St.Louis Bar & Grill Ribs?

[deelicious]

One opened near me and we are eyeing it as I type.

Are the ribs any good?

I dont expect them to be our favourite ribs in the city. Barberians are. I figure St. Louis willl be more like the just OK stuff served at Baton Rouge, but I certainly don't want anything worse.

So our expectation of good would be met providing the ribs are simply not sugary/corn syrupy. Not mushy. Not a rip off.

Hope someone can share their experience!

Thanks!

[oishiBear]

At first I thought St Louis and Duff's Wings are good. After 6 months of my "wing tour" with friends and tried numerous wing places in both America(Buffalo) and Ontario. I have to say that St Louis Wings are mediocre, among the competitors.

I ranked them base on the same way how I order my wings - plain, sauce on the side. So I would know the quality of their wings, how well they cooked them, and the taste of the sauce itself. Sauce can cover a lot of flaws.

1. Wings in Buffalo Wings Festival, which hosted by the best wings restaurants/pubs(Most of them are superb, I won't list their names here since it's a Canadian board.)
2. Lion & Dragon Pub in Pickering (good size, moist, fresh, flavorful, GREAT price.)
3. Wild Wing in Barrie (good size, moist, fresh, flavorful, LOTS of sauces to choose from)
4. Duff's (good size, fresh) - Dry and plain without sauce, it's better to order covered with sauce.
5. All Star Wings (nothing outstanding, so not much to comment)
6. St. Louis (try with plain and get sauce on the side and you would know how dirty their oil is. Not to mention they are very dry without sauce.)

I'm still in search of new places to try out. You might know other great places that I haven't tried yet. I would like to know if you can suggest any great wing places.

Please try them all for yourself before you question me... I LOVE wings... so I would like to share the good stuffs with the fellow members here as well. :)

[magic]

oishiBear, I've heard Beaver and Bulldog in Mississauga makes very good wings, with a million varieties. Never been, but this is what I have heard. Will go soon. I know St. Louis aren't the best, but I still like them very much. I only get plain when I go.

[paper_bag_princess]

I don't think I will ever understand the attraction to St. Louis, a new one opened up by my place and I have gone a few times and it is truly awful.

The wings are dry and overcooked, not enough sauce on them. The ribs are the same. The nachos are drowning in that fake velveeta cheese sauce garbage.

I went again a month or so ago to give it one more try, I was with two others and we all ordered different sandwiches. They all tasted exactly the same and had the same sweet bbq sauce on them even though they were totally different sandwiches, I think one was a philly cheesesteak, one was back bacon on a bun and the other was a pulled pork I think.

Anyway, this place is horrifically bad even for a chain and I really can't comprehend why so many love their wings. Anyone care to enlighten me?

[oishiBear]

I agreed with you, their wings are dry and overcooked. And I tried them at different locations too(Yonge/Ajax/Woodbridge.) I don't go to St Louis anymore as there are a lot of other restaurants with much better wings and ribs. I only put it to the bottom of the list just because this is a St Louis thread, didn't mean they are good, at all.

[Davwud]

Why would you order a sandwich at a wing place and then be surprised that it's bad??

DT

[paper_bag_princess]

I wasn't surprised, but like I said, I had the wings, I had the ribs, I had the nachos so I thought I would give it one more try and order something else.

Besides, its not that hard to make a decent sandwich.

[Recyclor]

I love to cook and I can make a variety of stuff quite well, I don't consider it a great feat...and all we're talking about here is being able to deep fry stuff and make a few sandwiches...to expect people to come and pay for them they both should be great!

[oishiBear]

Thanks magic. I will give it a try next time I go to Miss. You gotta try Lion & Dragon Pub in Pickering if you are around that area. I don't live near there but I just couldn't help going back for wings and beef ribs!!!!!

[magic]

I've writen it down, thanks for the recommendation oishiBear, sounds really good!

[Davwud]

I like your enthusiasm towards this. I will have to disagree with you on point but only maybe. I've been to the Wild Wing in Newmarket and wasn't overly impressed. However, I love the All-Star in Richmond Hill (You didn't say which one you went to). '
I will take Duff's over all others in he city although there is a nasty rumour going around that they've changed some things since last I was there and they are not nearly as good as they used to be. I must make a return trips soon I suppose.

DT

[oishiBear]

Like I said. I compare them base on plain wings without sauce. Taste and preference really depends on different person. I did try to give as much detail as I can. How much more fancy can you talk about with plain wings, besides size, freshness, juiciness, taste and price? I avoided using words like "love", "don't like" when judging different restaurants because they are just personal taste.

It's just my own opinion, if the plain wings are great, they would be best with any ordinary sauce. If the sauce are great, it can make a great camouflage for most mediocre wings.

[Food Tourist]

Really enjoyed the ribs at St. Louis Leslie/York Mills location in early January. Liked them so much we ordered a second rack! Wings were mediocre, though.

[magic]

After much delay I finally tried St. Louis' ribs last night. Good, not great. As others have said, I'd stick to the wings unless you're jonesin' for some ribs. If you are craving ribs they are servicable but not stellar. Otherwise, big fan of St. Louis. Love those fries and dill sauce too - oh man.

[blissful_hope]

although I haven't eaten many ribs at restaurants around here, i have to say that the ribs at st louis really aren't that great. i'd stick to their wings. i find the ones at baton rouge a bit better...

[callitasicit]

Where can you get really good ribs?? I don't know one place that does them well. Baton Rouge is really overrated to me!

[Davwud]

Baton Rouge ribs are your run of the mill, dime a dozen ribs. The only difference between them, Swiss Chalet and a few of the other places who's baby backs I've tried is the sauce. Pretty much all these ribs taste the same.

Phil's are much better but still not as good as what I get when visiting the in laws.

I've been meaning to make a trip to Camp 31 but have not done so as yet.

DT

[Leslieville]

I was very unimpressed with Camp 31. It's a good excuse for a nice drive on a beautiful spring day (hah) but don't go expecting to be blown away. We didn't get either the cornbread or the beans so I can't comment on them, but I didn't think the ribs where all that great. In fact I had better ribs at All Star in Richmond Hill. Excuse me I have to go now and duck for cover. I'ld be interested in your comments if you do go. I usually agree with what you have to say.

[deelicious]

Haven't been to All Star, but have been to Camp many times.

Unfortunately I have had great meals and average meals there. I just wish it could be consistently great - given the long drive. Sometimes the rib are amazing with a perfect "bark" and other times they just seem like there was no love in the making.

The beans are tops as I do not like ham or bacon in my beans and the corn bread is also great, but I can see how it could be too sweet and not authentic enough for some.

Bottom line is that we will continue to take the drive because it is never that bad, and sometimes it is awesome.

One last thing, I think their sauce is WAY TOO sweet and basic crap so I ask them to not put any on when preparing my ribs. I then add the hot sauce at the table. Finger lick'n good.

[Davwud]

The ribs at All Star are respectable. Definately not southern though. They're just slow grilled it would seem. Not smoked. Still good but not nearly as good as I get when at the inlaws.

DT

[magic]

Haha, can't believe your name was allowed to stand, "Hugh".

[superizzy]

Huge fan of the wings at ST Louis, never thought the ribs were very good