Mishawn D.
Yelp
Smashburger on 119th and Blackbob had only two staff members working and an hour wait to place an order, so we headed down the highway to Westport Flea Market. Hubby has been before but it was my first time visiting. Here is my experience:
Location: 8/10 The name says it all. Located in the heart of Westport, this dive has been featured on Food Network. We opted to sit on the patio, which is perfect for people watching.
Cash Only: Please keep this in mind before coming! They have an ATM but beware, they charge $2.75.
Patience is a Virtue: The food is made to order so you will definitely wait for your meal. This can be a good thing or a bad thing....
Customer Service: 5/10 The lady and bartender taking the order were super kind and welcoming. We had to wait longer than normal for another server to come out and get our drink order, and when the young man came out, he started to walk past us before he made eye contact with my husband. A group of young men joined the patio and he was riding their coattails. He was good about frequently coming out to check on them but not us. I think he knew the group, which was an influence to him. Not a good first impression.
Let's Be Clean: -10/10 A cook who came out on the patio for a break was wearing gloves and touching the fence, his cell phone and door knobs. Not a good look. From the kitchen to outside and back inside again, the amount of surfaces he touched is not sanitary. This immediately made me very nervous about food safety. Luckily, hubby followed him in to "check on the food" and thankfully, he was changing his gloves! Whew.
Food: 3/10 Though it was lengthy wait, we were able to indulge in the first meal of the day. (2:30pm!) I ordered the Westport Mini with a sub of onion rings. Hubby got the famous Westport Flea Market burger and fries. The flavor of the food was spot on and for our meal, it was $27 bucks and some change. Definitely more affordable than other places we eat. However, my burger was not thoroughly cooked and was pretty pink toward the middle of the burger. After several bites into the burger, this was a huge disappointment. The onion rings were perfectly cooked though.
Overall: 4.5/10: This was a disappointing experience. The vibe is cool but the burger was way undercooked. I think "KC's best burger" is a bit of a stretch. It was solid for sure. It was not a good look that the cooks kept coming out to the patio for breaks, which meant the kitchen was often unattended. This explains the longer than normal wait times for food and why my burger was undercooked. Shoutout to the bartender/manager who chopped it up with us and made sure we were doing alright. I'm not saying this visit was a dealbreaker, but it may be some time before we visit again.