Goody Goody Diner

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars



Restaurant: Goody Goody Diner
Location: 5900 Natural Bridge


There’s an old saying that my momma used to tell me; “If it’s good enough for Cedric the Entertainer, then it’s good enough for you.” Unfortunately I think Lucy Liu’s mom used to tell her the same thing.

But the saying has some truth to it. A couple of years back Ced had a special on the Travel Channel called “Cedric the Entertainer’s St. Louis.” In it he went around and highlighted some of his favorite things about the city. From the Boys and Girls club he went to as a kid to the brewery to the Cardinals game, his journey took him to all parts of the city. Along the way he stopped at a little family-owned diner on Natural Bridge called Goody Goody Diner. He called it the one place he could find all his favorite foods, and now I know what he meant.

I journeyed over there for lunch one day with some co-workers. Our boss had called ahead and actually had a table reserved for us. This may not sound unusual to you, but once you take the trip to Goody Goody you’ll understand how weird it looks to have a giant table with a “reserved” sign on it.

Goody Goody has been family owned since 1948, and there are a bunch of other fun facts about the place that you probably don’t care all that much about, but when you sit down and open the menu you can’t help but read them all. Just know that’s it’s been there a long, long time, is part of the community, is a St. Louis staple, and lots of famous people have eaten there (ever heard of Al Gore? Don’t worry, neither has half of Florida. And yes, I’m making jokes that are eight years out of date.).

I started things off with an ice-cold root beer. I’m not saying it was the best root beer I’ve ever had, but it was the best root beer I’ve ever had (technically I didn’t say it, I wrote it. And the old, “I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’” thing is something I hate. Yet I constantly use it. Go figure.). Before Goody Goody was Goody Goody it was the first ever walk-up A&W restaurant. So if there’s one thing this place knows it’s root beer. Supposedly the root beer is a one-of-a-kind. Their own secret recipe. It blows Fitz’s out of the water, and rivals Carl’s as some of the best root beer in the world. And it’s got free refills. If you don’t order yourself a cup, then you must hate yourself. And that kind of self-destructive behavior is dangerous.

The menu has something for everyone. Or in my case, everything for someone. Now I know why Ced loves this place. Like any good diner, you can get breakfast or lunch here (they aren’t open for dinner). The menu has anything from hamburgers to pancakes to omelets to roast beef to hot dogs to meat loaf to pork chops to you get the idea. They even do the classic diner technique of combining lunch and breakfast. Plates like beefsteak and eggs, catfish and eggs, pork chop and eggs. It’s genius. So what did I get? The chicken and waffles.

And I didn’t go with no pansy half order. The fatman plate has four pieces of fried chicken and a whole Belgium Waffle (you can do a half order, which is, well, if I have to tell you, then you should head on back to second grade math). And to wash it all down I got an order of the cheese grits. It was like an episode of Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood (if you haven’t seen the Beckham episode, go to youtube right now).

Listen Nephew, I’ll start off by telling you about the grits. I remember having grits years ago and thinking, “I really don’t like these. They must be an acquired taste like liver or semen.” Then I had grits one morning at Lula Café and thought, “I love grits. Why don’t I eat them more?” Well, the grits at Goody Goody reminded me of the former. They might be for some people, but they aren’t for me.

But Cuz, the rest of the meal was unreal. The fried chicken was perfect. I mean perfect. It had a real light and simple seasoning to it. Mostly pepper (maybe it was only pepper. I don’t know for sure.), but it added the perfect amount of flavor without taking away from the greasy goodness of the chicken. Every bite was juicy and moist. Four pieces was enough to fill me up and make me sick, but not nearly enough to satisfy my craving for it, if that makes any sense. You really couldn’t get enough of it.

Listen up, Uncle. You know what’s the perfect compliment to salty, greasy food? Sweet, delicious, diabetes inducing food. And it doesn’t get much better than a Belgium waffle. They’re pretty hard to screw up, and Goody Goody does anything but. Just a nice, big, fluffy waffle smothered in butter and maple syrup. Going back and forth between the two, I couldn’t have been happier.

Now I know where they got the name for the joint. The chicken is Goody. The waffles are Goody. And when you’re smart enough to order them both, it’s plain Goody Goody.

I’ll never doubt Cedric the Entertainer again.

Half handshake, half chest-bump hug.


Got a question? Send it to josh@borntofork.com.