A couple of points:

1) Agree with the Mekong recommendation. I had the privilege of eating at Pho Grand and Mekong the first weeks they were open. Both are very dependable places for a good meal.

2) Pizza is a personal thing. As bad as Imo's might be, Gino's East is the WORST pizza that I have ever had. Every city that I have lived in has had some great pizzas, some good ones, and some really **bad** ones.

I don't think that city specialties translate too well to newcomers. I have yet to "get" Italian beef as an example.

Lived in and near Springfield for 20 years never been to Cozy Dog. However I do frequent CAFE BRIO, downtown. Has an ecletic mix of southwestern, caribbean style food and never disapoints.

Corner of 6th and Monroe. Phone: 217 544-0574

This is waaay late, but maybe in time for your next visit to St. Louis.

The Pho Grand (previously mentioned) has the best bowl of pho I've had in this country--and I've tried dozens and dozens, including lots on the west coast, from Vancouver to Sonoma.

It's on Grand Ave. (natch) and, incidentally, right across the street from Jay's Asia Supermarket which, in spite of its name, also has a fine Latin section, and lots of neat stuff from Mittel Europa. German coffee beans cheaper than in the Olde Countrie. Jay's is a wonderful place for cooks of Asian food.

g

Since my kid's a freshman, I'll be there quite a few times. Pho Grand has been recommended in quite a few other places, so it looks like a place we'll have to try.


Thanks.

Hi,

While the pursuit of something else, I found this website: The Lowlife Guide to St. Louis: Cheap, Unique Restaurants & Bars.

Regards,

That's a good website of some pretty decent places. I would substitute "good" for "great" as the author is prone to hyperbole.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

While the pursuit of something else, I found this website: The Lowlife Guide to St. Louis: Cheap, Unique Restaurants & Bars.

Regards,

thanks for the link Cathy, it had an answer to my fried brain sandwich question:

The Back Door: One of two south city taverns (the other being Ferguson's Pub) that still sell the local endangered species of St. Louis cuisine, the brain sandwich. This place also offers lively karaoke and plenty of the south city hoosier factor. 9538 Gravois Rd. 314-631-9480

KWE730 wrote:I was telling Mr. kwe about this whole discussion of STL restaurants and places to stop en route and he asked me if I mentioned the sushi place in Bloomington. While I have never eaten there, Mr. kwe has on quite a few occasions since he used to do business with several companies in that area. Apparently when Mitsubishi built their plant in Bloomington they brought with them a very talented sushi chef and built this restaurant for their executives. If you exit I-55 at Veteran's Parkway and go east 1-2 miles it is in a free standing building on the south side of the road. Can't be that many Japanese/sushi places in Bloomington.

Hi,

I was in Bloomington today looking for this restaurant. Tachibana closed earlier this year. There is a new marquee indicating it is 'Hayashi Sushi - Japanese Cuisine.' The building permits are dated from March with no recent activity. I asked the restaurant next door who hadn't seen any activity either and were in the dark over the new owners plans.

Though Tachibana is closed, I am submitting the address to allow us to locate and report later. This is visible from Veteran's Highway.

Tachibana Japanese Restaurant (RIP)
7 Currency Dr
Bloomington, IL 61704

Ok real simple St. Louis is famous for a couple things and if you don't do it right then there is really no point in doing it. first off, you need to eat burgers because they were first introduced at the 1904 world's fair held at wash u. lunch time you can goto anthony's downtown, same owners as tonys, around the corner, and not as expensive... I mean the spreadable cheddar here will make you blush. Also real simple, Carl's Drive Inn on Manchester Rd. double with cheese and a root beer float. done. you'll have to witness the root beer keg here for yourself. Next goto the hill closer to the city down manchester rd. and a lil further south... pick any italian place here that looks respectable and it is (giovanni's wink wink) and get toasted ravioli another st. louis speciality. and finally there is no question you have to truly get some bbq and without super smokers I would have to say Momma's Coal Pot BBQ on Delmar in its little shack is now the dominant choice. Imos or Cafe Manhatten for stl style pizza. Imo's is everywhere and easy and cafe manhatten is better but only in clayton. that's that.

