Oh nevermind, they are owned by some Belgians now.

I’ve heard the First Pitch tickets are a great deal if you are on a budget. I don’t know the details but some on here have used them before or you could check out the Cards website. I think they are only $5 and you can sometimes score really good seats.

Double Steakburger with Double Relish and a Cherry Coke and a Chocolate Malt and a Brownie Sunday. God I miss St. Louis.

a bunch of Belgians own this enormous brewery. There’s a tour offered. Soulard district is fun south of downtown near said brewery.

That is fairly reasonable is Pappy’s smokehouse. Good BBQ. It is a mile or 2 west of the stadium, off of Olive St. You can look at their website for menu and directions.

Also, Forest Park is very nice to walk around. There are museums nearby and plenty of walking trails. There is another fairly reasonable restaraunt there called the Boathouse. I don’t think the food is outstanding, but it is an ok place for a lunch. If the weather is nice, you can sit outside there and look at the park.

Schlafly is a very good local beer. They have two restaurants/breweries, the Taproom and the Bottleworks. I haven’t been to the Taproom in a while, but I think the Bottleworks has very good food.

… not sure if they still work, but there were a bunch of coupon codes here.

Schlafly is alright, but nothing too special. but if you really want some local flavor, then it’s the best-known StL micro-brew (although not so micro anymore).

i always like eating at Charlie Gitto’s when i’m in town. kind of a whole in the wall; you might miss it if you aren’t looking for it. it’s affordable (most entrees $10-15), within walking distance of the stadium, casual, great atmosphere, and demonstrates some of the city’s Italian heritage. they STILL reserve a table for Tommy Lasorda; if he walks in and you’re sitting at his table, you have to get up and move. when he was the manager of the Dodgers, he’d eat there every night he was in town. tons of athletes and entertainers have eaten there over the years, and there are pictures of them all over the place. the house wine is cheap and decent. it’s just a nice place. i’ve never made reservations (or had to) but it can get fairly busy before a game when the Cards are in town, so you may want to get there a little early if you’re going before a game. i order the Linguini and Clams almost every time i go, but the Veal Parm is great too.

as for touristy stuff… the Cardinals Hall of Fame was great, but i don’t know if it has re-opened since moving to the new park. the City Museum is pretty cool. the Forest Park area has the park, art museum, zoo, and the Loop where a lot of cool bars/restaurants/nightclubs/theaters are located (but it’s a 10-15 minute drive from downtown). Chuck Berry’s restaurant/bar Blueberry Hill is on the Loop. Soulard is pretty cool (and i second the McGurk’s nomination). there are casinos on both sides of the river, if that’s your thing. you could also pick up a Riverfront Times when you get in town to see what’s happening that particular night, or check out their website here.

damn. this is making me homesick.

who goes to games a couple of times per year, one way to get tickets is to just get them on your way into the park. There are usually folks, not the “professional” resellers, with extras and they sometimes are just looking for someone to use the tickets and sell at good prices. I’ve gotten field box seats at 1/2 price this way before. ’Course, that strategy IS a bit risky.

I do have a follow-up question for the local crowd. During Sunday’s first game on WGN an ad/travel feature ran two or three times about Hodak’s. The place looked interesting and the info from googling the place looks good too. Anyone with any comments? It does seem to maybe not be in the best part of town (on Gravois, between I-55 and Jefferson) am I right/wrong there? (no offense to anyone if I’m mistaken)

and no one mentions boulevard wheat?

get a boulevard wheat with an orange. float back to earth a few hours later

i don’t know if they have one in st louis or not, but if not, drive a few minutes out of your way to columbia and hit up some heavenly ham. best sandwiches in the world!

- before or after the game, grab a drink at Mike Shannon’s across from the stadium. Its a fun atmosphere
- if like many Texans you appreciate good barbecue, don’t miss Pappy’s on Olive Street. Genuinely some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had and its gaining renown throughout the whole midwest
- for a great beer selection like Bell’s and Rogue on tap, go to The Stable on Cherokee St. in the Benton park neighborhood. From there, its a quick drive over to the Soulard neighborhood where you can grab a drink at McGurk’s outdoor Patio on 12th and Russell.
- Anheuser-Busch Tour is obligatory, if for nothing else than to say you did. If you’d prefer a smaller microbrewery tour (but further from downtown) go to the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood
- It might be awkward to go here alone, but if you’re with someone and up for something different, do not miss The City Museum. Don’t let the name fool you—its no so much a museum as much as its a funhouse seemingly designed by Salvador Dali and Tim Burton after they had done a bunch of acid. Really cool place to explore and let the kid in you out if you’re up for it,
- for cheap tickets, search Slickdeals.net for “Cardinals.” There are some half off deals every once in a while. You can also set a deal alert to notify you whenever a deal containing “Cardinals” is posted.
- or for cheap tickets, if you will be able to get to the stadium early in the morning you can try the 550 club. Read about it here and call the Busch stadium ticket window for more info

• A-B Tour is still a must, even after those damn Belgians came in…
• Pick something in Forest Park if you’re an intellectual-type, meaning likes to just learn about stuff. The Zoo is first rate, but the MO History and Art Museums are good too. The Missouri Botanical Gardens are pretty neat too if you’re interested in plants.
• Any place on The Hill is worth your time for dinner. My favorite is Cunetto’s Pasta House, but Favazza’s and Rigazzi’s are tough to beat too.

That’s a good list to start with, I would say.

