We were going to First Friday, but I decided I didn't want to bother with the crowd. For that, I've had the Courthouse Exchange bookmarked for ions on Yelp.it's 5 minutes away. The Yelp map would take you down Truman Road, it's horrendous. Do not use the Yelp Map for this. It is on Lexington, and if you stay on Chrysler to Lexington, it's on the left side. there's now Lower Lexington, Yelp. You enter the Courthouse exchange, (I put up a picture of the awning, so you can see where it is.), and immediately walk downstairs.It reminds me of a grotto. it's been there since 1899. Inside the walls are cave like and stone. It is long and narrow. You are seated and given a menu. On Friday night, it's boiled shrimp special: $8.99 for for a half of pound, $12.99 for a pound. We order fried mushrooms which were large and hand breaded. They were delicious, and I made the mistake of ordering onion rings, which were so/so. The boiled shrimp, though, was top notch, there just wasn't enough of it. No sides comes with the boiled shrimp. Next time I'll get a pound for $12.99, skip the onion rings. The shrimp comes with shrimp sauce, and an extra bowl. The shrimp were seasoned very well, They weren't too spicy, or too small. The service was really good, except they forgot my mom's shrimp order. They immediately took care of it. The drinks are served in Mason jars with a handle. How cute! Around the inside are old pictures of the Independence Courthouse, which this faces. There's specials every night, but Friday is shrimp night. That's the best night of all. read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - The front of Courthouse Exhange. You enter,and go down steps. - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

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Before Covid it was the place to eat in town. Not sure why but after it's bad. Food is not the same, menu is awful. It's still busy and I'm not sure why. Must be cause it's the only restaurant in town. read more

Omg one of my kid's favorites they love the French fries and the Mac and cheese with brisket we've been going for years

We stopped here after a tour of the Truman House and Library. It had a very cool environment and feel. I was excited to go somewhere that I thought Truman may have been, and thus, order the Truman cocktail on the menu which was similar to a Manhattan. We ordered some snacks for the table. The three stars is because of the staff. I wasn't impressed by the service. Our waitress may have been having a bad day (and if so I'm sorry), but she wasn't very friendly. I was completely taken aback that they wouldn't bring a few extra chips so we could finish the queso. I hadn't heard that from a restaurant before. Overall, a decent stop while in town. read more

Excellent place for down home cooking. The menu isn't as large as it was pre covid, however everything is very tasty. Clean restaurant and the wait staff is efficient and friendly. Great cheeseburger! read more

Went in for an early dinner on a Saturday night. We sat at the bar. The manager was the behind the bar, working. She took our drink order and then our food order. We both ordered a dish with chicken, which she asked if we wanted grilled or fried. We both said fried. She turned around to put it in the computer and confirmed once again we both wanted fried. She personally brought our meals to the bar. As she sat the two meals down, we noticed they were both grilled. We told her they were grilled and not fried. She then gave a smug chuckle and said "we'll I'm saving you calories" and turned around and walked away. Did not Offer to make it right. Did not discount the ticket. Did not offer a round of drinks. NOTHING. THIS WAS THE MANAGER. To know both meals were wrong, still deliver them to customers, make a joke & not do anything to make up for their mistake???? They don't deserve one star. We will NEVER be back. read more

I went to dinner at Courthouse Exchange tonight. Nothing good happened from the time we sat down until we left. Apparently the restaurant does not have enough menus so we were only given 1 menu for the table, our server didn't know what an IPA was, she came back sporadically to check on us. Another server brought a jug of water to our table but no glasses. we asked for utensils and napkins 3 times before I had to get up and go to the bar to get the items. one of us ordered a sandwich with sweet potato fries, regular fries were brought out instead. the server never asked if my brother or dad wanted another beer. the biggest problem was the chair pinched the skin on my leg which broke skin and caused me to bleed. I let our server know and there was absolutely no urgency. I asked to speak to a manager a number of times. I was told by the server that the manager was really busy and would come see me when she had a minute. The manager finally met with us as we were leaving because we were tired of waiting. she did not think the fact that one of their chairs pinched my skin and made me bleed was a big deal. she asked us to be patient with them because it was the first band night of the season. I was absolutely shocked. The manager reluctantly gave me a gift card for my "troubles" read more