_____Whatever you eat or wherever you go, stop by a local Schnucks and get a handle of Maull's barbecue sauce. It's more nostalgic for me, but the spicy kick of the jalapeno version is perfect for chicken nuggets/strips.

YUM.



*Weird fact actually: I believe when Brittany Spears was young she used to peddle the stuff. Okay...I guess that's not a great sell for this one. But I PROMISE it's solid bbq sauce!

- "You know Zin, you worry me sometimes..."

OK, time to bring up the snoots again. Anybody tried them?
My pals from St. Louis talk the Big Talk, but they never walk the Big Walk and take me there. Here's to reliable refs:

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/wh ... noots.html

http://roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TO ... 20&#185146

jlawrence, you ever tried one??!!

Geo

While I recruited a number of my staff from East St. Louis, I really never had a pig snoot in the St. Louis area.

Having said that, the employee functions that we used to have in Detroit OFTEN included things like pig snoots, hog mawls, pigs feet, chitterlings and about any part of the hog - other than the squeal. So, yes, I have tried just about everything once ... or twice.


Here is the definitive website on BBQing pig snoots:

http://mrbooker.tripod.com/pigsnoots.htm

When you are born of Depression-era parents from the farm as I am and marry a farm girl with depreciation parents and you have butchered pigs, dairy cows, and chickens from the time you were six, you rapidly realize that NO part of an animal shoudl go to waste.

In my family, we would grind the snoot meat and make goetta. In my wife's they would make a product called panhaus which is closer to scapple.

Personally, if I bought a pigs head - and I saw some really beautiful ones at the Fiesta Supermarkets I visited two weeks ago in Austin and Houston, I would more likely use it in this manner:

http://www.rollybrook.com/pozole.htm

Looking for some additional St. Louis info for a trip this weekend. My wife and I are going without the kids for this weekend (Thur-Sun). We don't have much touristy stuff, or really anything, on the itinerary, just kind of wander around, check out the town, and spend some quality time sans kids.

We are staying west, one night in Clayton, two in Westport Plaza area, but are planning to travel.

Specific requests, that I haven't seen quite addressed...
1) breakfasts...any place to check out? Not necessarily looking for greasy diner food
2) Italian pastries...can you get good sfogliattelle anywhere or a good espresso. I imagine will walk around the Hill a little. It sounds like there's some crap, some fine, not much great. I think my in-laws recommend Amighetti's where we may stop for a sandwich. Anyplace here worth going?
3) Meatless Friday...suggestions?
4) Any word on Chez Leon or Marcella Trattoria...these seem to get some good reviews, but...and remember, we're comparing to KC, not Chicago, so "good but not as good as X in Chicago" aren't as meaningful

I see jlawrence01 recommends Patrick's and Ozzie's Sports Bar if we eat at Westport at all. We'll likely hit Pho Grand and spend some time on South Grand.

May also hit she Soulard area/market. Wander around Forest Park.

May go to Crown Candy or Ted Drewe's again. Really liked Cafe Bellagio in Creve Coeur and could be back, though I'm not crazy about eating in a strip mall. Nice place though.

Maybe we'll do Tony's, though I doubt it.

I like the idea of geli's Korean diner, but I don't think we'll end up there either.

And not in the market for St. Paul, fried brain, pig snoot, Imo's pizza, or fried ravioli.

Any other ideas are welcome.

Thanks,

Aaron

Aaron Deacon wrote:Specific requests, that I haven't seen quite addressed...
1) breakfasts...any place to check out? Not necessarily looking for greasy diner food
2) Italian pastries...can you get good sfogliattelle anywhere or a good espresso. I imagine will walk around the Hill a little. It sounds like there's some crap, some fine, not much great. I think my in-laws recommend Amighetti's where we may stop for a sandwich. Anyplace here worth going?
3) Meatless Friday...suggestions?
4) Any word on Chez Leon or Marcella Trattoria...these seem to get some good reviews, but...and remember, we're comparing to KC, not Chicago, so "good but not as good as X in Chicago" aren't as meaningful

Some ideas.

