186 replies to this topic

[Osnav]

Two more St Louis questions:

1. Where can I find the best gooey buttercakes?

2. I remember someone talking about a cheap sandwich that could be gotten in Chinese restaurants throughout St Louis. Whoever mentioned it said it was peculiar to St Louis. does anyone know what this is?

Thanks,

[shengcai]

I've lived in St. Louis for the past 3+ years, and I've recently gotten into the habit of going back to the same handful of my favorite restaurants in the area. Any other suggestions? What are your favorite St. Louis restaurants? I'll list mine by category below....

Favorite Chinese: Royal Chinese BBQ
Favorite Italian: Trattoria Marcella
Favorite Tapas: Modesto Tapas Bar
Favorite Mexican: Arcelia's (I've heard that there are some great restaurants on Cherokee, but don't know which)
Favorite Korean: Seoul Garden in St. Ann
Favorite Vietnamese: Bahn mi so (their special sandwich with pate, along with spring rolls are the best...)

[Pontormo]

Duff's!

Not terribly exciting, but good, in my neighborhood, 'cross the street from Left Bank Books and a favorite of long time St. Louis residents who also came from different places. I think it was also a favorite of the locals, the ones who ask what high school you went to after shaking hands.

Also, I remember a very good Chinese restaurant in a small strip mall off a highway where they made an amazing fried rice with shrimp and barbecued pork. (There were quite a few very good Chinese places introduced to me by a Chinese friend who had moved to St. Louis as a child.) I think there was an Indian restaurant in the strip mall on the other side of the street. How's that for precision?

Now, are you counting fresh peach concrete?

[shengcai]

Thanks for the tip! I've been to Duff's, but I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing?

Where do you go for a peach concrete? Ted Drewes? That sounds fantastic. Speaking of frozen treats, an official gelateria opened a month or two ago. It's on Manchester off McKnight, called Gelato di Riso. Their gelato machines and flavorings are shipped directly from Italy, so it's the real stuff. The pistachio flavor is out of this world, and if you're more of a fruit fan, their green apple tastes like the real thing.

[babern38]

Does anyone have any comments on either Arthur Clay's or Cafe de France in St. Louis?

[Sweet Willie]

I've lived in St. Louis for the past 3+ years,

Where can one get a good fried brain sandwich? (supposedly a STL favorite)

[moosnsqrl]

I love Duff's, too. I swear I've had the same waiter there for 20+ years -- I can't think of his name but he looks like a former co-worker of mine so I've always recognized him and he's been there forever.

Also like Riddles Penultimate on the DelMar Loop but haven't been there in a long time. Perhaps a local can tell me if it's still reliable?

Lastly, Zeemanb posted a rave review of Iron Barley a few weeks ago.

[Pontormo]

Duff's is certainly not impressive, just a nice neighborhood place to go to meet friends or dine with colleagues who live nearby after an exhausting day when the prospect of cooking is less than thrilling.

And, yes, thanks, I could not remember Drewes, but during my short time living in St. Louis, I was told that I could not go through a summer in town without a visit. I loved it.

The gelato sounds like the kind we have where I live now (D.C.). While the texture is great and I feel nostalgic eating it, I have to say the fact that all the flavors are imported is a problem rather than an asset.

In Italy, the good gelaterie--whether the neighborhood one or the most famous--all brag that the product is "produzione nostra," i.e., produced in house with the expectation (not always fulfilled) that the peach in July and August is going to taste uniquely different than the peach across town and fresh from the tree versus the bottle, jar or box.

Never did the brains...nor the deep-fried ravioli.

[emilyr]

My best friend's husband's and my birthday is St. Patrick's Day (Mar. 17), and we're getting together a big group to spend the weekend in St. Louis. We've got people coming from as close as St. Charles and as far away as Ithaca, NY, and none of us have really spent a lot of time in downtown STL. We're staying at the Pavilion hotel downtown, and plan on spending a lot of time in Laclede's Landing and Soulard or the Hill. We don't have any major plans other than the Arch and the Budweiser tour on Saturday.

What I'm hoping for are recommendations for A) a good Irish pub or restaurant near the DT or Soulard area for a group (of about 8) for SPD night, B) fun restaurants and bars in the Laclede's Landing area that aren't too pretentious or too gimmicky, and C) a good place for brunch or lunch (maybe on the Hill) Sunday morning before we all leave.