Food was average. Service was less than average. Member of our party ordered make your own grill cheese with bacon and tomato. She got toasted bread, bacon, tomato and no cheese. After waitress was told she giggled and said "I forgot to ask you what type of cheese so they didn't put any cheese on it" On a grilled cheese??? We sat outside since it was a nice day. One waitress working both upstairs on patio and downstairs inside. Although practically empty she seemed overwhelmed. read more

Due to costs, they no longer have their salad bar. It does get expensive when at the end of the night you have to dump the salad and salad fixings. Sure will miss it though. It was one of the few things keeping me coming back. read more

I used to absolutely love this place as they had the best fried chicken I'd ever had. However, the last 2 times have been awful. I called to complain but no one came to the phone after I was told to hang on. The chicken was nothing like before. It wasn't even breaded. It was just so disappointing. Even the rolls were different. I hate to see this gem of a place go downhill like that. What a shame. read more

For any of you Jim Butcher fans out there, stepping into this place felt like I was in McAnally's Pub, only no pictures of fairy tales on the pillars. Aanywho, It has a nice stone and wood decor under street level, yet kind of semi classy wine cellar feel to it! The plates are big and the quality is good! They also have what appears to be a decent salad bar, which I am ing to try next time around! The first time i was here i had tge catfish which was pretty decent. This time I had the california burger (thick and tasty) with sweet potato fries (Delicious). I liked the fact that their sweet potato fries were not doused in salt, ranch on the side for dipping! Good place to try when you're at the Independence Square and are feeling peckish! read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - california burger with sweet potato fries & ranch on the side! - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

Awesome Burgers! We started out with fried pickles. Half order was very generous. Great tasting and yummy! I ordered the Santa Fe Burger and my son ordered the Oregon Trail Burger. Love the historical trails theme! We split our burgers and shared and the pulled pork on the OT burger gave it a great flavor! SF burger was juicy and not extra spicy which was good! I want to taste the burger. Ladies they had a nice salad bar too. The atmosphere is great because it's down stairs in a basement across the street from the courthouse. Good vibes. Service was good. No room for desert. read more

I've never had a really good experience at the Courthouse Exchange. First of all, there is a substantial flight of stairs you have to climb in order to enter the place, which is bad for me because I have bone-on-bone arthritis in my knees, which makes stair climbing a slow, extremely painful process. Not a pleasant way to start a dining experience. And the prices make me believe they were originally set so that only fat-cat attorneys and judges could afford to eat there. (They were charging $10 for a burger and fries way before anyone else was.) Although now I believe most places have caught up with their prices. Their food is pretty good, but nothing to write home about, and it used to be one of the only decent eateries on Independence Square before Ophelia's moved in. There used to be an excellent German restaurant called The Rheinland nearby, but sadly it went downhill before closing permanently sometime ago. The last time I ate at the Courthouse Exchange they were only serving on the patio due to the pandemic. (The front door was locked, with a sign on it.) That suited me fine, as it was a beautiful day, and that meant less stairs to climb. I seated myself at a patio table and waited some time for a waitress to greet me. It was about 15 minutes before a young lady came out and noticed I was there, even though two other people were finishing a meal. I assumed eventually someone would come out & bring them a check, but it didn't happen, as they finished their meal and left. And still I waited. And waited. And then a woman arrived with a menu, apologizing for the wait, explaining that the staff were cleaning up inside. I chose a drink and a BLT. About 15 minutes later the lady returned with a tray, my sandwich and drink, and a check, and quickly disappeared. It wasn't the BLT I had ordered, it was a Club Sandwich, which I tend to stay away from because of the extra bread. But there was no one to tell. No one on the patio, and the front door was locked, with a long staircase between it and the dining room where they were working. I sat there awhile, hoping she might come back to see if everything was okay. She didn't. I tried calling the restaurant. Several times. No one answered. By now I was really hungry, so I took a picture of the sandwich to show it wasn't a BLT and started eating. The sandwich was very dry, with only a tiny dab of mayo to moisten it. A short time after I finished my last bite, the waitress arrived for my money. I showed her the picture of the Club Sandwich which I hadn't ordered & told her of my dilemma. She apologized. That was all. She did NOT get a tip. read more

The place is a bit run down (to say the least), the service is usually mediocre at best, they don't really have any alternative menu items for people who are (vegetarian, vegan, lactose intolerant, etc). Their cooks are impatient / temperamental when asked to make adjustments. Overall, just a joke in the wall with bad service and limited menu. The only real positive thing about this place is their "music between the walls". Other than that, I would not recommend this place to anyone. And, I find that sad since I so desperately want to support its prolonged history. But, it is going to have to keep up with the times... read more

Historical restaurant. The food and service were good. Make sure you check out the over 100 years old bar that the President Truman sat.

