Houlihan’s – Leawood, KS
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am that this week is Spring Break. This has been a stressful semester and I’m soooooo ready for this break. Sadly after this break it’s going to get worse so at least we get a break, right? Hubby and I decided that we needed to get away for a couple days before the baby comes the end of June and Spring Break seemed like the best time.
We actually found ourselves in Kansas City. 2 hours away, a nice little get away, plus, we like Kansas City.
One of the great things about going out of town is trying the food! Sure, we could pick a restaurant we’ve been to or one that we have around home, but what is the fun in that? Our hotel was actually in Overland Park, KS so hubby got on the Urban Spoon app and one of the places that pulled up was Houlihan’s. I got on line and found the one closest to our hotel (1.5 miles) and we knew where dinner would be!
Hubby got on line and placed our name on the call ahead seating, just in case, it is KC after all and then we hopped into the car, plugged the directions into the GPS and away we went.
We actually were with the early birds, I think we got there around 5:30 or so, maybe a bit closer to 6. Luckily there wasn’t a wait even though we had our name on the call ahead seating. We were seated right away.
Our waiter came to take our drink order while we looked over the menu. Hubby and I both ordered Strawberry Lemonade. OMG was their strawberry lemonade yummy! The waiter asked if we wanted to add vodka to our lemonade and hubby was like, um… the little one she’s carrying won’t let her and I shouldn’t either. So the waiter asked about the baby and if it was our first pregnancy. We said yes (remember Tbug isn’t biologically mine).
We decided to order an appetizer of Classic Spinach Dip. with cheesy lavosh crackers. The waiter suggested this and I can’t even begin to tell you how yummy this was. The Lavosh crackers were covered in cheese, tomatoes and some sour cream. The Spinach Dip was creamy spinach dip with the topping of sour cream. We finally had to stop even though there were a few more pieces left so that we’d have room for our dinner, but we both could have made a meal out of this alone. The waiter also told us the other favorite of the restaurant was the stuffed Mushrooms and they have been on the menu since the 70’s when Houlihan’s opened on the Plaza. Definitely have to try those next time, but this, this was definitely worth it!
One thing hubby and I like to do is get different items, especially at new restaurants so that we can try a couple things. Hubby went with the Creekstone Farms Meatloaf, black angus beef meatloaf over honest gold mashers, crispy fried onions, red wine mushroom gravy and choice of vegetable. He went with the asparagus. Now I like meatloaf and this was definitely something to try. It had a nice flavor and the onions and red wine mushroom gravy added to the flavor. Definitely not mystery meatloaf that they used to serve in the school cafeteria, this was fabulous.
Now… Husbands was good, but…. Mine was BETTER! {even he agreed!}
While we were still at the hotel looking at the menu to see if we’d be interested, my eye went immediately to this dish. It definitely DID NOT disappoint! It was fabulous. I went with the Stuffed Chicken Breast, crisp, panko-breaded chicken breast stuffed with garlic-herb cream cheese, served with choice of vegetable and honest gold mashers. As you can see I went with the green beans.
My first bite was the Mashed potatoes. They looked good and they were awesome. They were definitely real mashed potatoes. One thing I like is a few skins left on when mashed potatoes are mashed up. These were awesome! My next bite was a green bean. What can I say, I eat in a funny order I guess… lol. The green beans tasted steamed. I really liked them, hubby wasn’t as sure about them. They had a nice crisp bite to them.
But the chicken. Oh the chicken. That first cut, and all that nice garlic-herb cream cheese that came out. That first bite was all I needed, I was sold. I couldn’t have picked anything better on that menu. I’m telling you. In fact, I over stuffed myself because I couldn’t quite eating the chicken. I let hubby have 2 bites but the rest, the rest was mine. The chicken was juicy with a nice crisp crust but that garlic-herb cream cheese just added to that fabulous flavor.
The waiter and the manager both came by to see how our food was and we said it was phenomenal. The manager said that in his opinion, the chicken was the best thing on the menu and that he liked to get it with the fettuccine. Definitely sounds good to me :).
The waiter brought by the dessert menu. He suggested the Creme Brulee, the brownie or the apple pie. Hubby and I looked at each other and debated and finally decided, you only live once, right? We decided to go for the Apple Pie a la mode with a caramel glaze. The topping tasted like brown sugar and walnuts and it was crisp and oh wow. This dessert was fabulous. Worth every bite and every calorie!
We saw where you could sign up for their rewards club. We both signed up. We may not live around here, but this is definitely some place to visit when we come back. No JOKE!
We had excellent food and excellent service here. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful this food was but it was definitely a great choice! If you ever get the chance to eat here, Don’t question it, be like the Nike slogan from the 90’s and Just Do It!