1) Some people swear by Blueberry Hill on Chippewa. I stopped there a couple of times and the breakfast was pretty decent. Also, there is a small bagel shop on Olive Street Rd. in Creve Couer that makes its own bagels. I believe that they are closed on Saturdays.

2) The Missouri Baking Co. is the place that you generally will get sent to for Italian pastries and it is about the best that you will do among the small bakeries in St. Louis. In Creve Couer on Olive Street Road, the Dierberg's store is IMO the best bakery in town. In addition to a great variety of pastries, they do a lot of kosher pastries. Top notch stuff.

Amighetti's is pretty good. However, the Southwest Market which is about 3 blocks west of Kingshighway on the Hill makes an outstanding sandwich and is a favorite of the locals. The place is across from Favazza's,

3) Most parishes and VFW halls have fish fries. Another option would be to head over to Belleville to Our Lady of the Snows Shrine for their dinner menu / buffet. Good food at very reasonable prices (and they will be serving fish on Friday.

4) Can't help you.

One more idea if you have time. Near the A-B Brewery on Pestalozzi is Gus's Pretzels. The pretzels which are sold on every street corner on Saturdays is the one thing I really miss about St. Louis.

If you head to Crown Candy, run a Mapquest as that area if St. Louis is very rough.

I hope that helps.

BTW, one great attraction is in the South County area. First, Grant's Farm has a large herd of African animals and is the homestead oif the Busch family. In addition to the animals, you get samples of AB products and the Clydesdales. In addition to this, the National Park Service has opened up a new memorial to US Grant.

Thanks, should have referenced this thread, I guess, which was our last trip, when we still lived in Chicago and had kids and in-laws along.

I think it was your tip we followed to Crown Candy, and did have good directions, thanks. We did Grant's Farm too, which we enjoyed, but probably won't do again on this trip. I saw your pretzel rec in another thread...thanks for bringing it up again.

Cheers,

Aaron

Aaron,

When you go to Phô Grand, be sure to walk across the street and give Jay's ethnic supermarket a look. There's absolutely nothing like it in KC; indeed, I can't think of anything quite like it anywhere I ever been.

Also, the last time I visited Schlafly's brewery restaurant, I had some dynamite fish and chips. Surely they'll be on the menu during Lent! It's a very pleasant space, the food is good, and so is the beer. Well worth a visit.

Geo

www.schlafly.com/

Aaron Deacon wrote:1) breakfast
3) Meatless Friday...suggestions?

1) the "famous" st. louis breakfast involves what is called a Slinger. but you'd find this in a greasy diner.

2) the only thing that came to mind is to look in "The Hill" ...which you already know of.

3) meatless ... If you're not into the normal fish fry, this sounds like a great time to visit Imo's pizza.... I wouldn't leave St. Louis without it!

other local specialty items if you happen to find a grocery store: ... gooey butter cake in schnucks or elsewhere. you gotta maull it... (as someone else mentioned in this thread). Andrea's steak sauce. ... if you're on the Illinois side of things, you can sometimes find a soda called Ski (which is made in breese IL). If you're extremely lucky you'll find it in a glass bottle, where it will have the real fruit pulp and is made with cane sugar. I've found these lately in Walgreens of my hometown...! The cans are an OK standby though.

dddane wrote:other local specialty items if you happen to find a grocery store: ... gooey butter cake in schnucks or elsewhere.

Thanks, good point. I missed the gooey butter cake last time in. I'm not crazy about Imo's.

What I'm actually looking for is NOT necessarily St. Louis specialties or things that I can get there but not elsewhere.

I'd love to find a great breakfast spot like Victory's Banner or Tre Kronor.

Or a place for fish like Glenn's Diner.

The kinds of places you might not think to send a visitor because they're sort of normal, neighborhood places. But as a visitor, it's often harder to locate those places.

