Presidential Bash

I went in to this not expecting much. But had a lovely experience. I would never have even inquired about my own dietary restrictions since they were bringing pre-​made options around to the tables. But someone (Reed) apparently inquired for me. And within moments there was a delicious custom made concoction safe for me to eat. They just did a little adjusting to one of the appetizers, and I was able to enjoy some food. The conversations I had with staff were very helpful and encouraging as well.
The event itself seemed a bit cramped initially (this was due to the size & shape of the room). But I think the folks there all made the best of it. Once I found a place to lay my coat, I was comfortable.
I heard repeated raves about the meatballs and the sliders. The meatballs must have been magic. I am certain those were the top pick based on my observations. The drinks also were flowing. I think the Manhattan was the pick of those at my immediate table. But I saw plenty of other people trying the alternative cocktail.
The photo booth was a great touch Adam. We all had a blast with that. Overall it was a great way to spend a «school night». I had some good conversations, tried food from a place I assumed I could not eat, and have reason to go back for a meal to see how it goes.

Finally made it to my first Elite Event of 2015 — and what a way to start of the year!
Adam was a great host and so were the Morton’s staff.
We enjoyed superb cocktails and tasty bites to nibble, while we enjoyed each other’s company.
My choice cocktail was a savory dirty martini served with blue cheese, bacon, and jalapeño stuffed olives. There was a quite a variety of hors d’oeuvres and the staff did there best to keep up us thirsty and hungry Elites.
I’d say my favorite part of the evening was getting to see and spend a little time with some of my favorite Unilocalers and my wife. I’m really glad to have made the cut for this event!

We had a blast as always, but the food and drinks were out of this world. I still say the bartender needs to retail those Bleu Cheese, Bacon, and Jalapeño olives. MAN those were great!
Thank you again Adam. Awesome event!

Great event! The appetizers were all delicious, especially the sliders and buffalo chicken balls. I would definitely return here for a full entrée. The wait staff was friendly and stayed on top of whisking us more appetizers. The bartenders were pleasant and the red wine was surprisingly good, whatever it was.
I’m sorry I didn’t socialize a bit more, but it was nice meeting elites I had not met before.
The theme was fun, LOVED the hats!

I would vote for another event like this…4 more years, 4 more years!
The setting, the staff, the delicious bites and luscious drinks all set off the best part of the night… the Elite company! Adam arranged yet another amazing event that highlighted the Grille’s excellent new menu items (love, love, love the buffalo chicken meatballs and the sliders were a close second) and thoughtfully crafted cocktails (anything with luxardo cherries gets my vote).
The bar and service staff were so friendly and accommodating. I enjoyed hearing about the new concert that Morton’s is using for dinner. I will definitely be back to try out some bar bites and cocktails.
I really like the intimate event space The wonderful photo booth was a great addition as well – especially for those of us who left our beaver hats and beards at home. Talk about some White House-​worthy photos.

Well… a good one-​sentence review would be…
«The only thing this event was missing are vegetables.»
LOL
The food, service, peeps, drinks… all really fun in a nice little side room at Mortons.
The fact that I had a little red wine haze the next day was completely my own fault. :-)
I have to give kudos to a couple of things.
1) The manager of Morton’s was very hands-​on. A real doer. Take note of that folks… if you ever manage anything do so by doing. People need assistance, not monitoring. That guy was awesome.
2) I love the faster check-​in since Adam became CM. Pre-​written name tags, etc. It really helps get things started and I appreciate that.

First off, the staff was excellent. The food was really good, particularly the sliders. And the drinks were varied and tasty (not sure why Budweiser and Coors Light were served at a nice establishment). I’ll definitely consider a return visit to Morton’s Grille for Happy Hour or a special occasion.
If I had to be critical, the event lacked activity, other than the photo booth. I think a small Presidential trivia game or something would’ve been a lot of fun. Overall it was a great night out and I look forward to the next event!

I had a great time at the Unilocal Presidential Bash! The custom cocktails were fantastic, the servers kept the food moving, were all very pleasant to speak with and the location was great. Once again Adam, a brilliant job coordinating this event!

I’ll keep this succinct.
Nice select «open bar» with choices for men and ladies.
Bar food samples were all tasty. The fish was surprisingly fresh and sliders were what you wish you had on Super Bowl Sunday.
Just a great way to relax and drink away that Monday. Loved the low key feeling with the dim lighting because I look better in the dark.

