Blue Bird Bistro

Over the last year I have become less and less impressed with the service at Blue Bird. I’ve been eating here for over 7 years. I want to love them still, but after 3 pretty sad experiences I’m kind of over it.
The food is still pretty great, although they commonly run out of things.
Several veg options, and clearly fresh produce which I really appreciate. The biscuits and mushroom gravy is my go to order.

Had a great brunch there yesterday. I had the salmon benedict. It was fantastic. They made an amazing home made blueberry vinagrette.

Very cute restaurant. We went on a Sunday and the service was slow. I ordered the salmon and poached egg, salmon was good, egg was overcooked. I also ordered the french toast which was tasty but whwn I got it, it was cold and mushy. The pecan butter was delicious though. Too many good restaurants in town to give them another chance.

My husband and I had the pleasure of Sunday brunch at the Blue Bird, and it was simply MARVELOUS! We arrived at 1:30, and even with only 30 minutes to go until closing time, the entire staff was friendly and happy to see us. We were seated immediately, and overall had minimal wait times, even for our food. Heather was our waitress, and was simply delightful (and she has excellent taste in vintage clothing!).
We each had a version of Eggs Benedict; I had the 17^th Street Special, and my husband had the catfish benedict. Both dishes were well-​prepared, with a perfect blend of flavors and extremely fresh ingredients. I especially enjoyed the pairing of the baby spinach with caramelized onions, mushrooms and capers in my dish. I also had their Earl Grey and Spearmint blend iced tea; normally, I’m not a fan of Earl Grey, but this was delicious!
The space is well-​utilized; it’s an open floor plan with large windows to let in the sun, high ceilings (with the original tin ceiling still intact), and tables placed strategically so that no one feels crowded. The traditional bar along one side of the restaurant gives it a genuine vintage vibe and the mirror behind it further opens up the room.
I could go on about the Bistro’s other good points: the food is sustainably-​sourced and locally procured; the prices are quite reasonable for a downtown restaurant; the location is easy to get to and handy to such establishments as the Kaufmann Center and the Civic Center.…
But I’d rather simply sum up by saying it was a absolutely fabulous place to have an incredibly yummy brunch in a perfectly lovely setting. You have to go and try it yourself!

Purrrrrrrrfect for brunch!!! This place is great!!! Their biscuits have an amazing yummy texture and the service is spectacular. Lydia is an awesome service, and had perfect timing and was wonderful.
Awesome vegetarian and vegan optioned. The mushroom gravy is awesome!

Went to blue bird today to try a new breakfast spot in town. I wish I would’ve gone here first, because all the one and two star reviews are spot on.
Service: Easily some of the worst service I’ve ever received. Our server came up and brought our waters and took our order fairly prompt. After waiting 45 minutes for biscuits and gravy and an omelette, we were pretty frustrated and ready to leave. I know the time to prepare the food is not on the server, but during that wait our server never came to the table. At one point we had to go to the bar to get more water. The food was also not brought to us by our original server, and she never came to the table to ask how everything was. Basically, our server took our order and brought the check, everything else was done by someone else. The place was about ²⁄₃ full, so no reason why the service wild be lacking.
Food: Highly disappointed in the food, especially considering the price you pay and our 45 minute wait for breakfast. The biscuit for the b&g was hard and chewy, and over easy egg was overcooked… but I will give a nod of approval to the gravy. My girlfriends omelette was ok, but fairly greasy, either from the buffalo sausage or sautéed veggies. It also came to the table room temperature.
Overall: The service alone is enough to make me never come back, pair that with overpriced subpar food, and you’re guaranteed to lose a repeat customer. One of the worst dining experiences I’ve had.

