"When you see Burg Barrel online, you might think blue collar joint. Go to places across the country like Founding Fathers in Buffalo, Gooski's in Pittsburgh or the Green Lady lounge right here in KC and you will get old school places that have become Instagram cool, some by being who they are, others it is more manufactured. I'm not sure what Burg Barrel is. It seems to have a bit of a local crowd, but it also has the rust belt hipster crowd as well. However, what many of these places offer is an old school dining experience, something that is right up my alley. I didn't realize it until I pulled up, but I had been here before, around 10 years ago and I vaguely remembered it being good, so I had some expectations going in. I ordered the Smokehouse burger with a beer and my bill came out to around $28 with tax and tip. While they get a thumbs up for serving the Yuengling Hershey Porter (PA got to support PA) the burger itself was disappointing and perplexing at the same time. It was extremely greasy to the point it ate through the tomato and lettuce and dissolved the bottom bun, but biting into it, the burger itself was on the dry side. Not very good, without much flavor and required a knife and fork to eat. The fries were okay, but they tasted like fries you can get anywhere, including the frozen food aisle and the portion was on the small side. The service was okay, courteous but impersonal, considering for a while, I was the only one at the bar. Like in many bars, I noticed that the servers like talking more to themselves than with the customers. In a recent review, I raved about the service I got from Atomic Cowboy down the street, B B could learn a bit from them. In 2015-2016 when I was here last, this area was pretty bare and choices were slim. Now, with the resurgence of downtown OP, there are many choices and places have to up their game."
