Merchants Pub and Plate
| Address: | 746 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA |
| Phone: | +1 785-843-4111 |
| Site: | merchantsonmass.com |
| Rating: | 4.6 |
| Working: | 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–12AM 11AM–2AM 11AM–2AM 10AM–12AM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 8
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C.T. Sorrentino
We arrived at around 5:30 for our Valentines Day reservation, having been called the day before to confirm our reservation and asked if I was "disabled", a rather odd question. I said no, even though I am an 80% disabled veteran, because its basically none of their business, and was told "good", well put you upstairs then". Rather than make an issue of it, I painfully made my way up the stairs to not the first balcony, but to the very top floor, two stories above the "prime" dining room. I survived, but felt like a second (or is it third because of the floor we were on?) class citizen. Merchants advertises "Happy Hour", but fails to mention anywhere on their website or menu what time Happy Hour actually is. It turns out, after asking our server, that it is from 5pm to 6pm, so I ordered an IPA ($3.50 vice $7) and a porter ($3.25 vice $6.50) before the clock struck six. Both were quite good and a great value at half of their regular price. For our appetizer, we decided on the burrata. It was actually quite good, but there was too much of the creamy spread for the six very small slices of baguette. At $10, it was a fair value, but would have been better had it come with a couple more slices of baguette to spread the sweet and savory concoction on. The menu should also mention the fact that burrata is a type of mozzarella cheese because even a Southern Italian had not realized that mozzarella was the main ingredient. For entrees, my wife had the Housemade Fettucine ($16), a rather skimpy and dry plate of reddish pasta, apparently in a white wine butter garlic sauce with spinach, almond, onion confit, dates, and breadcrumbs. Beside being quite a small portion for the price, it was very dry and tasted mostly of onion. Not a very good dish and my wife, who is not a big eater, was still hungry when she finished it. I had the Grilled Ribeye ($32), the most expensive thing on the menu, a 12 ounce steak in a peppercorn, red wine-shallot butter and Worcestershire onion jam sauce. I ordered it medium/medium-well, telling our server that I do not like bloody meat and that a "little pink in the middle" would be great. The steak came out more medium rare than medium well, but even though the server offered to have it cooked some more (meaning "thrown in the microwave"), I declined and ate the "bloody" thing. Even though it was much rarer than I prefer, it was actually quite tender and the sauce extraordinary, making up for unappetizing color of the meat. It came with horseradish roasted potatoes, which were decent, and creamed greens (kale perhaps), which were extremely good. Because my wife was still hungry, and she has a massive sweet tooth, she could not resist the Persian Love Cake ($7), a cardamom sponge cake with "spiced pistachios, rosewater and saffron scented cream, and candied rose petal dust". It sounded quite bizzare on the menu, but was actually quite exotic and tasty, a nice finish to a decent meal. First of all, our server, Devin, was very good, quite attentive, and the highlight of the meal. The atmosphere is also warm and inviting, even if we were in the nosebleed section. However, I got the impression that the chef in particular or the establishment in general are trying a bit too hard to be trendy and "gourmet", pulling it off on some occasions (the steak sauce and the dessert) and not on others (the pasta and undercooked steak). The prices are not exorbitant, but when you drop a C-note for dinner, it should be closer to flawless than we experienced at Merchants (e.g. my raw steak). CombatCritic Gives Merchants Pub And Plate 6 Bombs Out Of 10 With Deductions For The Measly Portion Of Pasta (1 Bomb), Bloody Meat (2 Bombs), And "Nosebleed Section" Table (1 Bomb) ... More Bombs Are Better!
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Jerry Portillo
I like beer. So does Merchants. I enjoy both happy hours, the afternoon one and the late evening one. Most of the 30 or so beers are half price. Thats right the place has over thirty beers on tap! I can always find a beer I havent tried yet. Man does not live on beer alone, occasionally we must eat food. The food here is pretty tasty, served well, with interesting specials rotating throughout the weeks. The chef does some pretty wonderful things with pork bellies. Quite a few of the ingredients are sourced locally. The building once housed a bank and the bathrooms are in the old bank vault, giving a whole new meaning to making a deposit!
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Andrea Hemphill
We had our Rehearsal Dinner at Merchants last weekend and it exceeded our expectations in every way! Leading up to the date the team at Merchants made us feel as though our event was at the top of their list and ensured they personalized it in every way possible. The day of our event the staff was fun, energetic and took care of us more than we could have imagined! The food was of course delicious and a great time was had by all. I absolutely recommend this to anyone that wants a stress-free, delicious, fun event that your guests will rave about. Thanks Merchants!!!
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Sean Metzinger
GREAT beer selection on tap! The menu is better than the former Tellers because it is a local based menu that changes with the season and quite often based on market. They did take a lot of staff from other prominent restaurants in the area to make an all-star team and deliver quality service. I would suggest go all in and get appetizer, main, and dessert. If you dont you are missing out. The price is on the high end which keeps it from being a regular restaurant for us but theres no reason that you shouldnt go here at least once in a while for special occasions.
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Ashleigh Banda
I normally come here when I am in town from Dallas. My fiancée and I are big foodies and appreciate food that prepared well and that looks great. First off a fantastic beer list theres something for everyone. They have wine specials until 7 as well. The food is always great. That evening we shared "tapas" style dinner and got to try everything. Sharing garlicky fresh chard, Brussels sprouts, short rib gnocchi, seared local chicken and the sweet potato donuts. Holy moly what a fabulous meal. Cant wait to come back and see what else they come up with.
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Roma Bordello
I love Merchants. Great drink menu, tasty appetizers, excellent service, great atmosphere, and I happen to really appreciate that the ingredients are as local, seasonal, and fresh as possible. I like vegetables and so the menu doesnt intimidate me, but if youre more of a meat and taters kinda person, theyll still feed you properly. You dont have to eat kale. ;) Plus, the place is an old bank so its got high ceilings that give the place a really open, light, and free feeling.
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Chris Palmer
The best restaurant in Lawrence. The food is excellent, thoughtfully sourced, prepared and presented and the service is spot on. Good vegetarian and other special diet options, large beer selection which changes with some frequency. Its rare I find house cocktails to be worth the time but there have been a few really impressive ones here. This is our "go to" spot to take out of town guests to, and Merchants has always been a hit. Its not cheap and its totally worth it.
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Heather Ayluardo
I cannot say enough about how delicious this place was. We sat outside so we could people watch, so the service was a bit slower than I would have preferred but EVERYTHING was amazing. We had the burrata (pictured) with gluten free bread, the bison burger and the salmon, with Kansas beers and the Bees Knees cocktail (pictured). They were SO accommodating to my dietary needs and the balance of flavors was absolutely perfect! We will come back when we are back in town!
