Kansas City Food Blog

​The Mixx opened last Friday in the Power & Light District at 1347 Main, a sister restaurant to the popular Plaza eatery that lets customers mix their own salads and sandwiches. 

"My goal was to create an interesting and contemporary space for casual dining," says owner Jo Marie Scaglia, who is busy shuttling back and forth between her two locations and overseeing the company's growing catering business.

At the new space, The Mixx has launched a hot breakfast menu and has a host of new lunch and dinner options. "This is not your typical pancake and eggs breakfast. Although you could build that if you wanted it," says Scaglia.

There's a breakfast lox sando (toasted bread, lox, red onion and crispy capers with a light cream cheese spread, $5.95), a grilled breakfast flatbread (cheese, egg and tomato basil salsa, $4.95) and three kinds of breakfast fritters ($3.25 to $4.25)

While breakfast is new, the lunch and dinner menus have exploded with new options: there's now a total of 55 mix-ins.

"I like to think of it as menu enhancements. We're not going take away the dishes that regulars have loved. We're just going to mix it up for them and offer even more products," says Scaglia.

​
For salads, there are two new dressing options (tarragon shallot vinaigrette, spicy sicilian vinaigrette) and one replacement (orange miso vinaigrette replaces the sesame asian vinaigrette). Among the new menu items are a Rustic Beet Salad (fresh roasted beets, hickory smoked almonds, roasted yams, goat cheese, spinach and arrugula in the tarragon shallot dressing, $7.95) and Palermo Insalata (roasted red pepper, northern white beans, fried capers, parmesan, cruncy croutons, raw red onion, iceberg and romaine tossed with jalapeno lime vinaigrette, $7.95).

Even the portions are slightly different. Now there's a mini and full size on all salads, which Scaglia describes as "the same amount of mix-ins with less lettuce."

A lot of thought has gone into the new sandwich menu, which features seven additional options. Popular choices in the early going include the Pretzel Chicken Sando (grilled chicken, pepper jack cheese, grilled sweet onions, tomato, spinach, garlic aioli on toasted pretzel bread, $8.95) and Seaside Sliders (housemade ground salmon patty, spinach, shredded red cabbage, lemon tarragon aioli on grains galore bun, $8.95). Vegetarians and meat eaters alike might consider the Vegan Curry Sweet Potato Wrap (roasted sweet potato, curry-tomato chutney, coconut-ginger sauce, and arugula wrapped in a sweet cardomom tortilla, $7.95).

"I never go to the grocery store with a list and I'd like people to approach the menu in the same way," says Scaglia.

If you happen to be somebody who panics when faced with making a quick decision, Scaglia is working out a system of cards that patrons can fill in with their selections before they get to the head of the line.

The restaurant also has a full liquor license and is licensed for live music. Both might come into play more when the weather warms up again as the windows facing the central courtyard are actually sliding glass doors. Validated parking is good for three free hours at the Main Street Garage (entrance between 12th and 13th) and the KC Live Garage (entrance on Walnut).
 
By the end of next week, the new menu items should be available at the Plaza location as well. In addition, the Mixx's Web site is getting a facelift. Ddaily soups and any specials will be posted there or on the restaurant's Facebook page.
​