Three thoughts come to mind:
1. For breakfast, we tend to go to the Central West End. There are a couple of very pleasant blocks of eating places to stroll through. There is a nice breakfast place that is part of a deli with good smoked salmon, but unfortunately I can't remember the name.
2. For dinner near Clayton, we recently ate at Harvest, and it may have been our best meal in St. Louis. It's a contemporary American place with emphasis on good ingredients. I'd call, because if they have meatless options, they should be quite good.
3. For sightseeing, consider Cahokia Mounds, about half an hour outside of town, if you have any interest in pre-Columbian culture. While it's only a series of mounds, they have good walking tour and really brings it alive. You can do the whole place in an hour or two.

Enjoy,
Jonah

Thanks for the tips. Gus's Pretzel in particular we missed and will hit on a future trip.

Spent a nice weekend exploring and eating in St. Louis, some hits, a few misses, and some places to hit next time.

Dinner on Thursday was at Harvest, sort of the old warhorse of the St. Louis local/sustainable/organic strain of restaurant. The longtime chef Andy White recently took over another, older St. Louis institution, Balaban’s. The food was cooked well, but the portions were *huge*. Way too big. I got a special of lamb five ways...smoked rib, pulled lamb shoulder with Israeli cousous and black beans, housemade lamb sausage, dijon-crusted tenderloin, and sliced leg of lamb, each serving big enough to be a small course of its own. They were all really good, but I was too full for the bread pudding.

My wife's hangar steak was also quite good, also huge. For all the seasonal, local bent they claim, the menu didn't really strike me as such. I would have liked to see spring reflected a little better. We had a frito misto appetizer that I thought someone somewhere recommended, but I may have been wrong. It was okay. Had some really good fried red pepper strips mixed in, but again, too much food for an app portion.

I may be selling the place a little short. The cook can really cook…all the meat was just about perfect. But, served with generous portions of spinach (both) and garlic mashed potatoes with the steak, it just didn’t strike me as having the creativity or seasonality I expected.

Came back another night for bread pudding after a disaster at the Schlafly Bottleworks. Who the hell put that menu together? They talk a good game, source ingredients locally, try to do healthy, interesting bar food, the owners seem like good people, invested in the community, etc., etc.

I really want to like the place, but those are some bizarro offerings. Ahi Tuna Reuben, anyone? I’m not making this up: “seared ahi tuna with honey-wasabi mayo, shredded cabbage and Swiss cheese served open face on Russian black bread; served with pickled ginger and salad on the side”. I ordered, comically, the bison brisket sandwich: “with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and mango salsa; served on a rye bun with potato salad on the side”. Sauerkraut and mango salsa!?

Before the food I ordered the beer sampler, 6 5 oz pours for $6.50. A heck of a deal if all the beers weren’t pretty mediocre.

Anyway…we were sitting in the bar ordering from the bartenders, our mistake…by the time I tracked down my order it was dead cold, the bun had gotten soggy through, it looked terrible anyway. I sent it back, passed on dinner, and went to Harvest for bread pudding.

The bread pudding was a very good version.

Our third dinner was at Trattoria Marcella, just off The Hill, highly recommended on Chowhound and in Southwest’s in-flight magazine. Maybe Italian food in St. Louis really isn’t that good. The meal was squarely okay. Not particularly objectionable, but not memorable either. The ravioli (chestnut, ricotta, parmigiano) in sage butter was fine, though I couldn’t taste the sage. Not nearly so good as the ravioli I had in Creve Coeur nearly a year ago. Shrimp scampi was okay. Both dishes were on the order of fine, but not quite rising to good. Still, it was a friendly, vibrant place, and though I’d probably choose elsewhere, I wouldn’t gripe about returning.

We went to Niche for dessert, and this looks like a place where some folks are really cooking. I’d really like to go back here for dinner (and nearly did). We split a lemongrass panna cotta in a rhubarb lime soup. Wow. This was terrific, really interesting, complex, spring-garden tasting dessert. I think the soup mixed with a shot of gin would make a terrific drink, which I proposed to the bartender. She humored the suggestion, though didn’t offer to fix me the drink. We did talk about infusions, etc., and other fun stuff she does behind the bar, and she gossiped about some of the St. Louis food scene. Good time, nice place, we’ll very likely be back.