As a group, we are all 25 (or about to turn it), and recent college grads or grad school students, and so not really rolling in it. We'll have 3-4 people driving, so it' wouldn't be a problem to drive out, but we want to try to keep the driving distance within 10 mins. of the hotel. Some of us tried a pub called McGurk's in Soulard last year and we generally liked it, but we're looking for more suggestions as a backup.

I hope this isn't repeating a thread. I checked out the other St. Louis boards, but didn't find newish stuff about the specific city areas I was looking floor.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

[butterfly]

Going way back here, but the sandwich in question is called a St. Paul Sandwich. It is basically egg foo young--an omelette with bean sprouts and whatever else is on hand--on an italian roll or white bread. I haven't had one in years--decades!--but when I was a kid (70s-80s), you could not only get them at Chinese restaurants/carryouts, but also at many corner stores with sandwich counters. A guilty pleasure, for sure.

[Bicycle Lee]

A buddy of mine opened a restaurant in St Louis last year and I've heard they've gotten great reviews. I think it's in Benton(?) it's called Niche. Anyone checked them out yet?

[TarteTatin]

Okay. I'm 46. Went to college in St. Louis. Haven't been back there in 25 years.

Memories...

An ice cream place that was sort of in a fancy restaurant in a house, where they did tableside desserts...

An Indian restaurant near the Botanical Gardens?

I was a Hostess at Boomer's in Laclede's Landing near the Arch, when there was a Salad bar there and Steely Dan type music. I was also a Hostess somewhere else around the corner, can't remember the name.

A coffee shop/folk music venue in Webster Groves.

A boat with melodrama and food, similar to something we had in Denver.

[butterfly]

Funny how those St. Louis memories are fuzzy, isn't it?

The ice cream place... Is this the place that was under the big Amoco sign? Mrs. Waspy-Sounding-Surname?

When there was a Salad bar there and Steely Dan type music.

I remember the first salad bar that I ever saw in STL was at a place called People's in the very early eighties or very late seventies. The whole family got horribly sick afterwards (we suspected the mayonnaise-based dressing). That was pretty much the beginning and end of salad bar dining for my family.

The boat with melodrama--Goldenrod Showboat?

The hippie spot in Webster... Ah, I drove by this every day on the way to school for four years.... What was the name of that place? Ah, fuzzy memories...

[emilyr]

Just bumping.

I have 6 people hungrily looking forward to your recommendations!

[RyuShihan]

I wish I knew more places in the area you area looking to hang out in but sadly I don't.
Laclede is goiing to be packed anywhere you go on Patties day but this is a link to SAuce magazine and if you look at 2005 best picks it cna give you an idea at least what people in the area voted for as good palces. Some of the picks I agree with but some of the places I personally would go to might either be pricy or out of the way. You can use their cool search engine and narrow down what you want to at least. ( by cuisine, location, ect ect..) If you don't mind puting the cash down i have heard eleven eleven is a good place to eat and the Red Moon Cafe. Not Downtown area tho. In fact alot of the good palces are closer to Central West end. or Clayton.

but you can if you must eat downtown try the Ole spaghetti factory, or drink at the morgan street brewery or Hannegans. My friend likes Giovannis on the Hill and I have heard good things about Trattoria Marcella.

[emilyr]

Thanks RyuShihan! I'd heard some good things about Morgan Street Brewery and we'll definitely check that out. We seem to be running into the "not a lot downtown" problem. We may be heading out to Clayton. Thanks for your help.

[Rehovot]

Hodak's!

(Great greasy spoon, but maybe not exactly what you're looking for. And, since my command of St. Louis geography was never good, I can't remember where it even is.)

[bilrus]

I just stumbled across this topic and thought I'd add my two cents in case some future eGer looks for the same information. The two biggest spots for Irish Revelry are the aforementioned McGurks in Soulard and Seamus McDaniels in Dogtown (the Irish neighborhood across 40 from Forest Park).

Seamus' is a particularly good place to get an early start, as the "Parade" (really just a bunch of Irish people walking down the street) goes through Dogtown around noon. McGurks is a bit of a zoo but is ground zero for St. Patrick's day in St. Louis.

As for the Landing it has been too long since I wasted a good portion of my youth drunk at Harpo's and Sundecker's to give any useful advice.