Worked there for two years… longer than most anyone else ever lasts… Was made to use my own car to pick up supplies from Costco and reastaurant depot at least once or twice a week… had to use my car for ALL catering and all other errands connected with the restaurant… including ice EVERY DAY… NEVER PAID ONE DIME for gas or mileage EVER… hundreds of pounds of produce and supplies each time… no respect for her employees… abuses people till they can’t take it anymore. If you want to support a restaurant owner who practices these habits… you have never worked in the service industry…

Driving through Kansas City, we found this restaurant on Unilocal and based on some of the reviews decided to stop. Service was okay. Food was very good and made with quality ingredients. Atmosphere was nice and unique. We had lunch here and the kitchen must of burned something because where we were sitting was smokey. Would try it again.
As a side note, the hand soap in the women’s bathroom is fantastic and smells wonderful.

I hate having to give this, considering I have for years enjoyed this restaurant. But, it was such an atrocious experience I have to comment.
It began with an uninterested server who was unresponsive and slow to take our order. When she did finally take it, she promptly disappeared not to be seen again.
After 20 minutes, the manager came out to tell my mother that they were out of Bison meat and could she order grass fed beef. My mother said ok.
After another 30 minutes, yes THIRTY minutes, our food had not arrived, so my wife got the managers attention to let her know we were not having a good experience. The manager stated they were «working on it.» We were not offered any bread or appetizers. The waitress still was MIA.
After another 10 minutes with still no food, still no drinks, we decided we had enough. As we got up to leave the manager came back to explain that a cook had walked out. Which is too bad — but why were we just hearing about it. She offered to send a gift certificate if we gave our address. We were so famished we declined and left.
There were so many instances where a little proactive communicating could have improved the experience, but it never happened.

I’m not sure if they were just slammed, but being restaurant week, I expected better. The only reason I didn’t give it one star was because the dessert was better than expected compared to the rest of the meal and my husband didn’t completely hate his meal.
SERVICE
This was horrible. We got sat immediately, but didn’t get helped for good 10 minutes. I don’t understand how a salad, size was relative small took more than 20 minutes. The waitress never apologized or anything for the wait. When we did get our food, the waitress barely visited. When we were finally ready to pay our bill, the waitress brings us our bill, and then doesn’t show back up till 10 minutes later. I’m not sure how long most people take to pull out a credit card, but it sure doesn’t take me that long.
FOOD
I wasn’t impressed. I got the meatballs on restaurant week menu. The portion was tiny and the meatballs were burnt and dry. It was so hard that I could barely cut into it with the knife. I also was not the only person with the same issue that day. My husband’s catfish sandwich tasted a little better because it wasn’t burnt, but it was still bland. For dessert, we got the apple torte (I know this isn’t what they called it, but I don’t remember the name) that came with a side of vanilla cream of some sort. It wasn’t bland, but it also wasn’t super sweet. It was a big portion split between us too.

This is the place for you if you are ready for overpriced, mediocre food in small proportions. The staff was kind, but slow. I don’t think the chef knows what he is doing because his choice of spices is very strange. I want to like the place because it has a rad hipster vibe to it, and I like that the ingredients are ethical and local. Great ingredients, not so great food.

I had one good experience here and haven’t had another since! I ate at blue bird bistro during restaurant week– I chose the salad, the salmon, and the orange cake from the restaurant week menu. First, it certainly wasn’t $ 30 worth of food. No drinks included so that tacked another $ 8 or so on to the total, for my one drink that was pretty ‘burned’. Also, I was still hungry after! The portion of the salmon was so small. There was supposed to be potatoes and other mixed vegetable baked with the salmon (it was cooked in the paper), but there wasn’t– so really not satisfying or filling. I had asked for my salmon well done, because I know that they have seriously undercooked things I’ve eaten there in the past. Happy I did, because it certainly wasn’t truly ‘well done.’ I was a solo diner and they put me right next to a family of three– there was no one else in the restaurant, so unnecessary! On the positive, the atmosphere is always comfortable and it took me a little under an hour for supper on a holiday. I enjoyed my breakfast/​brunch there in the past, I’ll probably stick with breakfast and brunch if I do go again.