For lunches…one, we planned to visit Atlas which it turns out is not open for lunch. But they were quite nice when we called, and recommended Moxy in the Central West End. Turned out to be the most surprisingly good meal of the trip. Very simple, meatless Friday meal….we each got a bowl of tomato soup/bisque and a small grilled cheese sandwich. We split a salad with apple, fennel, and a blueberry vinaigrette and a wild mushroom polenta. The salad was very good, but the polenta was blow-you-away good. And it was on the dinner menu, not the lunch menu, but the chef had no problem fixing us up an order. Really terrific.

In contrast, the most disappointing meal (well, other than Schlafly’s) was at Pho Grand. I’ve been reading about this place on Chowhound for years. I got a bowl with eye of round and meatballs…ennhhh. I’m not a pho expert, not at all, but this really had little depth or beefiness too it…actually rather dominated by five-spice. I was not impressed.

And (I admit this is perhaps an unfair stereotype) but it really has the look of a place that would be voted best in city by the Riverfront Times readers umpteen years in a row. Very nicely appointed, comfortable place, distinctive building compared to all the strip malls in the area. Very polished, Asian instruments decorating the walls in museum boxes. Looked very nice…quite a bit nicer than I expected.

At 1:30 on a Saturday, they were doing a brisk business, maybe 10 tables seated, all seeming to enjoy themselves. And they were all at least as white as me (and that’s pretty white). Now I’m not saying you can’t have a great pho place full of white folks, but the vibe altogether was not what I expect from these sort of supposed ethnic eatery gems. You could, of course, say the same thing about Spoon Thai, which I love, so take it for what it’s worth, which may very well be very little. But I suspect you can do better on what seems like an incredibly rich stretch of south Grand.

I did visit Jay’s International market across the street, and it was a fun place to visit. Really a nice spread, as Geo notes, and the only place I can recall seeing balut eggs for sale.

We did seek out sfogliatelle on The Hill one morning, but Missouri Baking Co. doesn’t actually make them, and couldn’t recommend anyone who did. We picked up some pretty decent Italian cookies and a rather poor pastry and went to Shaw’s for a cup of coffee. Shaw’s is a local one-off coffee joint on The Hill in an old bank building. They obviously take great pride in their space, and they made a fine cup.

Another breakfast was at Nadoz Café (pronounced NAH-doze as in the last two syllables of Coronado’s, the hotel which it adjoins). Really a pretty good cheap breakfast. Strawberry and cream cheese stuffed French toast and a three-egg ham and cheese (whole wheat) crepe were each under $4. Cute space, friendly, nice place. Food was okay, but cheap! Supposed the lunch is better than breakfast, and I found out later that they’re known for pastries, which we didn’t sample.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Soulard Market, a really vibrant and entertaining old-school market that really reminds you that St. Louis is just up the river from New Orleans. Part KC City Market, part Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market, but not too big and mostly it’s own thing…this was a really enjoyable way to kill an hour or so on a Saturday morning.

Oh, and I nearly forgot, in one last attempt at some quality on The Hill, we looked for an open deli on Sunday before driving out. No such luck, as the place pretty well shuts down on Sunday. We ended up at Pizzeria della Piazza (“Piazza” is the owners’ last name). Turns out, of all things, that it’s a Chicago-style pizza place, with stuffed, pan, and what looked like Chicago thin. We didn’t want to wait for a pizza, and in a fit of nostalgia, I ordered an Italian beef. Bad move.

