VEB's Guide to the Lou: Feed Me!

I’m suggesting Wasabi downtown. I know there are other sushi places people like as well.

Pi obviously makes the list though I’ve never been there. Are they only deep-dish?

Website

Location

Memorial Day Weekend.

Anyway, we went to Soulard for dinner and ate at a place called McGurk’s. Awesome patio (although, we couldn’t get a seat on the patio) but the food and service was awful.

I ordered a steak of some sort (medium) and my fiance ordered pork. I’m not sure either one saw a flame more than about 10 seconds.

When I started eating, I knew my steak was undercooked but I just sort of went with it since that’s not the worst thing. But there was a lot of blood coming out. So, much that I was a little uncomfortable (I’m not a big fan of a lot of “juice” coming out of my steak). Then my fiance asks me if her pork is cooked. It wasn’t just a little pink, you know like a nice little pink smoke ring. No, it was beat red on the inside. She had 4 or 5 slices on her plate and they all looked the same.

At that point, I said don’t eat another bite. I finally got the waiter over and first showed him mine then hers. I told him I understood we were in late and the kitchen was nearing it’s closing time, but they still needed to cook the food they were sending out. (it looked to me as if the kitchen was in a hurry and turned the flame up so the food cooked faster…or at least the outside of the food cooked fast while the inside was still raw)

He took the food and said, “I’ll take care of it”.

5 minutes later, he came back with our bill and said, “I’ve comped everything except your drinks and appetizers (which were really good), I’m really sorry this happened” and he walked away.

He didn’t fix anything. Didn’t offer to. A manager never spoke to us. Nothing. We just looked at each other with a kind of wft look, threw down some cash for the food and left to find another place to eat that was still open on a Sunday night (which is not easy in St. Louis).

are there Show-Me’s still around St. Louis? I knew of one on the Landing a long time ago and one out in Fairview Heights. But, I always knew them as a local thing and thought they faded away a while ago.

anyway, I live in Naperville, IL and we just had a Show-Me’s open up about 2 months ago. I’m obviously the only person around here that knows what the hell it is, but it shockded me nonetheless.

Are they still open down there?

It has great food and is a Cardinal player hot spot.

We always eat at Pappy’s BBQ.

Charlie Gitto’s is about 4 blocks from Busch, has a ton of baseball memorabilia, and great osso bucco.

Blues City Deli
Gus’s Pretzels
Lemmon’s
Lemp Mansion Restaurant and Inn
Pho Grand (best Pho in STL, imo)
La Vallesana (favorite Mexican place)
Fast Eddie’s Bon Air
Ted Drewes

no but seriously, I am a chef, and I opened up Lucas Park Grille bout 6 years ago(as his sous chef) with my good buddy Kevin Willmann, and now hes just recieved honors as one of Food & Wine magazines best new chefs this year. His restaurant is called Farmhaus, and its on ivanhoe. I think the place has gotten pretty busy since hes gotten all this press, but the place is def solid. Ive moved away from St. Louis bout 5 years ago, so im not totally up to date with the St. Louis food scene, but i do love me some o’connells burgers, ooooh, slingers at courtesy diner at 4 in the morning stinking drunk. Hmm, if i think of anything else ill post.

Of course, how could I forgot. Gerard craft is pretty much the first chef ever out of st. louis to garner any sort of national press whatsoever. Even though ive never been, ive heard really good things about niche, and all his other venues(taste, brasserie). Has anybody actually eaten there?

as good as i remember as a kid? Ive had a ton of great italian sandwiches subsequently, but i have some fond memories of capicolla and oregano-y vinegrette.

And how crazy is it that since ive graduated from high school, all of a sudden, St. Louis has a chinatown. Im not sure the exact location, but its on Olive, somewhere between the burbs, and the city. I bet theres some legit chinese food in those parts.

there’s an Indian place pretty far west called Priyaa that I really like.

was always my favorite Italian restaurant when they were on (was it Delmar?) but I haven’t gone to any of the new ones. Is it still as good as it use to be? Anybody know?

for both hipsters and regular folks.

we should also mention the Delmar Loop area. Blueberry Hill is something of an institution and Cicero’s is legit.

Sunday Champagne Brunch at Ameristar Casino. But be prepared to wait in line

and Kris steakhouse on lindbergh has a pretty mean prime rib

Anyone?

Bristol Seafood Grill in Creve Coeur. Everything is good, but I do love their cioppino.

