that if I lived nearby, this would be a great place to kick back and sip on a cocktail in the warmer months.
I like Lakeside Tavern, but again it’s one of those «if it wasn’t 100 blocks away» type situations. If in the area, I’ll definitely check it out again. Especially if there is room on the patio.

Not a good experience. We stopped in on a Saturday morning and I generally don’t like to complain, but I couldn’t even drink the bloody mary it was so bad. The service was fairly poor as well. On a good note the waiter responded to the situation well, but I won’t go back.

A great place for groups, best patio in the area. But they need to add some appetizers that are beyond the bar fried food and carbs. Not just girls watching what they eat. How about some grilled or oven roasted veggies (cauliflower, red pepper, carrot chips, asparagus, mushrooms) with a cheese dipping sauce? you can grill them earlier and just warm them up a bit when served.
or a platter of tortilla roll ups with low fat spicy cream cheese and salsa?
I like the party room idea, but the huge couch takes up room for just 2 people, when a table and chairs would hold 6 – 8. Looks a little too much like a frat TV room with true seating for just about 10 people for the entire big room.
And if you want groups to come in on a regular basis, serve beer or margaritas by the pitcher.

Dined here tonight with my husband and daughter. I didn’t care for my sandwich, which was the burnt end sandwich – the waitress said it was great. It’s not true burnt end meat – it was more like a chuck roast, with lots of fat, smothered in bbq sauce. The Yukon Gold mashed potatoes were so heavy and rich I didn’t eat them. When the waitress came by to check on us, I politely said I didn’t care for the potatoes. She just said ‘oh’. No offer to replace them with something else. That’s a big mark against them.
My husband had a pastrami sandwich which he liked, my daughter had the chix fingers which were very good – tasted freshly made, not frozen. Service was fine, no personality, prompt.
I found the menu large, varied, and very well priced – many sandwiches under $ 10 and the portions are large.
Would try this place again, but don’t recommend the burnt end sandwich or the mashed potatoes.

I have been here twice for lunch and have really enjoyed it each time. Lakeside Tavern’s owners are the same as Avenue’s Bistro which is also a favorite lunch spot of mine. The first time I went was a Wednesday and they have a slider special which is reeeeeally good and reeeeally cheap. I had the sloppy joe slider — yum! The second time I had the fried macaroni and cheese appetizer which pleasantly surprised me when it came on a bed of lettuce with balsamic glaze. I was not disappointed. Who would have thought that friend mac and cheese would go well on top of a salad? For my meal I had the Spice burger, which was messy but delicious and I have never seen a clean spicy burger so no dings there. Prices are good, wait staff was friendly both times and I will be back.

This place JUST opened this week and has undergone two previous iterations… most recently as Los Cabos… an AmeriMex eatery with okay food and patently lousy service for groups. Mission farms is a great location… and the people previously running the restaurants here had to be short on cash and/​or restaurant skills to fail. To succeed the food has to taste good. The drinks have to be varied and tasty. The service has to rock. Then you make money most of the time. But the restaurant biz is more than a fickle, it is heart breaking.
Our bicycling group showed up at 9pm last night. The kitchen was closed and shut down was in full swing. There one one couple at the bar. No worries. We were there for a drink, ordered up, and moved to the patio since it was 60 °F. The unknown couple even went outside! The beer selection was just fine and the lone mixologist handled the 10 tabs okay as well. I need to come back for the food. I do not trust the 5-​star shill Unilocaler below with one review, or the 1-​star review by a Unilocaler that has only one review.

Never again!!! The food was horrible, the fries were horribly over salted you could not even eat them. The only slider that was decent was the old school, the rest were all meat out of a can. I would never go back and wished I had not wasted my Friday night attempting to eat their food. I have never written on Unilocal but my food was so bad that I felt I had to share so others could avoid my experience.