Harvest
1059 South Big Bend
St. Louis, MO 63117
314-645-3522
http://www.harveststlouis.com/

Schlafly Bottleworks
7260 Southwest Ave. (at Manchester)
Maplewood, MO 63143
314.241.BEER
http://www.schlafly.com/brewpubs.shtml

Trattoria Marcella
3600 Watson
St. Louis, MO 63109
314-352-7706
http://www.trattoriamarcella.com/

Niche
1831 Sidney St
St Louis, MO 63104
314-773-7755
http://www.nichestlouis.com/

Atlas
5513 Pershing Ave
St Louis, MO 63112
(314) 367-6800

Moxy
4584 Laclede Ave
St Louis, MO 63108
314-361-4848
http://www.moxybistro.com/

Pho Grand
3195 S Grand Blvd
St Louis, MO 63118
314-664-7435
http://www.phogrand.com/flash.html

Jay’s International
3172 S. Grand
314-772-2552

Missouri Baking Co.
2027 Edwards St
St Louis, MO 63110
314-773-6566

Shaw’s Coffee
5147 Shaw Ave
St Louis, MO 63110
(314) 771-6920
http://www.shawscoffee.com/

Nadoz Euro.Bakery+Café
3701 Lindell Blvd.
One Block West of Grand
Midtown St. Louis
314-446-6800
http://www.nadozcafe.com/

Soulard Market
730 Carroll Street
St. Louis, MO, 63104
314 622 4180
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/soulardmarket/

Pizzeria della Piazza
5100 Daggett Ave
Saint Louis, MO 63110
314-762-9100

I have been in and out of St. Louis for the past twenty years - eight years as a resident and the past 12 as a frequent visitor. As a creature of habit, I find myself heading back to the same places over and over agin. This trip, I decided that I would break the rut. Instead of staying at Westport or the airport, I headed to Clayton and outside of Westport.

Here are some of the new places that I tried.

On Thursday, the plan was to head to the Hill for dinner. My companion stated that he preferred German food to Italian so we headed over to the feasting Fox, a historical restaurant originally opened by the Busch family to provide a tavern where men could bring their families.

We ordered the Schweinschnitzel, sauerbrautin and the champaign chicken. All were very well prepared. The tavern also serves a wide variety of specialty beers including Groesedieck beer, once a product of the largest brewery in St. Louis. Without beverages, the entrees run $12-17. It is adjacent to Ted Drewes' Grand location which is open during the summer months.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Kaldi's Coffeehouse. Grest coffee and an excellent Rice Krispy marshmellow and chocolate chip bar was the sweatest thing that I ever had.

The great find of the trip was a soul food choice about 2 miles west of where I worked for years. Sweetie Pie's is a classic soul food cafeteria that served six entrees and sides. On Friday, they serve whole catfish, buffalo, fried chicken, smothered pork chops and the like. I arrived ten minutes before closing but the food was excellent. And the peach cobbler was phenomenal.

They recently opened a new location on Manchester in St. Louis near Barnes Hospital. We drove by. Instead of finding a "hole in the wall", the place was a sit-down restaurant with extended hours. I will try the new location on my next trip.

My assignment this morning was not unusual. When I lived in St. Louis, Saturday breakfast was Gus's pretzels bought from a street vendor along Gravois Ave. Gus's did not have a storeat that time. You could buy straight from the kitchen but that was out of the way.

Now they have a real store. My friends told me to buy a bad of pretzels as well as some of thej new pretzel sausages. They wrap hot dogs, brats and salsiccias in pretzel dough and bake them off. It is really quite good. On weekends, there is usually a line as people order them by the bags.

Instead of fighting the crowds at Pho Grand, we went down the street and ate at Bahn Mi So, a place that advertises itself as having the best spring rolls.

The spring rolls are very good ... but they are not the garden variety spring rolls. They are filled with a variety of fillings - with daily specials. The ones that we tried - stuffed with shrinp and pork were very good.

Their other specialty are charbroiled meats. We tried the pork chops and the chicken. The pork chops (2) were sliced thin and broiled after being marinated and were flavorful. The chicken did not look all that hreat BUT the skin was very crunchy and the meat well marinated. It was an excellent meal.

Bahn Mi So has about 10-12 tables and gets pretty crowded. They do a brisk take-out business. Two appetizers, entrees, and beverages for $25.

The food is great but expect a S-L-O-W meal. We were there from 5-6:30 pm and there were only two employees working.

I tend to favor the south city as I lived there for eight years.

For future trips, I would like to hit one of the several new Bosnian restaurants, one of several of the new BBQ joints, and a couple of the new Greek restaurants.

