Chambord has a LIST!

So, my friend Chambord has "a list." This "list" is the greatest idea probably ever in the history of lists. She is slowly and methodically crossing off each bar in greater Kansas City one at a time as to visit them all, missing none, leaving no stone unturned. Last night she invited me to do just that, and we went to two new places--at least new to us. First stop, Los Tules at 16th and Broadway. It's a small Mexican restaurant with a standard menu of the typical fare--tacos, burritos, tamales and the like. We were not interested in eating however, so we just sat at the bar for a couple adult beverages. It was a decent place but had the feeling of a restaurant in a strip mall--small, boxy, not too much character. The staff was not busy, and only one other person sat at a table. As we got up to leave, however, a group of sixteen walked in for dinner. We will have to return sometime when we're hungry! On a scale of 1-10 (for drinks/atmosphere), we gave it a 4. It was just "OK" -- nothing exciting to really draw us back. Not a place you'd really want to go for just drinks. But who knows…we might give it a 10 for food…? We'll have to wait and see.

Next, we ventured to Jilly's on Broadway (just north of Southwest Blvd @ 17th). We chose it because it was only one block from Los Tules, and because Chambord needed to cross it off "the list." Having driven past Jilly's often, I was excited to finally see what this place was about! I've heard through the grapevine (a.k.a. Tony's KC) that they have great live music, but that wasn't the case last night.

We walked in and were greeted by an empty bar (it was only 8:00) and extreme 80's music being played by an out-of-character DJ with a comb-over. Didn't seem like the "DJ type." The bar was dim, a bit "basementy" (even though it was above ground) with lots of exposed pipes, brick and concrete. There were white candles on the mis-matched, garage-sale-style tables, fully-tattooed bartenders, and an overall grungy/hip college-town atmosphere which made me want to compare the place to an upscale bistro and some sort of back-alley, small town dive/art house. Did that make any sense at all?? Needless to say, we both LOVED IT! Jilly's was full of character and it intrigued us -- so we stayed for a couple PBRs before heading to the Granfalloon on the Plaza to meet up with friends and watch Mizzou sadly lose in San Antonio.

So, to summarize… Go to Los Tules for dinner and some cervezas and then walk down the street to Jilly's for an interesting evening! Get a LIST going of KC-area bars, and start crossing them off. It's fun to explore new bars and maybe even find some "hidden gems" in the process! I'll be sure to blog about them if I find any.

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