Restaurant Suggestion

doug · PostSep 22, 2006#12006-09-22T18:13+00:00

Where should I take my friend from St. Charles? I am looking for a place which is casual and moderately priced yet is historical and unique. Type of cuisine does not matter as long as the place is affordable yet has character. The guy is a photographer and taking our engagement pictures at the Art Hill basin so we decided to take him out to dinner.

Where do you take people from "out of town." I try as much as possible to impress my friends in the hopes they might move down here.

publiceye · PostSep 22, 2006#22006-09-22T18:24+00:00

Copia, Five, Crown Candy, Iron Barley, Frazers, Eleven Eleven, the Cafe at Balabans, King Louie's, Terrene, Mirasol, the Royale, Sweetie Pie's, Yemanja.

You can't really go wrong.

the central scrutinizer · PostSep 22, 2006#32006-09-22T18:25+00:00

Take him to the Boathouse, since you'll be right there anyhow.

stlmike · PostSep 22, 2006#42006-09-22T18:27+00:00

O'Connell's Pub, Blueberry Hill, Lucas Park Grille, Pho Grand, Red Moon

crbswiss · PostSep 22, 2006#52006-09-22T18:27+00:00

I always liked Red Moon. On 15th I think.

doug · PostSep 22, 2006#62006-09-22T18:34+00:00

IMHO the boathouse is quite bland albeit a nice view of the area.

PostSep 22, 2006#72006-09-22T18:40+00:00

What about Atomic Cowboy?

Alex Ihnen · PostSep 22, 2006#82006-09-22T19:16+00:00

The Billy Goat.

Schlafly Tap Room.

dna · PostSep 22, 2006#92006-09-22T19:41+00:00

Frazers Brown Bag, the Royale, Square One

stellar · PostSep 22, 2006#102006-09-22T20:12+00:00

I've heard nothing but good things about Vin de Set since it opened.

http://www.1111-m.com/vindeset/index.htm

aimster · PostSep 22, 2006#112006-09-22T21:27+00:00

Copia, Kitchen K, Lucas Park Grille are all good and will give him a chance to take some pics of Washington Ave.

You can't go wrong with the Hill... I like the food at Zia's the best, but I like the atmosphere at Bartolino's.

irocktheparty2000 · PostSep 22, 2006#122006-09-22T21:44+00:00

My advice is La Dolce Via. It's in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. It has a ton of character, the food is brilliant with service to match and a number of choices for $10 or less. They only serve dinner on the weekends. It is awesome.

stlmike · PostSep 22, 2006#132006-09-22T21:50+00:00

Reading this list I got to thinking. Someone with the know how ought to make a website with a by-neighborhood restaurant guide to the city of St Louis and include a location map.

With all of the crummy literature there is on St Louis (bad travel guides in print and online), we ought to make an easy to read alternative that includes by neighborhood destinations, restaurants, night life, theatres, bookstores, record stores, etc. It could include recomended tourist itineraries, information and links on travelling and public transportation. You know, basic stuff that should be easier to know about.

I'd do it but I am pretty bad at computers.

irocktheparty2000 · PostSep 22, 2006#142006-09-22T21:52+00:00

stlmike wrote:Reading this list I got to thinking. Someone with the know how ought to make a website with a by-neighborhood restaurant guide to the city of St Louis and include a location map.

With all of the crummy literature there is on St Louis (bad travel guides in print and online), we ought to make an easy to read alternative that includes by neighborhood destinations, restaurants, night life, theatres, bookstores, record stores, etc.

I'd do it but I am pretty bad at computers.

Somebody already beat you to it, at least for the restaurant part. http://www.saucemagazine.com/

juiceinkirkwood · PostSep 23, 2006#152006-09-23T03:49+00:00

Top of the Riverfront...

...if you want to pay $150 for a small portioned, subpar dinner.

ntbpo · PostSep 23, 2006#162006-09-23T05:32+00:00

Biggies for fantastic bar food Watson & Arthur

Pueblo Solis good Mex. Hampton & Itaska

Del Pietro's House of pasta South Hampton

All three relatively close if you exit Forest park and come south on Hampton.

dna · PostSep 25, 2006#172006-09-25T20:01+00:00

So where did you end up taking the guy?

doug · PostSep 25, 2006#182006-09-25T20:27+00:00

Sorry not until this Saturday.

Alex Ihnen · PostSep 25, 2006#192006-09-25T20:37+00:00

Billy Goat, Billy Goat, Billy Goat

Maybe you should start a poll and take him to the winner . . .

matt drops the h · PostSep 26, 2006#202006-09-26T01:36+00:00

There's...

The Shangri La Diner at Cherokee and Missouri

-The Good: Good vegan/vegetarian selection, excellent breakfast, fairly cheap, groovy decor, in the historic Antique District

-The Bad: Only open Thursday through Sunday and only takes cash!

Sameem's Afghan Restaurant at Grand and Connecticut

-The Good: absolutely delightful service, interesting and warm decor, right on Grand South Grand, AMAZING spicy afghan pasta

-The Bad: not the best for a college budget (but not expensive by any means)

The Feasting Fox at Grand and Meramec

-The Good: A lot of history--was a Busch family restaurant, like the Bevo Mill, interesting German dishes

-The Bad: interesting German dishes, never too crowded

The Bevo Mill at Gravois/Morganford/Delor

-The Good: ultraneat setting inside wind mill, again German, good breakfast and non-German lunch selections, VERY cheap

-The Bad: No dinner served...open from 7 until 2

India Rasoi on Forsyth between Central and Meramec

-The Good: Has lunch buffet (all you can eat) for only 8 bucks, amazing Indian food, great atmosphere

-The Bad: There's a Central West End location that's just not as comfy

and dinner can get a bit pricy for the portions

doug · PostOct 02, 2006#212006-10-02T12:36+00:00

OK!

We went to atomic cowboy around 9 and I have the following to share:

Great atmosphere!

We sat on the patio and were accompanied by awesome James Brown and other 70's funk. The open pit fire was also great as was the general atmosphere and design of the patio. They had a ninja demonstration too! Oh yes, it has a great neighborhood feel as one is allowed to bring dogs!

Good Food

Compared to the usual "fresh mex" this food was above average and fairly priced. I had the cheeseburger burrito and it was tasty.

Horrible Service!

Once we were seated we did not get served for 30 minutes! The place was not very busy! I had to go to the patio bar and get drinks; finally I got tired of the situation and got a waiter.

It took me ten minutes to close my bar tab. The a**hole kept serving people drinks eventhough I made it clear that I needed service. This really made me angry.

Summary:

The service was horrible but the atmosphere and pretty good food makes up for that issue. They have a large beer list and I enjoyed my Duvel but at 6 dollars it was a bit over priced. One glass of Duvel is 4.5 at the Royale.

I will give it another chance and I hope more business comes to FPSE because it has a lot of potential!

shannon · PostOct 02, 2006#222006-10-02T16:30+00:00

Yeah, what's the deal with that? We went there to eat during Grovefest and had the same situation - after 20 minutes we actually had to grab somebody to even get menus. And it was not that busy... there were many open tables at the time we were there.

jcity · PostOct 03, 2006#232006-10-03T01:54+00:00

i'm a little worried about Atomic Cowboy. the last two times (over the summer) we went it was pretty much dead. Maybe now that Wash U is back, people will actually be there.