Mike Kelly's Westsider: Tuesday Steak Night

Deal: 10.95 12 oz. KC strip and two sides


Forgive me father for I have sinned, it has been 14 days since my last steak. This is pretty serious for me. I rarely go 2 weeks without having a steak, whether I report about it on here or not. When I came to the frightening realization that it had really been two weeks since I had a steak I decided to go grab a steak.

This Kansas City Steak Night adventure was in the West Plaza area. I went to Mike Kelly's Westsider. This bar has been around for a long time. I bet most people have driven by it on multiple occasions and said "I really should go there." And you should! Mike Kelly's is an unassuming bar with a friendly atmosphere that is classy yet not pretentious. Low key, but not dull. You'll love the high tin ceilings, and the retro decor. The bar was established over 30 years ago, and continues to be a great neighborhood/local bar. It sits on Westport Road in-between State Line and Southwest Trafficway. They have live music most every night of the week.  Check out their website to see what they have playing. 


I arrived around 8:00 to get a steak, so I was too late for happy hour. They have a happy hour. Unfortunately I didn't ask what the deals were so you will have to forgive me. I have no ability to tell you what drink specials you may be able to get with the steak if you arrive at happy hour.   

I had the Flying Monkey Amber Ale they had on tap. I always enjoy that beer, even when it is full priced. I was highly impressed that they had the a Flying Monkey pint glass for my beer. Most of the beers they have on tap here are local beers, with the exception of bud light for the beer drinker who cares more about calories than flavor.


I observed that "local" is a theme they have going on here. They are a local pub for the West Plaza, they support local music by promoting local musicians nightly, and they serve local beer. Quite cool if you ask me. I like to keep money in our economy here in KC when possible.


Onto the steak!!

The steak night deal at Mike Kelly's Westsider is a 12 oz KC strip steak with 2 sides. I ordered my steak medium rare as always. The standard sides they have here are garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. You can get steamed veggies, fries or sweet potato fries if you want (but you shouldn't).

This steak came out looking excellent.  It had the grill marks that I love with the quarter turn. There was a nice layer of fat on the top of the strip that wasn't too big. I then cut into the steak and it was perfectly cooked medium rare all the way through as you can see.  

When I bit into the steak my first thought was this is a decent cut of meat, but they didn't really season it. It was obviously a choice cut of beef, and was sufficiently marbled. In some places it was a bit fatty with the hard fat you cannot eat. My dinning companion, who likes less fat than I do, thought it was too much fat. In a few bites I would agree, but overall for a 12 oz steak at a bar with a steak night this was actually a pretty good cut of meat. But like I said there was very little crusting (seasoning) to it. They would be well served to get some kosher or sea salt and cracked fresh pepper to put on the steak. I hate to admit this but I actually used a bit of A-1 toward the end to give the steak a bit more flavor. I realize that is a cardinal sin. But the steak needed something, and dumping the salt on wasn't really doing much for it.  

The sides here were phenomenal.  The garlic mashed potatoes were seriously the second best I've had in town, and that is including some of the finer steak house establishments in town. The grean beans as well were top notch. These weren't some green beans out of a can, they were at minimum fresh flash frozen, and the bacon and onion that was chopped up in the green beans was all very fresh.  The sides took this place over the top, and made up for the lack of flavor in the steak.  


The service was great. I was obviously not one of the regulars, as I sat down at a table (all the cool people were gathered around the bar). There was a bartender who was doubling as a server, but it didn't matter much because he was quite able to handle both duties with diligence and skill.

To sum it up this KC Steak Night adventure: 

• Restaurant: Mike Kelly's Westsider
• Location - West Plaza - 1515 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111
• Ambiance - casual classy meets local pub
• Steak - Decent cut, needs more flavor 
• Sides - Holy shit are they awesome  
• Service - Excellent  

If you want to try a new place out (that has been around for a while), and are in the West Plaza area on a Tuesday stop by Mike Kelly's Westsider for a steak.