Lovely experience on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on the patio! We walked around the City Market today and ate on the patio at Brown & Loe. That was a cool experience, because the owner, Kate McGlaughlin, offered to give us a tour when I asked about the history of the building. It is right on the corner of 5th & Walnut, and was originally the Merchants Bank, built around 1920. It took her and her dad about 4 years to get all the renovations done and open. It's really cool. It had 3 vaults, one of which is their kitchen's drink station, and another is a private dining room for 6-8 guests. It has a lot of marble and dark woods, and she painstakingly picked out the furniture, sending one style back, before getting these tables and chairs, that I think look like they always belonged there. Then she told us that when they first bought the building, they didn't realize there was a basement, but the architect found it on some old plans. So they uncovered it, reclaimed/renovated it, and that's where the bathrooms are now. She was just so nice and anxious to show us what they've done there. The reason for the name is that the Brown & Loe vegetable distributor company was originally on the second floor, and although long-gone, they let Kate keep the cool neon signs and clock on the building, so thus the name of the restaurant. The restaurant closes early on Sundays after brunch (3:00), so when we were coming back around the corner afterwards, taking pictures, the executive chef saw us, and was very nice and told us some more things, i.e., that those old signs are on two sides of the building, etc. My husband and I shared the turkey club sandwich with fries, which was more than enough for 2! The fries tasted hand cut, and it was nice to sit out on the patio and have a couple glasses of wine! And our waitress was very nice, too.

We love sitting at the bar and having brunch, drinks, and/or dinner. Seriously good food, (shrimp and grits, oysters, and the burger stand out in my mind) and really friendly and helpful staff. Especially Jake who found out I just moved back to KC and that my boyfriend was visiting from New York. He gave us a short-tour of some of the photographs in the restaurant and a list of other places we need to try. His mixed drinks are always delicious and different.