Where the chefs eat (article in KC Star)

[Katie Nell]

http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1... Any opinions on these places? I've never heard of Swagger, so I'm interested to hear about that one. I still haven't made it to JP Wine Bar, but maybe that will be my birthday present this year.

[KansasTravel]

Café Venezuela, was good, the owner changed the name to Cafe Colao and made some changes to the menu last fall. But it is now Café Rice & Beans. Has anyone been to this new version?

http://www.kansastravel.org/cafevenez...

[BChow]

We have been to the new version and found it as friendly as ever. The food was wonderful with more Cuban emphasis. We're going again tomorrow for lunch.

[zataar]

JP Wine Bar is fun, but the wine prices are over the top. I was there two weeks ago and our
server told us the wine prices would be lowered 10 to 15 % in the coming weeks. I hope so. I find paying 11 bucks for a glass of wine that retails for 16 bucks a bottle a bit much. The small plates were good. They serve very inventive and delicious cheese plates. We had a rare tuna sandwich that was terrific.

[zataar]

El Pulgracito (sp?) is quite good. It's the Salvadorean place off Johnson Drive at Merriam. We had tamales and papusas with their version of horchata. Just wonderful! The pickled cabbage on each table was great.

[amyzan]

It's "El Pulgarcito," which I looked up after I first heard about this place. It translates as "Tom Thumb" and is the name of a spanish language magazine that was sort of like Reader's Digest, but I have no idea if they named the restaurant after the magazine. The pickled cabbage is called "curtido" and is pretty much served with everything in El Salvador, apparently. Good stuff, eh?

[dmd_kc]

I'm very, very hesitant to criticize any restaurant, but as much as I like JP's concept, I believe their pours are **extremely** short, especially in the wine flights. It's not a place for the budget-conscious.

The small plates are a pretty good value, though.

[jdl98]

i know that swagger doesn't look like much from the road! it's at the end of a fairly dated strip at the corner of 85th and wornall. i do remember reading they were going to update and improve it from what it was - so i've been waiting for a sign to go up or some other sign that it wasn't just a beer joint.

[Katie Nell]

I'm going to have to drive by it tonight- I just can't picture it.

[inbiz]

It's just a door or two north of Mike's liquor. I've definitely got to check that place out- Cuban sammich!

[jdl98]

see my review on another thread - cuban sandwich was killer.

[Katie Nell]

We drove by tonight, but I don't know... I'm just not comfortable with places that I can't see inside the windows! I'm afraid I'm going to walk in and all these long-bearded biker guys are going to turn around and stare at me, and say "you lost, little missy?" I know, vivid imagination, but it just looked a little creepy to me!