Really cool dive bar feel with a lot of historical photos of the area on the walls and the food is good too. A half order of onion rings was more than enough for just me and I got the Oregon trail burger. Asked for medium on that burger, ended up getting medium well, which isn't great, but compared to so many other places that end up sending me a well done hockey puck I couldn't complain. The pulled pork on top of the burger patty was ok. That's why I gave it 4 stars. I'd like to try their pork tenderloin next time. read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - Tasty onion rings hot out of the fryer. Ranch sauce was tasty too. - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

Good food here if you like a good down home meal this is the place ! Haven't had a bad meal from here off the menu . Enjoy

Great little find. They have the great selection of burgers. Beat little salad bar. I would recommend this to anyone. Great little place in Independence Square. read more

My fried chicken sandwich was wonderful. It was a quiet dinner together. Loved the French fries too. Definitely would order the same meal again. The chicken was so juicy. read more

Ordered the chicken sandwich 2 times. It was raw each time. Don't recommend this place.

Have you ever seen the tavern scene in "Inglorious Basterds?" this restaurant reminds me of that scene. minus the Nazis and the intense shoot out. But the décor and the basement atmosphere is pretty spot on. Nazis or no Nazis this is still a good place to eat. I had the smoke house club special. it was light on meat and heavy on bread but it was still tasty. The staff was quick and friendly. It seems as if they really enjoy working here. If you need a place to chill out walk on down (literally walk on down - it's in a basement) to the Courthouse Exchange. read more

We stopped here while in the area for a date night. The food was good and decent price. We both had their burgers. The reduction was due to the service experience. It took about 50 minutes to receive our food due to a kitchen mixup, which was apologized for. But the service never really picked up after that either. Probably worth a try, but a one time for us. read more

The Courthouse Exchange is a unique, historic restaurant and bar. The location is in the lower level of the building. There was a picture of the original bar that had been there in the 1800s. The staff member was welcoming and friendly. She told us that the food was freshly prepared and generous in portion. She was right. I ordered the house special, pork tenderloin sandwich. It was delicious and huge. I had the homemade applesauce as my side. I'd recommend this restaurant for couples or groups of friends. Though I'm sure families would be welcome, the bar is a main feature of the restaurant. It is located not far from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library Visitor Center. read more

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Customer service was subpar, waited longer than I should have for someone to speak to me after being seated, the food is overpriced for what you get. $17 for a non specialty burger.. read more

Looking for a great local place to eat after getting your fill of Truman history? Come here! Great selection of beer and dishes for however you feel. They also have a wonderful selection of pie, which automatically makes me like a place! **The entrance is down a flight of stairs! Be aware of that if you have a physical disability** read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - Turkey sandwich with sweet potato fries - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

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I feel bad even starting a bad review in a long time favorite place in a pandemic like this but the fact that the people risking dining in seem to get priority over the people waiting for takeout responsibly in the car like I am have to wait an hour seems backwards...**nevermind this post has been edited to one star from two now that I see the skimpy portion of bottom feeder fries we got I haven't had an experience like this after being lied to about the wait time in my entire life read more

Great food and great ambiance (including great music). Located across from the courthouse, this place is in the basement of the old courthouse. Great friendly service. Marc was a great waiter taking care of almost everyone quickly and also so kind. Salad bar was fresh and tasty, make sure to try a biscuit!! The California burger was also delicious. I would recommend this for tourists and locals alike. read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

Just look at the beauty of the burger... side note: drinks like the one in the back is just as delicious! Really good price overall too read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

I've been here twice and both times I've had the chicken fried chicken at lunch time. Both times it was cooked perfectly and both times the people who served us were above and beyond accommodating. Friends had salad bar, and pork tenderloin and they said it was excellent. We ordered a half order for fried pickles and there were enough in the order for an army! The portions on the main entrees were large too, even for big eaters ...enough to take some home and have it for dinner. I will be returning and bringing out of town guests here. read more

