Lill's on 17th - Can you keep a Secret?

UPDATE - 5/20/08: Due to low attendance, these Monday night dinners have been cancelled. If I hear of them starting again, I'll post.

A secret dinner, that is. Lill's on 17th is officially closed on Mondays. If you drive by the house-converted-to-a-restaurant and look at the sign out front, there are no Monday hours listed. However, that's not really true....

There's a Secret Dinner on Monday nights at Lill's. Anyone is invited, but not everyone knows about it. In fact, there is no mention at all of this on Lill's website. I was lucky enough to get a flyer from a shop owner in Lill's neighborhood.

There are a few rules regarding Monday night dinners:

• No choices - there is only one set menu each week. (there is always a vegetarian option)
• The menu changes each week.
• Food is served family style.
• There are two seating times: 6:00pm (recommended for parties with kids) and 7:30pm.
• Only cash and checks are accepted
• Cost is $10 adult; $5 kids under 10 (Drinks, tax & tip not included)
• Reservations are required

Last week's menu had the theme of "Comfort Food" - Mac & Cheese, served with sides of mushrooms and broccoli, with homemade biscuits and frosted brownie for dessert. If you think this is a bland menu, then you would be wrong. The Mac & Cheese was not to be confused with the stuff from the blue box - penne pasta smothered in a wonderfully rich cheese sauce and topped with a golden brown bread crumb topping. Let's just say I had thirds of it!

On the side were sauteed mushrooms and bright green steamed broccoli. Whether you mixed these in with your mac, or had them as sides, you couldn't go wrong here.

They aren't kidding about the family style - Lill's is not a large place, and our party of six ended up sitting at the same long table with a younger couple. It didn't take long before we ended up striking up a conversation with them and found that we knew some people in common - the whole small-world thing, you know.

Just tonight, I went back again. Tonight's theme was "Breakfast for Dinner" (one of my personal favorites). The menu was pancakes, eggs, bacon, cheese grits, hash browns, biscuits & gravy, fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls. Whew! You had me at "pancakes"!

Tonight it was just me and my four-year-old son going for dinner. We shared a table with four other ladies that my son happily flirted with.

I should mention that this dinner at Lill's is pretty laid-back. This is no fancy-pants dining experience. It's more like going to a good friend's house for dinner. For example, we got our biscuits and were happily munching away when someone noticed, "where's the gravy?" Oops. That was quickly remedied. Then there was some bad news about the cinnamon rolls. They did not rise in time to be baked for dinner. I took the news in stride, but my son was a little peeved. Another biscuit soothed his pain.

In summary, Lill's on Monday night is a casual, comfortable, easy dinner. You will get some wonderful food - plenty of it - and you might even make a friend or two.

website: http://www.kansascitymenus.com/lillson17th/ (but you won't see any mention of this dinner there! Call or email for details about Monday night dinner: 816-421-4441 or jamer33@gmail.com)