The Homesteader Cafe

Top marks for the AMAZING cinnamon roll! Made in house and a perfect combination of not too sweet roll with delicious cream cheese frosting on top! Light, flaky roll and great start to a tasty brunch. Great place in downtown KC.

We stopped by the Homesteader for brunch after church one weekend. We were thrilled to have a new brunch spot downtown. Unfortunately our enthusiasm dimmed once we walked in the door. The space felt very dirty, the windows were dirty and the floor was a mess (they commented to us on the way out that they had ripped out the carpet). We were seated at a table near the bar area and waited a very long time to be greeted by a server. He explained that it would take a lot longer for our service because he was training someone; that was kind of a strange welcome. The menu was very basic, nothing out of the ordinary for brunch, which can be okay with me for brunch, if the ordinary is prepared well! Two of us had the basic breakfast and our food was okay, nothing to rave about or complain about. I did have a pancake instead of toast and I would rate it as excellent! Hubby had the Croque Madame, which was a French toast topped with ham, a fried egg and a cheese sauce. It sounded much better than it actually was, unfortunately. There are too many other good places to enjoy brunch, I’m most likely not going to be a repeat customer.

This is a great lunch spot. I wanted to try everything on the menu, but settled on the sweet potato burrito bowl. I was not disappointed. I hope this place is here to stay. Loved it!

Mmmm mimosas, sweet potato hash and beignets… what more could a girl want? Made our cancelled flights way worth it! A++ Serve and ambiance. Enjoy!

There’s a difference between home style food and food you can throw together yourself in less then 10 min. Unfortunately the food here belongs to the second category.
I was so excited about this restaurant since I live right up the street — but I’m not going back. Not wasting my money.
The food gets two stars because it was eatable but very plain. The service gets three stars — friendly staff.
Overall though– two stars.

Excellent tasty Farm to Table just a few blocks south of City Market. My Huevos Rancheros is delicious !

Had a great experience here. Walked in early one Saturday. Great 50s and 60s music blaring. Two young ladies going at it on the cell-​phones. Finally realized they had company. Our server quickly seated us. Brought us water and coffee and took our orders. Then, the place started filling up. I had the farmer’s breakfast, two eggs, red potatoes, choice of meat and toast (or hot cakes). Delicious! My friend had Croque Madame that looked flawless and he said was perfect! I like the location. I like the service. The food is good albeit nothing special. Just a pleasant experience. Will be back.

good service and good food. Right across the street from my apartment, so this will be a good spot for my weekend brunch:)

Owned and operated by experienced locals! We were lucky enough to catch the owners running the bar and kitchen on a beautiful winter brunch day. They made great recommendations and we’re willing to share the story or how they came to be. Plentiful food options with some experimental menu items for the creative at heart. You can taste the love in every bite! Highly recommend a try!

My fiancé and I came in on a Saturday around 11:15 for brunch. The restaurant was not crowded, and although we had made a reservation, we really did not need to. We were quickly greated by our server and we went over some of the options on the menu. We started with the baked brie per his advice. While it seemed a bit pricey at the time, it was SO worth it and I would do everytime I go back. The homemade jam, fluffy pasty on top and creamy cheese, WOW! This got us very excited for our meals. From there it was a little bit of a let down. I ordered the huevos rancheros and it was just ok. The Salsa did not taste fresh at all, which is what had made the baked brie so amazing. My fiancé has the biscuits and gravy, which were good but not as fresh as that baked brie!
We can’t wait to try this restaurant for dinner, just hope that the freshness is consistent throughout all dishes.

