St. Louis Challenge - Help!

In early June, my wife and I will have a three hour layover in St. Louis (thank you, Priceline - we saved about two hundred bucks, but an L.A. to San Antonio flight is now a twelve hour travel day - Shatner didn't tell us about THAT). So here's the challenge - we have three hours from arrival to departure, we've never been to St. Louis before, and we want to blow the airport and get lunch. Any suggestions? We don't mind spending a little money (although I'm sure we'll be dressed pretty casually) - we just were hoping for an only-in-St. Louis experience. In under three hours. Is it impossible, or are there any suggestions?

NOTE TO ANYONE WITH A LAYOVER AT ST. LOUIS'S LAMBERT AIRPORT...

Check your bags at the airport, get a street map from AVIS rental desk and board METROLINK. You can't get lost! 15-20 minutes to downtown, cheap train fare!!

You'll get off at Kingshighway area for
Central West End eating, or Union Station, or
Laclede's Landing.

I suppose perhaps it's too late for this, but...

Nice as the CWE may be, I don't really feel like it, and Balabans, Duffs, or the Majestic, is an "only in St. Louis" experience. I would suggest (if it's sunny) taking a cab to the Delmar Loop and getting bar-be-que from Mama's Coal Pot (located at the back of the Market in the Loop, between Westgate and Kingsland). You won't have the opportunity to spend much money (except on the cab ride), but the food is outstanding--some of the best bbq around. If you really want an only in STL taste, they make Snoots (pig nose), a food I've never seen anywhere else. they also make Rib Tips, which seems like a regional specialty (can't get them from California butchers, they leave them on the rib). THis is the sort of food that will kill you, but tastes damn good. They're mostly cartilege and fat, with bits of succulent meat. I absolutely love them, but try not to indulge too often, for obvious reasons. The chicken is outstanding, and the links are good, if almost too flavorful to eat--I suggest sharing one amongst a group. If the weather and timing are right the plaza around the market will be packed with people--older russian immigrants and young families mostly.

Whatever you do, enjoy.

Gabriel

An addendum:

I notice, re-reading your first post, 1 that you will be here in June, a perfect time for the loop, and 2 that you will be dressed casually and won't have a whole lot of time. Let me suggest even more strongly that you not go to the CWE. A meal at Balabans or Duffs will take a pretty long time, if history is a measure. (this is a problem endemic to STL: reprehensibly slow service). If you do go to the CWE, I say skip Duff's. All due respect to Pat, whose food sense I generally agree with, I think Duff's is a drag. The only thing I will order there is the Paté Maison, which is adequate, but not fabulous. Admittedly, I'm thinking of their brunch/lunch menu. I've never been there for dinner. At Mama's you won't have a big wait. Also, I don't think I'd want to go to Balaban's if I wasn't dressed to the nines (though I'm thinking of their dinner scene, having never brunched there).

Again, enjoy

Gabriel

Gabe: What you suggest makes a lot of sense. I'm simply so resistant to St.Louis cabs that I think immediately of what is close to MetroLink. If there's a part of St.Louis I'm partial to, it certainly is University City and the Loop. pat

Pat,

Yes, you're quite right about the innumerable problems with STL cabs. It is possible to take Metrolink to the Delmar stop and then either a cab or the 97 Delmar bus up to the loop (or walk, for that matter), but it might be a pain. The big issue is getting a cab back to the airport. It seems to me that the loop or the CWE would be the easiest places to get a cab somewhat reliably. It might well be possible to arrange with the cabbie to come back and pick you up at some predetermined time after he drops you off. By the way, the cab will cost about $20-25 each way. (food at duff's will be about $10-15 each for brunch, Balabans will be about the same, perhaps more, depending, and Mama's Coal Pot will be $5-7 or so).

Hope this helps.