One other note, a LOT of the fast food places throughout the city are closed. Well over half the Hardee's are closed, all of the Wendy's and Shoney's are out of St. Louis. A lot of the ethnic places have price points that are LOWER than the fast food places.


The Feasting Fox
4200 S. Grand Ave @ Meramec
St. Louis, MO
(314) 352-3500
www.feastingfox.com

Kaldi's Coffeehouse
700 Demun Ave
St. Louis, MO
http://www.kaldiscoffee.com/

Sweetie Pie's
9841 W. Florrissany Ave
Dellwood

Gus's Pretzels
1829 Arsenal (across from Brewery off I-55)
St. Louis, MO
http://www.guspretzels.com/

Bahn Mi So - Saigon Gourmet
4071 S. Grand Ave.
St. Louis, MO
(314) 353-0545
http://banhmiso1.com/cuisine.html

gleam wrote:For what it's worth, I had fairly good 'toasted' (fried) ravioli at caponie's on Harlem in Chicago, as well.

Ed,

Gene & Georgetti does fried ravioli, ravioli are fine, but the meat sauce accompaniment is really quite good. Rich, meaty, well balanced, might be the best straight up meat sauce I've tasted in quite a while.

Gene and Georgetti Fried Ravioli


Enjoy,
Gary

Gene & Georgetti
500 N Franklin St
Chicago, IL 60610
312-527-3718

I will be staying at Chase Park Plaza and am looking for a nice place to go with some business associates (we are all speaking at a conference). The quality of the food is very imporant, but the location is nearly as important. We need something that is easy to get to from the CPP. There should be about 20 people.

For context: I am a huge fan of Naha and Kevin in Chicago, but I may want to "dumb it down" a bit since I'm convinced that there will be members of our party that don't like that sort of food. I was almost thinking of a place like Keefer's, where I can get a great piece of fish and others can get great steaks.

A nice wine list, with interesting selections on both the low and high end is important. I assume we will keep wine under about $75 per bottle, but given the group, there may be a person or two willing to splurge if something worth while is on the list.

Any suggestions?

If you're staying in the Central West End at the Chase Park Plaza, I think you might want to try Eau Bistro. It has a nice range of options for the adventurous and the more timid:

Eau Bistro
212 N Kingshighway Blvd
St Louis, MO
Phone: (314) 454-9000

Liluma, also right in the neighborhood, also has excellent food, but might be too small for your group:

Liluma
236 N Euclid
St Louis, MO
Phone: (314) 361-7771

Thanks. I believe that Eau Bistro is actually in our hotel (which makes it an easy option).

Any experience with a place called Vin de Set?

I haven't tried Vin de Set yet. They evidently have a nice outdoor dining area, though, and the view is apparently quite nice.

I thought it was worth reviving this old thread just in case anyone was passing through St Louis this week. St Ambrose Church at 5110 Wilson Avenue holds an annual festival called the St Joseph's Altar, and this year the festival falls on Sunday, March 9th.

The St Louis Post Dispatch described in this way:

"As pastor of St. Ambrose Roman Catholic parish on the Hill, the Rev. Sal Polizzi was more than just the spiritual shepherd of his congregation. The Hill was, and is, the focal point of Italian culture in St. Louis, and its pastor has long served as a curator for many of the rich traditions that were carried over from the Old Country.

In the 1970s, Polizzi thought one of those cherished traditions was in danger of dying out. For decades, families on the Hill — especially those with Sicilian heritage — would set up an altar in their homes on the feast of St. Joseph (March 19) and stock it with food intended for the less fortunate. The practice dated back centuries, when Sicilians began stocking the altars as a sign of gratitude to St. Joseph for hearing their prayers and ending a devastating drought.

But fewer and fewer parishioners were setting up altars. So Polizzi phoned Joann Arpiani at Missouri Baking and asked her to lead a revival of the tradition of the St. Joseph Altar, bringing it into the church and making it a community event."

some of the featured items:

"Two temporary altars are set up in the cafeteria. After the 7 a.m. Mass in the church, Bommarito walks to the cafeteria to bless the side altar, which is set with bread, pastries and vegetables. Two popular specialties are pignolate, Sicilian pastries rolled in honey and nuts, and sfingi di San Giuseppe, which resemble filled beignets. The loaves of bread are usually encrusted with sesame seeds, symbolizing the sawdust in St. Joseph's carpenter shop, and are sometimes baked in the shape of his staff or tools.