At the event last night I mentioned how I tend to forget there are businesses on the outside of The Plaza along JC Nichols Parkway. Last night was a great opportunity to remind myself that these businesses are here and to experience a Morton’s Grill.
The food was good. The drinks were good. And the company? Yep, it was good too.
It was pretty busy at the beginning, but thankfully after a bit the crowd thinned out and this turned into another fun event.
Thanks for having me and I’ll hopefully see you all soon.

What a great Unilocal event. I surmised we were in for an exceptional experience when the invitation read ‘Morton’s Grille’!!
I’m a big fan of that restaurant, and this event had all of the markings of their touch in everything: Food, drinks and fashion in the event room we were hosted in! The cocktails had Morton’s expert touch (the dirty Martini’s blue cheese stuffed olives also contained bits of crunchy smoked bacon) and the food was thoughtful, and well prepared.
My favorite food of the night came served on a crisp pita triangle topped with what looked like nicely diced tomatoes – Nope – diced ahi tuna!!! Delicious! So good also were the sliders containing pulled brisket with crisp onion straws served on mini onion rolls.
Deft touches from the kitchen, excellent and attentive servers and expert bar tenders made the evening among KC’s Unilocal Elite a warm and friendly way to forget the cold night!

A nice classy event is always worth leaving the house on a cold winter’s night! Thank you to Mortons for all the delicious fare, loved those sliders! My heart skipped a beat at the little onion brioche buns, I would have eaten them plain but who can say no to beef with crispy onions and horseradish?! So tasty!
I always love mingling with fellow Unilocalers, we’re such an opinionated bunch and always lots of talk of places we have discovered that must be tried by others too! Mortons will be getting some great word of mouth from me!
Adam S is great, nice guy, really filled the host role well and I’m excited to see what else pops up on the calendar this year! Welcome aboard Adam!
(P.S. thanks for letting two Canadians crash your President’s Day Bash!) ;)

This was easily one of my favorite Elite events. The food was constantly being brought in and the drinks never stopped flowing. I loved the Cherry Manhattan and the KC drink was tasty as well. I didn’t have the martini, but everyone seemed to love that too. They also had beer and wine and delivered a pepsi to a non-​drinker (a nice touch). I absolutely loved the sliders, but all of the food was delicious. The truffles were a fantastic touch as well and I’ll certainly be hitting up Morton’s again to redeem the «free bar bites». This was a very festive event and it was a lot of fun getting to hang out with some great Elites and their plus ones.
PS: Thanks for the appropriately timed Unilocal gloves!

What an amazing Unilocal Elite event! The weather was cold, but the food and drinks were well worth the trek out of the house to the Plaza and to Morton’s. This was my first Unilocal event of the new year with our new CM — Adam S. It was a lovely intimate affair with delicious food and amazing cocktails. Let’s see if I can remember them all, but I’ll do my best to try (if I mess up… I’m sorry but the cocktails last night distracted me).
We arrived a little late, but were able to get some awesome bites and cocktails when we walked in. I tried there amazing Dirty Martini with blu cheese jalapeño stuffed olives — Holy Crap, one of the best martini I’ve had in a long time!!! As I was enjoying the cocktail, one of the phenomenal wait staff walked by with a tray of these lovely buffalo chicken meatballs — seriously is there anything better than food on a stick?! I didn’t think so until another person walked out with these amazing brisket sliders and tuna poke! OMG can you say orgasm in your mouth!!! And what better why to follow those lovely bites with a wonderfully made Cherry Makers Mark Manhattan, some more delicious bites, and another martini?
I couldn’t have come up with a better way for us to spend a wintry Monday night after a rough day at work! Can’t wait to see what the rest of our Unilocal Elite events will be!!!

Had a great time at the Unilocal Elite event at Morton’s. The food and drinks were excellent and the event was just the right size for the venue! From Buffalo chicken meatballs to braised pork sliders — with creatively named drinks suitable for President’s Day. All in all it was a great event!

What a great way to spend a Monday night!
You have officially proved yourself as our fearless and worthy leader, Adam! Morton’s staff was superb and made sure everyone got their fair share of the delicious food. My favorite appetizer was the pork sliders.
Those drinks though…
The KC Passion drink was incredible. I also enjoyed a glass or two (maybe 3) of their chardonnay. They were so good that I may have stroked Adam’s sweater at the end of the night and told him how soft it was (Sorry about that!)
Great food, great people, great drinks, and even a photo booth! This Unilocal party was nothing short of a perfect Unilocal party!

