lidia’s

we went there the night we were in town. the meatballs were fantastic! we were sad when they were gone. the gnocchi with duck was pretty good, but i'm proud to say mine is better. the lasagna as well as the cannelloni were very plain. risotto balls were dry. overall the place was decent but we have had way better in our hometown of st. louis.

always love the ambiance, the food somewhat.... recently, i've found the marinara sauces and many of the reductions to be incredibly salty. which is unfortunate, because it overtakes the quality seasonings and ingredients lidia's chef uses. perhaps they could address this issue? but i always find myself back here because of the warm ambiance, excellent service, and fun location downtown.

don't walk away from this restaurant, run as fast as you can. the service is despicable. the penne and sausage had no sausage. the fettuccine was soggy like a dish rag. what a disappointment.

delicious. lidia's is the heart and soul of italian cooking in kansas city. every item on the menu is delicious and unique.

our maiden voyage to lidia’s was a wonderful candlelit evening, filled with savory, rich flavors and sparkling prosecco. we won’t let 14 years go by before we return. i’m sure of it.

pastry chef danica pollard, at lidia’s, is a culinary nomad who has honed her skill and craft with stints at new york’s nobu and noe restaurant in los angeles. she currently calls kansas city home, and for the last 4 years, been delighting diners with her unique flavor combinations and the intense precision of her dessert creations. her desserts change frequently, so there is always a new favorite to discover. she tends to use seasonal flavors and ingredients that perfectly compliment the rustic nature of the rest of lidia’s menu, but she has her own take on how those flavors come together. know: that in 2012, chef won people’s choice for best pastry chef in the central region from food + wine magazine.

i am a big fan of lidia’s. i like pretty much everything about the place; from the atmosphere and the top notch service to the very great tasting food. i’m also a fan of arancini. at lidia’s they are stuffed with lobster, ever so lightly breaded and plated on a bed of pureed corn, drizzled with basil oil. there aren’t words in the english language that can adequately describe the pleasure i receive from eating these. add a glass of wine, a few friends and/or family members that i love and they launch the start of a perfect night of dining out.

awesome!!! the hostess greeted us with "happy anniversary!" our table was decorated with tiny hearts, my wife thought i asked for this but had not, which made her very happy! the server took us on a tour of italy and finished us off with a house-infused grappa and customized "happy anniversary" dessert plate!!! (i asked for none of this) wehad a great time and i will be back very soon!!

we finished our meal with a chocolate torte that we shared. it consisted of a moist chocolate cake covered with chocolate mousse, topped with a layer of white chocolate ganache and plated with a few dark cherries and black walnuts. we both enjoyed it with with a cup of very good coffee.

..stuffed with lobster, ever so lightly breaded and plated on a bed of pureed corn, drizzled with basil oil. there aren’t words in the english language that can adequately describe the pleasure i receive by eating these.

exceptional service. when i spend $$$ for a restaurant meal i expect to find a pleasant atmosphere, professional service, and wonderful food. for the most part, lidia's fills the bill.
lidia's has a handsome, casually elegant feel to it. that is exactly the sort of atmosphere i like best...professional but not pretentious. the menu isn't huge, but offers enough interesting items to spike your interest, and even intrigue you with options you may never have heard of. for the most part, the kitchen delivers admirably. items of particular note include their famous pasta trio, an ever changing, bottomless plate of three distinct pastas. the salmon served atop veggies was cooked a perfect medium rare, and served largely without added seasonings. it was fine, if unremarkable. we also loved the polpetti appetizer, which consisted of four meatballs served atop crusty bread. only the frito misto fell flat. it looked marvelous, and was certainly a huge dish, but whatever underlying qualities it had suffered from far too much use of salt.
service was absolutely exemplary. our server bent over backwards to make our meal enjoyable, even offering to take several photos of us, as well as doing the same for other tables. when we asked for a few more of the mini breadsticks she returned with a wine glass filled with perhaps 20. i lost count of how many times my water glass was quietly filled without my noticing. bread crumbs were quickly and quietly whisked from the table. literally everything about the service was top notch. and to my mind that is the most difficult thing for a restaurant to get right.
prices are not cheap, but when the customer is treated this special, you don't mind paying a little bit more to be pampered.
midtown kc has many wonderful places to eat. lidia's holds its own with the best of the rest.
food: b+
atmosphere: a
service: a+
menu sophistication: a
value: a-

great!. loved it!

not very good. nine of us went to lidia's last night for dinner. the menu wasn't very enticing. only a couple different items appealed to this diverse group. we had drinks, appetizers, salads, entrees, and dessert. the food was just fair, nothing particularly outstanding. the lasagna bolognese was probably the best dish on the table. service was also just fair; many times we had to flag down our inattentive waiter to get additional water, bread, salt and pepper. there are many better places in kc to go for italian food. pass on this one.

far better than the typical italian restaurant. unique dishes and the deserts are incredible. cost per person with salad, beverage, entree, desert, tax and tip was about $40.

good but not superb. i was immensly pleased to be able to dine at lidia bastianich's restaurant in kc! i was even more pleased to know that there was plenty on the menu for those who are gluten intolerant. i had the zuppa di pesce minus the cannellini beans (not my request, but they were missing). the seafood in the broth was amazing. the broth had heat, but little else toward flavoring. (it must have been minus the saffron also.) what was delicious and memorable was the gelato trio i had for dessert . . . blood orange chai sorbet, blackberry sorbet, and hazelnut gelato. how many ways can i say scrumptious?