One of the best food events in the area is Kansas City Restaurant Week. It is a premier dining event that allows people to try different restaurants through multi-course meals. This unique experience takes place January 13-22, 2023, and has exclusive menus that people should not overlook!

On Saturday, January 14, I kicked off the beginning of restaurant week by eating at Scratch Gourmet Express & Catering. They had a 3-course option for $40 and a 4-course option for $50. I chose the 3-course option, as the 4-course option just had an extra appetizer which I knew I would not be as hungry enough to eat. When trying out a restaurant this week, I would suggest not eating as much before going because there will be plenty of food to satisfy any hunger. Also, since the cost can be pricey, it is more enjoyable to eat the food at the restaurant and not get full too soon. The first indication of how this experience would be is the fact that they spelled restaurant wrong on their menu. 

Gallery • 2 Photos

Elesia Guerra

Scratch KC Restaurant Week Menu.

For my first course, I ordered the Winter Harvest Salad. While it was the healthy and delicious appetizer I was looking for, I also found something that led me to stop eating the salad completely. A long strand of dark hair in my salad. Even though that made me feel disgusted, I did not completely count Scratch Gourmet Express & Catering out. 

I ordered the Chicken Salad Croissant for my main course. My expectations were very high because this is a more pristine restaurant. Also, my favorite chicken salad sandwich from Chicken Salad Chick—which is located in other states like Florida and Tennessee—has very similar ingredients, and I have not found anything as good or similar to it in the KC area. Well, I was immediately let down by this chicken salad croissant from Scratch. If different textures can make it hard for you to eat certain foods, then this is not the meal for you. The sandwich would have been better if the chef took the extra step of shredding the chicken and not leaving it in big chunks. I thought that Chicken Salad Chick, a casual restaurant chain, had more of a gourmet sandwich than this. The lemon flavor and croissant bread were the only things that made the sandwich taste good.

 For dessert, I ordered the beignets that were filled with tart cherry filling and rich chocolate mousse. While I would not say that this was terrible, I definitely think that other places in Kansas City make better desserts. Red Door Woodfired Grill has spectacular beignets that I would highly recommend. My mom ordered the Scratch Cookies and I was pleasantly surprised by them. The chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies were probably the best food that I tried during this meal. 

The servers were very kind during this visit, but at times, it felt as if they were coming by our table too much where it felt like we needed space. They also took our to-go box from the first course off the table to a place out of the dining area, after we told them that it was fine. This caused us to later almost forget to ask our servers for the box back when we were getting ready to leave. Even though this was not as good of an experience as I hoped for, I am very glad that I tried this restaurant out.

Trying the restaurant out through KC Restaurant Week allowed me to branch out from the usual places I eat at. Also, it helped me realize that I would go back to restaurants for a more full experience with the standard menu. Last year for KC Restaurant Week, I ate at Va Bene Italian Eatery, which I highly recommend, and it has now become a staple place for my family to go to. Don’t be afraid to try out as many restaurants as you can for this week because you might find unexpected places that you love…or don’t love as much.