Walsh’s Corner Cocktails

The shuffleboard is free. The beers aren’t much more.

The worst answer you can get when you ask what the night’s drink specials are, is that there aren’t any. Unless your server follows that answer with these four beautiful words: “It’s all pretty cheap.”

Excellent! A $1.75 Busch draw for me then, please, and keep them coming. And my good man Casey here feels like splurging, so he’ll have the Michelob Amber Bock for fifty big cents more, thank you very much.

Walsh’s Corner Cocktails was exactly what we needed for Guys’ Night this month, after fancy drinks at The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange our last time out. Adam, McHugh and Voytek were also in attendance on this Wednesday, and a good crowd was already at Corner Cocktails when we arrived.

It’d probably be a safe bet that most of the people there were regulars. A family with high school age kids was playing shuffleboard. Hardly any seats were left around the bar, and we were lucky to get the last open table.

Shaw walked through the door a few minutes after the rest of us, and ordered a Manhattan. After a little bit, our server returned and told Shaw he could either have his Manhattan now or wait for the bartender to find a cherry. He opted for now.

Drinks sans garnish -- maybe that’s how Corner Cocktails keeps the overhead down and the drink prices low. It’s like the cocktail equivalent of unpainted furniture.

Wednesday is burger night at Corner Cocktails, with $1.50 off a 6 oz. burger and your choice of side from 6 to 11 p.m. That’s a deal considering a plain burger will normally run you but a mere $5.

Most of us got the bacon cheddar burger, as recommended by our server who clearly intuited that we were feeling relatively flush thanks to the cheap beers, and thus ready to be upsold. The bacon cheddar burger is still just $4.50 with the special.

Meanwhile, Voytek asked if he could have his burger topped with American cheese instead. “It’s not as good,” our server replied. “But I’ll let you do it.”

The Corner Cocktails burger experience is as delicious as it is basic. Really, what more do you need besides meat and cheese? There’s a seemingly conscious lack of vegetables, save for the onion you’ll find buried deep underneath your fries. Ron Swanson would approve.

Your choice of sides includes fries, potato chips, cole slaw and cottage cheese. Funyuns are among your chip options. I have a hard time believing anybody has ever ordered cottage cheese ever. I went with the fries, and they were a little limp.

We got a couple of orders of baked wings to start, too. They’re like tiny little baskets of roast chicken Sunday dinner. I feel like they should come on a bed of stuffing. ($5 per order.)

As we were eating, Casey noted that hardly any of the sports memorabilia covering the walls appeared to come from after 1985. Corner Cocktails also has some St. Patrick’s Day decorations hanging up that may or may not be from the very first St. Patrick’s Day in history.

Later on, I had a Manhattan myself, and it tasted exactly like it should. Just like the burger, my drink was simply what it is and all the better for it. No more, no less. A good drink made simple but made well. This is a skill that demands both commendation and respect -- especially considering some of the subpar Manhattans I’ve had around KC.

Corner Cocktails is an awesome neighborhood bar, and it’s a bummer that it’s just a little too far away from my house for me to make it my neighborhood bar. Although throw a pinball machine up in here, and you wouldn’t be able to keep me away.
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304 West 85th Street | Kansas City, MO 64114
cornercocktails.com