The food from the side altar is sold for the rest of the morning until it's gone.

After the 11 a.m. Mass in the church, Bommarito blesses the main altar in the cafeteria, and a buffet meal is served. As part of that meal, 12 honored guests — symbolizing Jesus' 12 apostles — are served at the table by parish volunteers.

At 3 p.m., the Italian Mass is said, after which the more elaborate breads, pastries and other foods on the main altar are available for a donation.

"It's usually cleared in about 15 minutes," says Rosemary Parentin, a member of the committee."

I'm not usually a fan of the restaurants in St Louis's Italian neighborhood, the Hill, but there is still some Italian tradition in the city, and it's worth going out of your way to experience it.

I'm going to be in St. Louis for a business trip all next week (March 17th-21st) - and was looking for advice for places to have dinner.

It will just be me - but I don't mind trying places by myself. The bigger issue is that my hotel is downtown - and I will not have a car.
So I need recommendations that I can walk to - or that I can cab to and from (without spending a fortune on cab fare).

4 dinners - Where should I go?

RomanticCynic wrote:I'm going to be in St. Louis for a business trip all next week (March 17th-21st) - and was looking for advice for places to have dinner.

It will just be me - but I don't mind trying places by myself. The bigger issue is that my hotel is downtown - and I will not have a car.
So I need recommendations that I can walk to - or that I can cab to and from (without spending a fortune on cab fare).

4 dinners - Where should I go?

That's a tough one, because the downtown area in St Louis is really . . . strange. There are patches of urban life surrounded by large swaths of nothing. And cabs are more expensive than they are in Chicago.

With those things in mind, here are a few recommendations:

Schlafly Tap Room
2100 Locust St.
314-241-2337
[They brew some truly wonderful beers, and their menu includes a lot of regionally produced meats and produce.]

10th Street Italian
504 N. 10th St.
314-241-9988
[casual Italian place -- not your typical St Louis Italian; very nice]

Sidney St. Cafe
2000 Sidney St.
St Louis, MO 63104
[This is an elegant little place in the Benton Park neighborhood; you'll need a cab there and back]

Eleven Eleven Mississippi
1111 Mississippi Ave.
(314) 241-9999
www.1111-m.com
[another option on the fine-dining end]

and I haven't been to

Tin Can Tavern
1909 Locust Ave.
or
Wasabi Sushi Bar
1228 Washington Ave.

but I have a number of friends who are fans of both places.

Some other local favorites I have yet to try:

An American Place
800 Washington Ave.

400 Olive
400 Olive St.

Kitchen K
1000 Washington Ave.

Sen Thai Bistro
1221 Locust St.

Tony's
410 Market St.

As a former resident of nearly ten years, St. Louis is a divided city. All you here constantly is "East Side (IL) vs. West Side (MO)", "City vs. County" etc. You have segments of the population that will not venture much into the city, especially at night due to some perceived danger and the like.

Probably the only exception to that are the sports arenas downtown. Activity downtown is pretty much limited to nights where there is a Cardinals, Blues or SLU basketball game. On non-game nights, there is very little street traffic which gives the visitor an eerie feeling.

Downtown, there are destination restaurants downtown like Tony's (fine dining Italian), Mike Shannon's, etc and a few restaurants near the casinos over at Laclede's Landing.

Initially, my reaction was to jump on the St. Louis MetroLink and head to the Grand Ave. or Kingshighway Stations. However, The Grand Ave. station would require a 1.5 mile walk each way to get to restaurants and I wouldn't recommend that walk at night (and that was MY old neighborhood).

Personally, I would take a cab to Grand Ave which has a reasonable variety of restaurants. I cannot speak for the cost of cabs; however, if you want a cab in St. Louis, you need to call well ahead of time.