St. Louis Randomness: Part 2

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


St. Louis Randomness: Part 2


Restaurant: Revival
Location: 3800 Chouteau

Revival is the old King Louie spot. I bring this up only because we had told at least five different people we were going to Revival, and every one of them had the same reaction: “What’s that?” But once you said, “It’s the new restaurant in the old King Louie spot”, they knew what you were talking about. So somehow everyone knew about King Louie’s, but nobody knew about Revival. And somehow I knew about Revival, but had never heard of King Louie’s. And right now you’re saying, “I still don’t know why you bring this up.” And I don’t really have an answer for that.

I love the building, inside and out. Very cozy and rustic, with a great outdoor patio. Although from what I understand it looks exactly as it did when it was King Louie’s. It sounds like the only thing that has really changed is the menu.

I was excited to try it out because I had heard a lot of good things from a bunch of different friends. But in the end, I thought it was just OK.

We started things off with the pulled pork sliders, the calamari, and the braised ribs. The pork was OK. Was disappointed that it was really just two normal-size pulled pork sandwiches, so we had to cut them in half for everyone to get a sample. Nothing special about them either, and definitely better options on the menu. Same goes for the calamari. Again, not bad, just typical calamari, but the dipping sauce had a nice spice to it. The real winner was the braised ribs. It was a huge rack of them, so plenty for everyone at the table to enjoy. Great rub on them, meat just falling off the bone. Not much else you could ask for.

For dinner I got the chorizo-stuffed pork tenderloin. You couldn’t taste the chorizo, and the pork was a tad over-cooked. Loved the sauce on the dish, but otherwise it was pretty underwhelming. My wife got the meatloaf, which was pretty good. Not sure I’d ever get it as my entrée, but I like being able to sneak a couple bites of it off someone else’s plate. Also got a side of hush puppies, which were delicious. They’re no Long John Silver’s, but still pretty good.

And for dessert we got a slice of the Dr. Pepper chocolate cake, and a couple pieces of the CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON!!!!!! Everyone looked at me like I was crazy for ordering the CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON, and then they looked disgusted as I ate it. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that bacon makes everything better. Even chocolate. They actually tasted a lot like chocolate covered pretzels, but worse for you. After everyone had a bite they all agreed that I wasn’t crazy, and that they were pretty tasty.

Three other things I wanted to mention. 1) The whole place smelled like smoke. And there were only two people in the whole restaurant smoking. That’s the problem with smoke, once it’s soaked into the woodwork it never leaves. And by the smell of it, it’s been soaked in for about 30 year. On the plus side the smoke covered up the smell of ass in the bathroom. 2) They kept coming by to grab empty plates, and more than once took my wife’s fork before she was done using it. Very awkward. 3) It was expensive for what it was. I’m all for good comfort food, but it should also be priced appropriately. The apps are priced right, and same with the desserts. It’s just the entrees that are over-priced (except for the burger, which is $8). We spent $90 (with tip) a couple and did order a $30 bottle of wine (and way too many apps), but even if you didn’t drink, I still feel like the whole experience was $15 - $20 too expensive. Maybe $10 if you ordered like a normal person.



Restaurant: Winslow’s
Location: 7213 Delmar

When we were living in U-City this was one of my favorite places to visit. Just a great, down-to-earth feel for an over-priced neighborhood convenience store. No matter what you need, whether it’s a shovel, toys, books, candy, bread, milk, butter, rubber ducks, or whatever you can think of, this place somehow seems to have it. And the little walk up kitchen in the back is best described as “cute”. The menu has just a couple things to choose from for each meal, but you can somehow still find something that you want. And there’s pastries and baked goods as well. I’ve always enjoyed everything I’ve eaten here, even if I think it’s a couple bucks more than it should be. But in the summer, you can’t beat sitting on the large front patio on Delmar drinking a coffee or beer (depending on the time of day) and noshing on whatever it is they have on the menu that day.



Restaurant: Nacho Mammas
Location: 9574 Indian Meadows Dr.


It’s good fast-food Mexican and Tex-Mex food. But, it’s also really expensive fast-food Mexican and Tex-Mex food. Tony and I went there for a lunch date and I spent $25 for the two of us. And there were no beers or margaritas involved.

I got the Tex-Mex sample platter, which has a taco, an enchilada, and a hard-shell taco type of thing. And some beans. It was fine, and I really liked the hard-shell thing, but I still can’t get over the price. I shouldn’t be spending that kind of money on a place with a drive-thru. And if I am spending that much, I shouldn’t be able to walk afterwards. I was so un-full that we went to Baskin-Robbins and killed some ice cream (the York Peppermint Patty Mint is really good).

So I can’t say that I’d go back. For that kind of money I can go someplace and sit down and have a waiter, and enjoy the same (or, most likely, better) quality of food.



Revival: Fist bump
Winslow’s: Chest bump
Nacho Mama’s: High five with a manly ass slap