[coda]

Hello,

I am looking for recommendations for places to eat in St Louis. Somewhere either within walking distance or easy public transit from the Convention Center would be ideal. I like ALL food, and am interested in the best St. Louis has to offer.

Thanks!!!

[bmj]

Chef Joshua Roland is the best chef in St. Louis hands down. I'm not sure if he has opened his own place yet, but you would do well to look it up. I'll take a look and post it if I find it. Hope you get some of Chef Josh's cookin!

[ronnie_suburban]

You may also want to check out these threads -- some relatively current -- about St. Louis dining.

=R=

[snekse]

I am looking for recommendations for places to eat in St Louis. ...  I like ALL food, and am interested in the best St. Louis has to offer.

Ditto. I'm leaving tonight. Looking for some varied places. Something fine dining and something hole-in-the-wall, but to die for. And of course something that is essential STL.

Chef Joshua Roland is the best chef in St. Louis hands down.  I'm not sure if he has opened his own place yet, but you would do well to look it up.

Last I read he was sous chef at Jean-Georges Restaurant in the Trump Tower.

You may also want to check out these threads -- some relatively current -- about St. Louis dining.

Hey Ronnie, I think your link is broken. Do you have the topic ID's?

Thanks,
snekse

[ronnie_suburban]

snekse, try this:

St. Louis threads

I've also gone go back and repaired the link I provided above.

=R=

[snekse]

I didn't realize you were just linking to search results for threads with the term "Louis" in the title. Thanks though, a little bit better results then I was getting from my searches.

[ronnie_suburban]

I didn't realize you were just linking to search results for threads with the term "Louis" in the title.    Thanks though, a little bit better results then I was getting from my searches.

I'm tricky that way.

=R=

[Michael M]

I'll be going to St. Louis for not much more than 36 hours. We'll be visiting the Botanic Garden, and staying at a hotel just south of Forest Park. I know St. Louis, or knew it as a youngster, but am not sure where I want to "hang out" as an adult. I'd prefer the free time we have to be spent at the best bakery in the area, the best coffee shop, the best bookstore, the nicest neighborhood breakfast place, etc. A walkable hood.

Going over the archives reveals a small sampling of passionate St. Louis entries, but with no focus on neighborhoods. We have, basically, an afternoon, a dinner, post-dinner and breakfast. We are passionate wine lovers, so a wine bar would be great, with knowledgable servers, a list that goes beyond Kendall Jackson, etc. We love good breakfasts, fine pastries, good coffee. Where should we go?

Thanks!

[moosnsqrl]

I'll be going to St. Louis for not much more than 36 hours.  We'll be visiting the Botanic Garden, and staying at a hotel just south of Forest Park.  I know St. Louis, or knew it as a youngster, but am not sure where I want to "hang out" as an adult.  I'd prefer the free time we have to be spent at the best bakery in the area, the best coffee shop, the best bookstore, the nicest neighborhood breakfast place, etc.  A walkable hood.

Going over the archives reveals a small sampling of passionate St. Louis entries, but with no focus on neighborhoods.  We have, basically, an afternoon, a dinner, post-dinner and breakfast.  We are passionate wine lovers, so a wine bar would be great, with knowledgable servers, a list that goes beyond Kendall Jackson, etc.  We love good breakfasts, fine pastries, good coffee.  Where should we go?

Thanks!

Central West End or Delmar Loop (U City) would provide you with most of that in a walkable format.

Edited to add: consider Riddle's Penultimate for a meal (lunch or dinner); wine-friendly, good food.

Edited by moosnsqrl, 26 June 2006 - 09:08 AM.

[RyuShihan]

I will second central west end, but also add in Clayton, because I know there are 2 wine bars, one does tastings every sat and cheeses. You also have a about 14 rest in a 2 block radius. I also know there is a french bakery can't member the name but we get some pastries from them, he makes pretty good croisants.

Then you have the coveted Grand street, where all the cool asian rest are on one street. Sushi, Thai, Vietnameese, Cambodian, Chineese...ect.ect

[coda]

Is there anybody out there with more recent dining experiences?

[snekse]

We just got back from a 4 day trip, but unfortunately there wasn't much that impressed us enough to recommend other than an opulent brunch at Nadoz and some descent late night desserts at Baileys' Chocolate Bar.

Nadoz Cafe

Baileys' Chocolate Bar

You might, however, have better luck. Sauce magazine just released their 2006 reader's choice list.

Reader's Choice Results - 2006