Hit or miss. I’ve been here several times and used to recommend it to people pretty often. However, the last time I went was with a group of 4 for dinner. The restaurant was about ½ full and it took us 3.5 hours to dine and leave. Our waiter apologized frequently for something that was clearly the kitchen’s fault, and they threw in free dessert. This was a nice gesture, but if we weren’t with a group of friends catching up we would have left.
That experience was barely even 1 star, I’m giving 2 in hopes that it returns to the way it used to be.

Came for breakfast. The best two things this place has going for it is the cool environment — great natural light and great feel — and excellent coffee. Now, if we only could have kept the coffee mugs full and hot, it would have been better. Yep, service not great.
Pancakes were dense and not very good. Omelet was better, fluffy and cooked right. Good roasted potatoes. Overall a so-​so experience.
Expensive for sub-​par food. Slow, inattentive service — Probably wouldn’t go back. So many other better bfast options.

I’ve never had a good experience here.
Both times, I’ve experienced the following:
1. Waiting more than almost an hour for breakfast (simple orders, too — poached eggs over an English muffin and a pancake) when the restaurant was less than half-​full.
2. Wait staff that seem like they don’t care at all to ensure you have a good experience.
3. Mediocre food — my poached eggs were hard boiled, and when I asked for two new eggs, the server argued with me, telling me I’d ordered them over-​medium and that this was over-​medium. It’s a simple fix that the server made frustrating and complicated.
4. Overpriced menu for the quality of food served. I want to love this place, but they’re making it really hard for me…

A fabulous breakfast spot! I enjoyed the tofu scramble, which includes spinach, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and mushrooms with a side of roasted potatoes and a vegan house made biscuit. The biscuits are dense, but quite yummy with the homemade preserves. The ambiance is quite nice, too.

There are three reasons I will never return to Blue Bird Bistro after my recent dining experience:
1) we just waited an hour and half for our food (that somehow still came out ice-​cold) when the place was roughly a quarter full;
2) we witnessed the manager placate the table next to us with free drinks after they complained– yet she offered nothing to us even though we had obviously been waiting the exact same amount of time; and
3) the hipster waitress did not ONCE address the fact that we were forced to wait an absurdly long time for our food. I mean, c’mon. At least apologize and make up some excuse, right?
Oh…and 4) the place is overpriced because everything is «cage-​free» and «free range.» I would rather you spend the money expended on free range chicken farms to hire some more staff to cook my meal within a reasonable time frame.

Bluebird has always been a good brunch spot for me… I don’t have much experience with their lunch or dinner fare. I’ve always appreciated the commitment to local ingredients and nice ambiance.
Today I ordered the potato bowl, which comes with a side biscuit and gravy. In the end, it all seemed a bit carby for me, but was not unsatisfying.
I feel like this place used to FEEL cozier, but I can’t put my finger on what has changed… it isn’t bad, but feels maybe a little more spare than the old-​building charm I used to experience.

Omelettes and pancakes at 1pm on a Saturday, yessssss. Camp lindo eggs, local fresh veggies, roasted garlic in my omelette, organic whole wheat flour and real pure maple syrup for my pancake. I’ll get this or the morning after Benedict. Crumbled bison or sausage is a cool menu find here.
Omelette was perfect, pancake was dangerously close to burnt and dry. A little mix up in who are actual server was suppose to be but it all worked out in the end and she more than made up for it.
I’ll hit this place up over others for its proximity, local fresh ingredients, consistently decent tasting brunch and service. Things may get a little dicey but never an epic fail.

I don’t have a lot of experiences with bistros. This one seemed just fine. We had the salmon appetizer which was delicious. For dinner it was the Meatloaf for one meal and the Risotto for another. The meatloaf was delicious but that’s really all you got there were no side dishes. And I thought the result was a little bland. I thought overall it was a little spendy considering what you all got.
At the end the waiter brought the check with no offer of dessert. I thought was odd because I swear I saw a cake on the bar on the way out.
The waitstaff was mildly friendly I think we got lucky because it was a slow night.