What another epic event this was!!! Hanging out with the Unilocal Elite crew, eating delicious vittles from Mortons’ and getting honschnokkered off some amazing craft cocktails made for a great night! What a fun way to spend an 11 degree-​outside-​evening!
The food was really good (although, damn fellow-​elites: y’all are like vultures!) and the drinks so so plentiful! The passion fruit and mint cocktail and the Roosevelt cherry
Martini were amazing! And those sliders (when I could jump the bearded waiters and grab one from the clutches of my hungry fellow elites) was awesome! The ahi poke was also refreshing, and hopefully met the standards of my buddy Daniel K and his Hawaiian heritage.
So good to see fellow Unilocalers Bobbie and Billie and Abby and Jen and Natasha tonight, and to celebrate meeting Adam’s awesome fiancée, our photographer for the night! What a fun event!
Thanks, Adam, for such a fun night! You did a great job, and continue to outdo yourself at every turn! And the truffles were epic!!! Thanks!‘n

When the weather is as cold as Kansas City was today, my inclination is to grab the big afghan, put on my fluffy bunny slippers, light some candles and stay indoors all day. I am SO GLAD I didn’t do that this evening because the Unilocal Presidential Bash planned by Adam S. at Morton’s Grill was so worth going out in the cold for!
First and very important, the staff at Morton’s Grill made every effort to give us an impeccable level of service — efficient and helpful without being stuffy. They made the evening fun! The space was nice and cozy and there was a great group of Unilocalers in attendance.
Several friendly waiters were circulating with seemingly endless trays of delicious beef brisket sliders, wonderful chicken-​blue cheese meatballs, tasty flatbread pizza squares and an interesting variation of bruschetta topped with fresh tuna.
I loved the very pretty Cherry Manhattan (done in honor of President George Washington) but also watched the bartenders turning out several other special cocktails as well as wine, beer and soft drinks.
Hubby & I shared a table with a couple of really nice Elites and their plus ones and everyone was so chatty and welcoming while waiting in the bar line that it was like meeting people who were already friends. This is the first time I have been to an Elite event and now that I know how much fun they can be, I sure will want to repeat the experience. Thanks to Adam S. and to Morton’s Grill’s Brad Smith for a very cool Presidential Bash.

This event was absolutely great. The service was top notch and the quality of food is equally matched by the quality of their cocktails. The cocktails for this event included three themed mixed drinks in honor of specific presidents: a cherry Manhattan, a dirty martini with blue cheese and bacon stuffed olives, and KC passion featuring pineapple juice and mint infused vodka with X-​rated liquor. KC passion was too easy to drink and quite unique. There were also beers and wine available. Bites included short rib sliders, buffalo chicken bites. Ahi tuna croquettes, Mediterranean flatbread, and margherita flatbread. Everything was perfect. I was quite surprised at the variety of items they had and how good each and every one of them was. Just when I thought one was my favorite I would try another for a seconds and be unsure of which I liked better. There is also a basket for takeaways of Grand Marnier truffles and a coupon for a free appetizer next time.
There was a lot of care and attention to detail given by the General manager and his crew. It was especially noticed because the tables were kept cleared and because on of the people in our group was vegetarian (they took the time to make sure she got a chance first at the flatbreads and that she had enough to eat). Very impressed. This is a place I would recommend. If they can handle a hectic group like us, you can definitely trust them for an intimate dinner.

Once again, Adam knocks one out of the park. Or, keeping with the theme, I can no tell a lie, Adam is totally the guy!
What a great venue. The space we occupied is perfect for a large group, meeting, etc. We all agreed how it has a great view and the food matched the greatness of the view. I would totally be distracted in a meeting here, but the view makes it ideal for a reception or a date night.
The staff rocked! They took care of us making sure everyone got a taste and a drink, or a few. I particularly noticed the concern of the servers making sure everyone was able to try everything by varying their paths and not letting people hoard the bites. I was impressed when they came around with flat bread specifically made for the vegheads in the crowd. This spoke highly to the type of service you will receive at Morton’s.
As for the food. Everything was good. I would come back for the short rib sliders in a heartbeat. As good as they were, they have me eyeing the filet sliders for a return visit. Add into the Presidential evening some masterly crafted theme cocktails and this was an evening worthy of a Presidential Medal of Honor.
The photo booth décor made the evening a ton of fun! As always the swag was right on. I have to admit, I grabbed an extra pair of gloves on the way out and paid them forward to the D/​T worker at Go Chicken Go. Perfect swag to share on a cold KC night.
Adam is blowing away the sadness of losing our previous CM. All events have been amazing and spot on for the season. I am so excited to see what is to come. Adam, you are rocking the Unilocaliverse!