Gabriel

Link: http://artsci.wustl.edu/~gsolis

I've no quarrel with anything Gabe says except for the dress issue at Balaban's. You'll find that you'll be very comfortable in the cafe no matter how you're dressed, and you'll be able to enjoy some terrific food while you watch the world stroll by. If the weather's good, the windows will be open.

So...the choice is yours. The Delmar Loop is a very interesting and eclectic neighborhood--sort of a poor man's Haight/Ashbury (not the way H/A is today, however) with a university look and feel. The Central West End is a bit more cosmopolitan--fewer undergrads, but a more interesting cross-section of the St. Louis world than you'll find in most other parts of town.

Enjoy yourself.

Thank you both for the suggestions! It's all printed out and going on the plane with us. And to think a St. Louis travel guidebook suggested we should spend our time staying at the airport and looking at the mural...

There are two murals, actually. One is by Siegfried Rhinehardt(sp) and it depicts airmen from WWII. However he showed no Black airmen, so another was commissioned and it shows Black flyers. A good friend
had a brother who was a Tuskeegee airman and he's in the mural.

Cut to the Chow, as Jim says: Let us all know how your layover turned out. pat

I've lived here for 30 years and when I try to think of an "only in St. Louis (food) experience" all I can think of is brains sandwiches in a corner tavern in South St. Louis. Nothing to make a special trip for, I promise you.

This is what I'd recommend you do if you really want to get out of the airport for lunch: Take the MetroLink into town and get off at the "Central West End" stop.( About a 20 min. ride). Come up to street and go right walking along Euclid Ave. This is a nice area to walk around (once you get past the Med.School construction!) and it's sort of our"Greenwich Village" neighborhood. Stop in at Babalu's at 8 1/2 S. Euclid on your right (a Caribbean-type place that I like), the same side of the street you should be on already. It's about two blocks from the metro stop. Or you could go just a little ways more and stop in at the Majestic Restaurant on the left at the corner of Euclid and Laclede. It's a neiborhood hangout of sorts and if the weather is nice you can eat outside (food is undistinguished but edible). Directly across the street from the Majestic is a restaurant, the name escapes me, also with outside dining and pretty good yuppie food.

The reason I'd recommend the MetroLink is that cabs in St. Louis are very expensive and while you could catch one easily at the airport, getting back there could take some time because one can't "flag down" a cab in this town. You'd have to call for one.

I just can't decide if this excursion would be too tight for your connection. But if you got to your stop and it seemed your time was too limited, you could always take the return train right back again. At least you'd have chewed up some time you would have spent in the airport.

The MetroLink is very easy becaue it only goes back and forth. Please let me know how this turns out for you. And if you have any questions, please post again. pat

I like Pat's idea, but I might modify it just a bit. First, if you are on any kind of a schedule, avoid the restaurant across the street from the Majestic, because it has the world's slowest service. The food is decent, but definitely not worth the wait.

On the other hand, if you venture north along Euclid Avenue for a few more blocks (it's probably just over a mile), you will find Balaban's, which has consistently served some of the best food in the area for over 25 years. (It's on the west side of Euclid, just north of McPherson.) Order the cucumber bisque. You can thank me when you get back home.

And I like Alan's idea! My concern is time. Balaban's is a venerable and very good place. But if you walk that far you might also consider my fave, which is Duff's. Balaban is at 405 N. Euclid and Duff's is on the other side of the street at 392 N. Euclid.

Of course, your plane will probably be late and you'll only have ten minutes to make your connection and you'll have to come back to St. Louis some other time!
Happy landings. pat

One more thought:

Since you said you don't mind spending a little money, you may just want to take a cab directly to Balaban's (or Duff's--although I'm partial to the former) and then, if you have any time left after lunch, you can wander about the West End--stop in at Left Bank Books or one of the antique shops--and either take a cab back to Lambert or walk to the medical school campus and pick up the Metrolink. You'll find that people are very friendly, and you'll have no difficulty getting directions, should you need them.

Amen.