Mama's Recipes at Maggie's!

Critique No. 9

Restaurant

Maggie's
100C Southeast 3rd Street
Lee's Summit, MO 64063
(816) 554-0722

Cuisine: Authentic Mexican
Max. Occupancy: 26
Price Point Average: $5+


If you are walking downtown in Lee's Summit, you can find small shops of all kinds. There isn't a lot downtown that I haven't been to yet, but Maggie's was a place I'd missed! This little restaurant with big heart opened in October '09.

The mission was clear for Maggie’s owner, Ryan Schnabel. He had started a catering company, about 2 years ago with homemade recipes at the heart of his business- but decided that downtown needed authentic Mexican food, and so he opened the restaurant. Named Maggie's after his mother, the restaurant and menu have hints of family throughout them- even the combos are named after his aunts. Okay now, lets talk food.

I have been looking for a place to try a culinary masterpiece called Pazole. It's a deeply flavored broth of tomato and herbs with pork and hominy (soft corn kernel without the hull or germ). I order a side of this delicious soup (which came with flour tortillas- homemade), Mexican rice, and the star of the meal- Pork Chili Burrito. The burrito is a part of the ever changing $5 lunch menu- CHECK IT OUT PEOPLE!!!

If you will, first notice the plate. It comes with the food only- not fancy non edible garnishes here...and you know why? Because this is REAL MEXICAN FOOD!!! Mexican food that is from Mexican recipes and a down home- real life- simple Mexican kitchen. The majority of what people consider Mexican food is just an Americanized version of it's true self. Next, notice the nice char on the edge of the tortilla. This is key in a good burrito- some nice smokiness, and the burrito was filled with the chili pork and rice. The pork, just tender and moist- there was such a nice earthiness to the meat, you could taste the spices and they were deeply cooked in. The Pazole was everything I thought it'd be. Very hearty and warming, a nice spice- not too much heat. The one falter of the meal for me was the rice. It wasn't bad- I ate all of it- it was a little on the bland side for my taste- and that is the only bad thing you'll hear me say. This was a great lunch- I enjoyed talking with Ryan, he was very nice to me in answering my questions about his business. You can tell he loves his restaurant. I will definitely go back to try more of the menu (that you can see below)

In conclusion- I like Maggie's and I'll be back there to try more of their food. I think it is a valuable addition to Lee's Summit- my words to Maggie's are "buenos suerte y gracias"

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Please visit this locally owned business and see if you agree!