12 Baltimore Cafe

I could give a list of excuses as to why I haven't being cooking the last few nights, but I'll spare you this time. Last night we decided to go downtown and eat at The Peanut. We love to get their wings and I am partial to their Reuben. As we were heading towards it, Dan brought up 12 Baltimore at Hotel Phillips. He had eaten there during some work related team building hoo-haw and his friend Dan eats there because he lives a block from there. I had heard on NPR that they had a new menu, so I was game.
As we walked up to the restaurant we had to navigate all the bird poop on the sidewalk, they should probably try to do a daily wash in my opinion. The place was really hopping when we arrived and we were told to sit where ever we liked. We headed into the non-smoking section and were greeted by a nice young man, who handed us menus and took our beer orders. They have Stella Artois on tap, so things couldn't be too bad. As he took our orders, he informed us that the kitchen was way behind, so our food could be late in arriving. At least he warned us! Our food arrived over 30 minutes after we ordered it!
The menu is typical bar food , but elevated on the menu somewhat. Instead of fries, they serve pommes frites and their appetizers are called small plates. They serve truffled tater tots of all things. The table next to us ordered them and they had a wonderful aroma. For all that , the presentation was somewhat lacking and the food was just okay. I ordered the Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich($13) which was actually very good. It had a horseradish sauce and was smothered in cole slaw, whichI love. The bread was a bit too big, I had trouble getting it into my mouth, but otherwise it was good. The fries were cold and over salted, which was a disappointment. Dan ordered the Smoked Turkey Club($10) and was very underwhelmed by it.
Our friend Dan showed up and had a beer with us. He said the reason they were so busy was because of a convention in town and usually things run much smoother. I would be willing to try them again, I just hope that they would be better prepared for the business, if you have a full hotel, you should have a full staff.
They are located downtown at 12th and Baltimore in the Hotel Phillips 106 W. 12th Street KCMO 64105.