Yesterday I got the rare treat of leaving the office for lunch.  I try to bring my lunch generally, but every now and then it’s nice to see the outside of the building, at least for an hour.  So, when I got an invitation from some Facebook Friends, it sounded like an excellent opportunity.  Said “Facebook Friends” would be Julie & Tamara, some friends from back in the CMSU days.  Anyway, at my suggestion, we met up at “Thirsty’s” down at 5th & Walnut.  That made my third trip there for lunch, my meal selections so far being 1) shrimp tacos, 2) cheddar burger, & 3) pork enchilada.  Having nothing else in particular to write about today, I will offer up my review on Thirsty’s based on those three trips.

Positives:  The building is cool.  Original tin ceiling (at least to my untrained eye) and all-brick construction.  I like the location too;  Can’t beat the River Market area.  The three lunches I’ve had were all quite good, especially the pork enchilada.  The sides are kinda iffy.  The beans may well be straight from a can, which is OK because I rather like canned refried beans.   Plenty of tables and not too crowded.  And I like their slogan:  “I’d rather eat at a bar than drink in a restaurant.”  This is a fact.  I like bar food.  This could well be why I need to drop 25 pounds.

Negatives:  Too much dang food.  I suppose if the portions were too small I’d complain about that, but these are ridiculous.  The burgers are 10 ounces.  Seriously, who eats a burger that size?  It will ruin your day.  The enchilada was a 12″ tortilla.  ????  That would be a “burrito,” and a large one at that.  They have bread & butter pickles with the burgers.  Blech.  Double-blech.  And, perhaps the largest transgression, they have no Boulevard on tap.  This probably shouldn’t be a factor, as it’s lunch time.  But, I noticed it and couldn’t shake it.  If that wasn’t bad enough, they have several Schlafly offerings.  C’mon, you’re in KC, not St. Louis.  Get with the program.

Overall?  It might be a three-and-out place for me.  Compared to my baseline lunch (the Phoenix) it isn’t good enough to make me walk the extra three blocks.  On to the next place.