We recently opened up a City Garden here in downtown a few blocks from the stadium, it received some national attention during the ASG, and the restaurant in the garden should be fully operational by then. I’ll also through a nod to Schlafly’s Tap Room, not too far from Busch. Jim Edmond’s 15 is nearby, though I’ve never been there. The O’Fallon beer that someone mentioned has a nice IPA, if you like that. There’s also Square One brewery in Lafayette Park and a somewhat new micro-brew in the area, Mattingly Brew Co. (which I strongly recommend, though maybe not after dark), both close to the highway/downtown.

I was recently told that I have not been to St. Louis if I haven’t had Imo’s Pizza. I haven’t seen it mentioned on here, so am I being misinformed?

Dunno if you’ll get a chance to go to either of their locations, but it’s a great frozen custard stand. Don’t call it ice cream, some local will yell at you.

I found out about that place because it was on some TV show, but it is really good too. The Schnitzel and Spaetzle is particularly good. It’s another place that is in an older neighborhood in south St. Louis (off exit 203 on I-55), where you can have good food without having to deal with the pretense. They have a variety of price points. You can keep it cheap with sandwiches or pay a little more for dinners.

are at the top of my list of food joints to eat at. Shannon’s is great too, AL’s bar by the park is good for people watching & worth the quick stop just for his bartenders.

stay away from Imo’s. it’s the most overrated local pizza chain evar. i wish i could remember the pizza place i went to last summer in the maryland heights area. it was awesome. it had the best sausage i’ve ever tasted, and i hate sausage. i went on a wed & right back on friday because it was that good. the place was packed both nights. it was a newer place, it’s the owners second pizza shop. man it was good.

Remember that the Cardinals allow you to bring in food and bottled water. Before the game, drive a little south on I-55 and at the Brewery Exit you will find Gus’s Pretzels: www.guspretzels.com Buy a pretzel dog and a ½ dozen sticks for the game.

For parking, I’ve always had luck at Hrobosky’s: www.alsballparksaloon.com It’s usually $10 on weeknights, $20 for weekdays, not sure about weekend games. You can bring along your own cooler and tailgate there or enjoy the "party" atmosphere. For what it’s worth, the men’s room has a unique 2-way mirror feature. For cheaper parking plus a lovely walk, park at the Arch garage downtown for $6.

For actual St. Louis beer: www.schlafly.com The Pale Ale is my beer of choice. You can find it most places around town where beer is sold.

For great BBQ, it’s Pappy’s: www.pappyssmokehouse.com As featured on the cable TV show "Man vs. Food." There’s another great place to get food right around the corner (literally) from Pappy’s, but I can’t remember the name of it.

For the St. Louis thin crust pizza experience, I recommend Imo’s: www.imospizza.com It’s different, to be sure.

For the best pizza in town, however, take a trip to the University City Loop (voted one of the Top 10 Streets in the USA) and go to Pi: www.restaurantpi.com It’s so good, even Barrack Obama said it was the best he’d had. Also, the Loop is a great way to walk around and have fun.

For a definitive St. Louis treat, find yourself a Ted Drewe’s: www.teddrewes.com If you go to the one on Chippewa, you can visit my mother-in-law who lives around the corner. Her husband was an usher for every game played at the 2nd Busch Stadium, but that’s another story.

Want to visit the coolest place on earth? Over on Washington Avenue is City Museum: www.citymuseum.org Don’t let the "museum" in the name fool you. Serious fun, whether you bring your kids or not.

Free things to do if you have time to have in the St. Louis: www.stlzoo.org, www.laumeier.com, www.slam.org, www.slsc.org.

For the best BLT every made: www.crowncandykitchen.net Also, I recommend the chocolate marshmallow malt. Don’t go without a good GPS, though, because this one is in a rougher part of town. OK by day, not a great idea by dark.

I found this

Best.Bar.Here. Awesome watergarden patio, hot girls, Dbags are to a minium (you won’t see many affliction shirts there), bartenders can be douchey though.

My obligatory game day routine:
1. Park and PreDrink at hrboskys (hot beer tub girls)
2. Shannon Rules = Beer an inning
3. Post Game = Paddy O’s (just follow the crowd/music)
4. After Hours = Eastside (Pop’s for PG13 & 24 hour drinking, Hollywood for X)

STL itself = teh suck
Everybody always recommends Forrest Park, Zoo, Arch, City Museum, Delmar Loop cause well, that’s all this place has to offer.

If you like pretentious bars where people go in packs and rarely break their social circle (they literally stand in circles) I do McGurks, Bar Louie and the Dubliner (fancy places that frown on the lower middle class).

If you like scenster stuff then The Loop – Pinup bowl, Cicero’s, Gay Bars (Scenster) – Atomic and Novacks, or Tin Can, then “sober up” in the CWE at the coffee places (coffe cartel) (artsy places that frown on the upper middle class).

If you like the college scene then Humphrey’s (plunger shots) and Moolah Lanes (3am bar). (SLU bars with frat boys and sorority girls: 22-25 year olds who’s dad owns a dealership)

If you like slutty club girls go Rue13, Subzero and Pepper.

If you feel like slumming it up with the B crowd go to Mike Talayna’s Jukebox bar (it’s where the grown up band geeks go to really cut loose with zany karaokee and a very cheesy stripclub look)

…I think this post makes me wanna reflect on my life a little….NAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

the parking downtown is a bit of a scam these days. You might be better off paying for parking, or stopping by the casino, playing $5 worth of blackjack, and getting your parking validated there.