Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange

Well, I am Sorry to say this place is a waste of a TIME & SPACE. As most all of Kansas City knows, The Bonura Family has owned & operated Restaurants since 1918 in KC. I the youngest (Luigi) owned my restaurant, which received phenomenal reviews. Over the years I have lived in 4 of the largest & most popular cities in the US, including what many call the "French Riviera" of the United States, (South Beach, Miami Beach, FL). I have opened & operated some of the "Top Rated" Lounges & Restaurants in the world, as well as worked with multiple of the "Top Chefs" in the world. To keep this as short as possible, I will give you one example; while only in South Beach, I was in charge of the 3 highest grossing, (check average greater than $100/person) & sales ranging from 8 to 12 Million per year for dinner only. I personally put together multiple wine lists, which won the Wine Spectator Award over & over again. With that said, now you have a tiny glance into my Background & Experience! Last Night was my 40th Birthday & the love of my life made reservations at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange, with the understanding we would be able to go downstairs after dinner to Manifesto, which is their lounge. We were a small intimate group of friends including my 72yr old Mother. The evening started with very slow service, which I found amusing since service & attention to detail are my forte’. I did not allow anything ruin my night. Our appetizers were a joke! The prosciutto was nothing but fat & I’m not sure if the chef knows what flavor is. All of our entrées were cold, however served on hot plates to try & compensate for their lack of proper execution. The wine list I would not serve to my Dog & they didn’t even have 2 of the most used & sold liquors behind the bar. “Wow, I can’t believe people actually frequent this place”. Still, nothing would ruin my evening! As dinner came to a conclusion I asked about Manifesto, “Their Lounge”. It was explained that we would have to wait 2 hours without a Reservation. First of all, train your staff properly & mistakes like this are taken out of the equation. When the reservation was made, they were told of the importance of our celebration & Manifesto was the reason for us even coming to the Restaurant. This “Reservation Required” mistake should never happen, and if it does you fix it, no matter what! I have personally delivered Roses to Women staying in hotels with an invitation to come back & give me another chance to make everything better & the bill would be on the house. So, I talked with the Owner & Chef explaining the situation. They did nothing to remedy the problem. Both were pompous & arrogant, with the attitude of “we really don’t need you or your business, and we really don’t care if you are celebrating your 40th birthday.” Needless to say after our table spent in excess of $500.00. We left unhappy, extremely dissatisfied with the bland food and limited liquor & wine selection, slow service & the extreme lack of knowledge on how ensure future sales & guarantee guest satisfaction. We could have even enjoyed better wine & drinks from Quick Trip. The $ isn’t the issue, as I mentioned earlier this restaurant doesn’t even come close to the level of service and sales my staff’s have provided and we have accomplished. “Never let a guest leave unhappy.” Don’t waste your time, which is most important for all of us. “This building is a waste of Time & Space.”