I had the Cobb salad and fried pickles delivered through PostMates. Loved both! Great flavor great portion size! Can't wait to dine in when the option is available again and try the rest of the menu. Sorry I was so impressed with the food I forgot to take pictures. read more

Alanis is AMAZING...ask for her. My sister and I dined with our 2 very cranky kids. She took great care of us. The food was fabulous. Great place. read more

I want to like this place so badly. It's got a cool underground pub vibe. The food has definitely gotten worse since pre-Covid days though. Very little to no seasoning on anything. I'm not sure if inflation is to blame or if there is some sort of post-pandemic supply chain issue, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a pinch of salt on anything. Service was fine, no complaints there. Food quality leaves much to be desired though. read more

Love eating in the basement, love the décor. But otherwise, after the last couple experiences we've had with wait staff, no and -no-. Never again. A few years back I had a fantastic steak at Courthouse but otherwise the food has always been quite workaday. A couple years ago when Harry Truman's grandson visited the Square and gave a speech at the old courthouse, we decided to stop in downstairs. Although the restaurant was full, it appeared to be adequately staffed, but perhaps not in the kitchen. I wasn't keeping track of time at all, but apparently everyone was having to wait quite a while for their food. I couldn't help but notice that our waitress continually played up to a table with a party of 5-6, while pretty much ignoring us. My husband initially didn't want a salad, but was reconsidering. I merely turned around to see if could note what was on the salad bar. Our waitress brushed by us, having taken note of my backwards glance (towards the salad bar, apparently misinterpreting my intent), sniped impatiently as she passed by "It's (your food) almost out here." She was, unmistakably, being intentionally rude. We were just pondering the possibility of a salad, Princess. When this waitress returned to our table with our orders, I remarked that weren't being impatient, that we were just considering changing our minds about getting a salad. Her Majesty, stone-faced, remained silent, then asked "Is there anything else?" before sashaying back over to her party of 5-6. Waitress was in her mid-30's, brown hair, and perhaps fancied herself to be a contemporary of the clique that runs the restaurants. She was clearly far too precious to be waiting on the common folk. On subsequent visits, the wait staff has been very polite, but much younger with a short attention span (unfilled drinks, inter-waitress gossip, idle chit chat, ect.), and the food remains somewhat generic and definitely over-priced. read more

Was a bit worried about the 'second visit' jinx...you know: where you write a great review, then after that, you realize you spoke too soon, and the place just had a once in a blue moon great night when you were there. Thankfully, CER is STILL wonderful! Now, the directions via Yelp were horrible. Using common sense got us there instead. We were treated like royalty, as were all the patrons. All the employees were working together to make sure all their customers were taken care of. We had probably 4 different people refill our waters, and check on us regularly, but somehow, were not intrusive at ALL. And one of the employees was so awesome and bought us cake. :) The food was wonderful. I'm partial to one dish, and it was as good as last time, if not better. My husband's meal (filet) was a bargain, yet delicious. If only I could find a restaurant I liked as well as this one closer to home. How is it Independence can one-up JoCo? ;) (at least in my book!) They do not take reservations, but we didn't have a wait at all, even though they were very busy. read more

Independence is not exactly a bastion of excellent non-chain restaurants, but there is the occasional gem here and there. I consider the Courthouse Exchange one of those gems. It's not the classiest place in terms of location or decor - I mean, it is in a basement. But if you're in the neighborhood, it's definitely among the best of your choices. Deserving of a review of their own are the fried mushrooms. They are amazing. Served with horseradish sauce, they are are large, juicy and delicious. Just go ahead and order the full order. You'll eat them, whether you want to or not. The turkey reuben is also fabulous. It's another dish that you'll continue to eat just because you can, even if you're full after a half sandwich. On my last visit, my dining companions had the baliff's chicken and the chicken fried chicken, and they raved about both. The only dish I've had that left me underwhelmed were the wings; they were good, but not as good as everything else I've had. The beer and wine list is small, but cheap. Service has been good every time I've been there. Previous to my last two visits, it had been years since I'd eaten at the Courthouse Exchange. Based on what I've seen lately, that won't happen again. read more

Great food good service our waitress was awesome with helping my wife in deciding what to order prices were a little bit more than expected but not to bad cool old building nice atmosphere even the independence square was charming we will definitely return plus had a band playing upstairs nice read more