Good service and nice staff, but I’m a foodie so the food is what makes this a 1 star review. Seriously, not good. My family and I went here for Sunday brunch. First off the wife and I ordered some coffee. The waiter brought out a Folgers pot and proceeded to pour us two cups of thin tea-​like truck stop coffee. This was a red flag for me. At $ 3.00 for a cup of coffee I was expecting at minimum something better than poorly brewed gas station bulk coffee, especially given that they are in a coffee snob town, which houses many of the best regional roasteries.
For my meal, I ordered the Croque Madame. Their version of this dish was a French toast with ham and cheese and a fried egg on top and a light cheese sauce. First of all the cheese sauce, which covered the entirety of the poorly portioned dish, was extremely bland and tasted like an unflavored béchamel sauce. There was probably less than 2oz of ham on the plate and it was severely over cooked. It was like chewing beef jerky and I’m honestly not exaggerating. The «French toast» was made with basic cheap pre sliced sandwich bread and lacked any flavor or body, just limp sad slices of grayish eggy bread drowned in a flavorless béchamel base. It was bad enough for me to send the plate back. After the watery cheap coffee and the poorly executed Croque Madame I wasn’t in the mood to give something else a try.
My wife ordered the farmer’s breakfast, and was also quite disappointed. Her sausage patties were over cooked and under flavored, her potatoes were not cooked throughly and her side of pancakes tasted of doughy rubber. You can taste they used the cheapest ingredients. The worst part was they have the audacity to charge $ 10.00 ($ 13.00 with the terrible coffee) for a quality lower than your local Denny’s.
There so many good restaurants doing great things for around the same price. Places like Corner Restaurant in Westport put out very high quality brunch foods for the same price as this place. I can’t speak to their normal lunch or dinner menu but if their brunch is any indication this place should be avoided. I won’t be back. The backbone of a restaurant is its food. You’re not going to be able to stay afloat in this city unless you put quality down in front of people. KC is a food city and this place is way below the standard.

I went here for restaurant week. My meal included chicken noodle soup, a grilled sandwich consisting of Brie, apples, and bacon on sourdough, and a lemon cookie dessert.
It was all really good. The service was great, the sandwich was unique, and the dessert was moist and delicious. I’d come back to take a stab at their normal menu.

Feast has been all over this place lately, so I invited three friends to join for lunch. Yes, it’s Restaurant Week. That said, staff up. I made a reservation and was still told it would be 20 minutes later than my reserved time. After debating our departure, a table miraculously opened up.
The wait staff was frazzled. We weren’t welcomed at all and it took 30 minutes for water to be delivered to our table. WATER. We had to flag a waitress down to order, which took another 30 minutes. From seating to service, it took over an hour, just for our coffee cups full of soup. By that point, we asked for our checks to be brought out with our mains and just to bag the desserts.
The chef was apologetic when we rushed out. Needless to say, but I was embarrassed to suggest eating at The Homesteader for lunch. Hope they figure it out.

Some co-​workers and I visited The Homesteader for lunch today, happy to try somewhere new near the office. We were greeted at the door by a woman who asked if we had a reservation. We knew it was Restaurant Week, but didn’t think to make a reservation. She told us it would be 20 minutes wait. While we deliberated on where else to go, she told us we could sit at the bar. She did warn us that they were short a server, so not to judge them too harshly based on that.
It took quite a while to get water. Then a while to get our orders taken. Then the bartender could only find one remaining bottle of the wine I ordered and there was only a ¼-​glass at most. She did give me another, nicer wine, which was a nice gesture.
You could tell the staff was completely in chaos — people kept coming up and asking if we had ordered this or that.
It took another chunk of time to get our drinks.
And then we waited and waited and waited for food. It took well over an hour. I had the portabella sandwich, which was good. Per the menu it was supposed to come with couscous, but mine came with roasted potatoes with no explanation. They were good, at least.
A co-​worker ordered the fish taco special, ceviche style. To say she hated it was mild. The fish chunks were too big and failed to cook. They also absorbed none of the acidity and her very first bite contained a large bone. So under-​cooked and under-​seasoned. She was not a happy customer.
Another co-​worker ordered the steak sandwich. She found it unbearably peppery and said the quality of the meat was poor. Another fail.
When they told the woman who asked how our meal was their opinions, she did offer us a free dessert, but also said they’d been having problems with the ceviche dish. I would think they should take it off the menu until they get it right. It’s not helping their reputation. We enjoyed our desserts to go as we were very late getting back to the office by this point.
The brownie was a reasonable success, but was not worth the $ 20 my friend paid for lunch. The other two of us had the lemon cookie and were underwhelmed.
There’s promise here and I will try it again in a month or so. Perhaps being new, they just haven’t worked out the kinks, but this was not their day.