And, Brisol’s polar opposite: Chuck A Burger on the Rock Road. Great, thin-style burgers (think Steak n Shake, but better).

She we be having people rec posts with restaurant recommendations?

The Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood is OK, but I like the Tap Room.

Oh, and Olympia’s on McCausland. Kind of a dive, but I like their gyros. And flaming cheese! Opa!

you will find many run of the mill checkered tables and spaghetti and-a meat-a-balls type places. Skip ’em.

Go to Frank Papa’s in Clayton, I guarantee it will be worth your while

like Liluma and Acero but The Crossing is the best of ’em.

I have no idea what that means, as Peruvian food is basically fusion to begin with, but a look at their menu shows that they are still doing a good overview of standard Peruvian cuisine.

Mokabe’s, on the other hand, has a freaking awesome Sunday brunch.

And especially Hotdog man the worlds most delicious traveling hotdog stand. He has hotdogs and Gyros and turkey brats and it’s all delicious

Lions choice all the way

but i was born & raised in st. louis and moved to the pacific northwest in my 20’s. there are a few things i miss foodwise that i feel only st. louis can provide. at least, these are the things i make a special trips for when i visit. locals, please jump in and let me know if these places are no longer open or have suffered a recent decline in quality:

pizza: blackthorn. heated topic of debate so i thought i’d get this out of the way first. i know st. louis prides itself on cracker crusts and cheese with the consistency of snot, but this one is a st. louis classic in my mind.

chicken: hodak’s. not the most original choice, but damn it’s true. so satisfying and CHEAP. dear god such value…

wings: mcgurk’s. it’s really damn hard to find good wings in the pacific northwest. st. louis has a number of great options in this department, but mcgurk’s stands out in my memory.

burgers: o’connell’s. oh sweet jesus those burgers…

breakfast: city diner. treated my wife to deep-fried french toast once and she still mentions it all the time as if it were some ambrosia we shared at the peak of mt. olympus. (honorable mention for courtesy diner. strictly a nostalgic choice, not to be recommended to others.)

vietnamese: lemongrass. seattle has a HUUUUGE selection of terrific food choices from the asiapac region. however st. louis’ vietnamese cuisine is world class in my mind. i usually find tofu intolerable, but lemongrass prepares it in such a way that i forget about meat options altogether. (honorable mention for any other vietnamese restaurant on grand).

beer: boulevard. i know, i know. it’s a kansas city brew and how dare i mention a kansas city brew in such a rich beer town. for the most part, i agree. schlafly is highly recommended and i pimp out their beer to all of my friends and acquaintances traveling to the area. heck, i even worked for A-B long enough to earn a pension they will most likely screw me out of. but i contend that you’d be hard pressed to find a more fragrant, better finishing beer in america. if you live outside of the midwest, this one’s a hard find. of course, schlafly is a fine substitute if you absolutely insist to go local.

wine: 33. jake hafner, the owner of 33 wine shop & tasting bar in lafayette square, is the friendliest, most knowledgeable, and talented sommelier i’ve ever met. he is the most likely person to direct you to the wine most in line with your personal tastes. he also loves to talk about wines and beer with his customers regardless of their level of experience. he’s a guy who loves his job and it shows in the quality of great beers and wines. it’s a great atmosphere without being the least bit intimidating. also, the menus are hilarious.

dessert: maggiemoo’s. cake batter ice cream. that is all.

ambience: dressel’s. terrific place to have a beer.

1404 Locust. Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch.
Crepes, sandwiches, etc.

is terrific. Great lunch buffet, especially.
It’s Himalayan food, so a bit like Indian, but less cream. Also some Korean dishes (the owners are a husband and wife from Kathmandu and Korea, respectively). Devi, the owner, is a fascinating guy. He’ll talk to you if he’s there and they’re not too busy.

Pretty darn decent gelato. The best gelato outside of Italy I’ve ever had, though I haven’t had tons of gelato in the U.S. They serve various Italian coffee drinks, Italian sandwiches, appetizer type plates, etc. Cool atmosphere too.

But my parents are taking 8 or my friends out for dinner in STL this Thursday. Where should we go that’s simultaneously delicious and pretty reasonably priced? I’ve never had Pappy’s and it’s the leader in the clubhouse, but does anybody else feel strongly about somewhere else?

but I like the ice cream and sorbet at Serendipity in Webster.

This belongs here
http://stlhops.com/st-louis-craft-beer-travel-guide/