Courthouse Exchange Restaurant - Cold beer great atmosphere - American Near Me - Independence, Missouri

Surprisingly bad food! Been here once for beers and appetizers and liked it so decided to try dinner next time I was in the neighborhood. My sandwich didn't taste very fresh, the meat tasted like it had been made earlier in the week or last week so by the time they warmed it up for dinner service it tasted just like old leftovers served with crunchy fries that I can only assume got left in the oil too long or dropped twice to warm them back up. Friends food was cold on delivery, the only thing hot on her plate was the chicken fried chicken but the green beans and mashed potatoes weren't even a little warm. Mashed potatoes also tasted sour and the gravy they poured all over everything didn't have any flavor at all. The waiter who hadn't been seen after dropping off the food sent the manager to our table even though we didn't ask him to, I guess the barely touched food with the napkins on top of the plates was his cue to do that. The manager herself was a little ridiculous in the way she approached us and making bad jokes. Her answer to bad food was free dessert, she offered the same deal to the booth behind us that wasn't happy with their food either. Think this place might have been good once but not sure what happened lately. read more

If you are looking for blow-your-mind gourmet food this is not your place. If you are looking for quick, friendly service, great atmosphere and consistently good food then Courthouse Exchange is worth a try. My first visit left me underwhelmed. We have some friends who go nuts for the place so my expectations had been a little overblown. The food was good but not what I was expecting considering the ravings I had heard. The portions were sizable. I ordered Brisket Mac & Cheese. I had never thought of combining bbq with m&c but it was surprisingly good. My boyfriend ordered the meatloaf with came with a side of M&C and green beans. I did love the atmosphere though. It's a basement restaurant and everywhere is posted tid-bits of history regarding both the building and Independence. I'm a history major so this particularly delighted me. I found the restaurant cozy and a bit ole-timey. The price is great! Super affordable which keeps us going back. With each return visit I like the place more and more. read more

We took a granddaughter and her family to Courthouse Exchange today for a Birthday lunch. I enjoy this restaurant when we are in Independence and today was a typical visit. Meaning that we got good food, good service and had a good time. The venue and decoration don't change much from year to year and, since it is located on the basement level of one of the store fronts across from the Courthouse, it always seems a bit dark and that's kind of the feel they are going for. But they have a good solid menu of comfort foods as well as appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers (and for all I know, it may include "the kitchen sink" in there somewhere as it's a truly multi-page menu and I seldom end up reading the whole thing). Today our table ordered a brisket sandwich basket w/fries, a pork tenderloin dinner with two sides, a chicken fingers dinner and a meatloaf meal served with mac n cheese and green beans, which was mine. The macaroni and cheese was very creamy and tasty and the green beans were as good as my Grandma's homemade ones always were. The giant slab of meatloaf, covering half the dinner platter, was moist and so big that I got a to-go box to bring about half of it home for later. Hubby was not excited about the brisket, saying it was kind of tough and chewy but he liked the fries and ate the meat with a knife and fork. Everything else was very good, I guess, because plates got emptied in good time. Dear Granddaughter needed a to-go box for some of her chicken fingers because she got full too fast. Service was friendly and attentive, as it always seems to be. Several times we were offered refills on our drinks and empty plates were promptly removed from the table. I love keeping up traditions and Courthouse Exchange is one tradition I hope is always there. read more

I've been going to Courthouse Exchange since 1997. The menu hasn't changed very much in that time - basically it's a comfort-food menu. The Judge's Club is excellent, and the tenderloin is huge. I also love the open-faced hot beef. I think it's a shade high on the price scale, but the service is usually good and the food is usually served quickly and is hot and fresh when it hits the table. I have to put in a small caveat on that - they're usually very good, but it seems like there's no in between. It's either very good, which it is about 95% of the time, but that other 5% stinks. Either it takes forever to get your food - and I allow for it being busy, but I'm talking about times when there's not even 20% capacity and it takes 40 minutes to get a couple of sandwiches and an order of fish and chips. But this seldom happens, so the odds are in your favor. I'd recommend avoiding it on busy sports nights - it's popular with a few of the local loudmouths who don't understand that not everyone appreciates people screaming at a TV as though they were actually at the game. Overall, I give them a B+ grade. You'll enjoy the place. read more