First, the atmosphere– besides being cold as hell (as it is outside), the Homesteader Café is super cute. It has an «old farmhouse» type of vibe– wooden floors, wooden lamp shades. It is intimate, without being uncomfortably so. I could see myself going here with my partner for dinner on a Friday night, just as I could see myself simply eating lunch here during the work week… which is what I did.
I ate here solo during Restaurant Week and had the lunch special of baked potato soup, brie/​apple/​bacon sandwich, and brownie. It was certainly worth the $ 15 and you got a soda. Everything was hot and fresh, no bottom of the pot soup here. The brownie was the standout. A typical brownie, but extremely well made.
The service was maybe a bit slow, but part of that was my fault– I had reservations for 2, but date bailed and it was just me. I was in and out in 45 minutes, which is very reasonable for a multicourse meal (I had the brownie to go). The restaurant was surprisingly busy for the lunch hour, but it appeared they were managing fine. My server James was very attentive and had a generally pleasant attitude, which contributed to this positive review considerably. My food was boxed up very nicely, and I didn’t feel as though I was being a burden. I will be back to Homesteader Café!

Treated with a warm welcome! Everyone was very friendly. Busy and yet casual. I love chill places. The bloody Mary’s are great! homemade blend with yummy pickled skewers of deliciousness. I love trying new stuff ! I’m sure it’s different every time. I had the roasted shallot potato soup and had BLT Mac and chs. carb city! Which I walked in the snowed to get here. So Boom! Workout! We need energy to burn that off. haha!
Oh its resteraunt week. Which I followed through and did their layout. Next up brownie. Chocolate chewy goodness.
Oh yea I’m having a bees knees. She shaking it as I’m writing this. Smells good.

My party of six experienced a very enjoyable dinner here prior to a show at Music Hall one brisk Thursday night. I was a little hesitant upon entering and seeing only one other table occupied. That’s rarely a good sign, right?
We started with a couple of glasses of wine and the stuffed Crimini mushroom appetizer. The app arrived promptly and was basically floating in butter– and not in a bad way. They were delicious and after trying them we became very excited for our meals.
I ordered a vegetarian entrée, the squash stuffed with barley and rice, accompanied by a salad. The portion size was quite large, and the squash was perfectly cooked. The stuffing was delicious, and I have to admit that I ate every last bite. Others in my party ordered fish, which they also devoured.
Throughout the evening, a couple other guests were seated, but I am a little worried about the longevity of this establishment, I hope others start dining and it catches some momentum.

Had the fish tacos, cooked from the acidity of lime juice. Really good really unique. Atmosphere is nice to relaxed, clean and prompt.

As the post from yesterday illustrated, the service here is very slow. It took an extremely long time for anyone to even acknowledge that we were standing at the front desk, a long time to be seated and what seemed forever to have waters brought to us. The wait staff for the day after NYE was plenty but vacant. The constant view in the restaurant was patrons with no service staff on the floor.
The food that came out was mixed in quality. My food was fine but my girlfriend’s burger was raw. Not undercooked, mind you, but NOT COOKED AT ALL. It took over 15 minutes before the food was returned and before that, we had to wait for our server to even come back to check and notice that we had a problem in the first place. We ended up grabbing another server as ours had vanished.
I had ordered orange juice, which was fine, but when my refill came an hour later, it was a different TYPE of orange juice; heavy with pulp.
The entire experience was very unpleasant, long and would not end. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones there with issues; a table behind us had waited for nearly an hour to have their coffee refilled. Or so they said; I WAS eavesdropping, so it could have been an exaggeration, but considering how long it took for us to get our food, our drinks and jesus christ, our bill after we told the server we would like our check… I am inclined to believe the patron.
Never going back, never suggesting the establishment to anyone and I am sad that I wasted my time there. Great location, nice prices, but too expensive if time is worth anything to you and you enjoy eating food that is cooked. Oh, and I asked three times for the password to their «free Wi-​Fi» and no one could find it. Just more salt in my dessert.

I really love this place. The owners seem very genuine. The food is delicious. The bartender is Eric and he rocks. His drinks are amazing. My finance and I went in for brunch two weeks in a row. I can’t wait to check out their dinner menu.