Good eats: St. Louis area provides great variety in food choices

NOTE: J Gumbo’s is now closed in the St. Louis area, as of October 2014.

We’ve previously mentioned that on trips we like to find local restaurants to eat at. That way, we get a taste of the local cuisine scene.

Sometimes, that will include fast food places. While in New Mexico, we tried Lotta Burger, which is a regional establishment, etc.

Our first evening in the Gateway City, we ordered pizzas from Empire Deli and Pizza. They were near our hotel, and no one in our four-person traveling party cared to go back out once we settled in.

Lisa and her step-mom shared a gyro pizza. It had all the makings of a gyro sandwich on a pizza crust. I took their word for it that the pizza was good.

My father-in-law and I shared a pepperoni pizza. I think I liked it better than he did. I liked how they had the pepperoni cut into strips and spread throughout the pizza rather than the round slices, where you take a bite or two and all the pepperoni is gone.

We were given several suggestions for local dining options for St. Louis. There are many!

But, we found one of our favorite places to dine was actually a regionally based fast food place serving Cajun.

J. Gumbo’s is a Cajun and Creole restaurant. Its headquarters is in Louisville, Kentucky.

It comes across as a fast casual eatery. For a chain restaurant, the Cajun food was excellent. I am not a huge Cajun food fan. We tried the jambalaya (which is my favorite Cajun dish), Etouffee (Lisa’s favorite) and red beans and rice. Lisa liked all three. I don’t care for Etouffee, but the other two dishes were tasty.

It became our favorite place to dine during the week we were in St. Louis. We ate there three times, including the last night in town. We picked up dinner for Lisa’s parents and us.

The location we dined at was near St. Louis University. There is a second location downtown.

The décor was definitely New Orleans themed. Tables looked like old doors. They were decorated with several things, including beads.

While we enjoyed chain-based Cajun, we still set out to try local Cajun cuisine.

St. Louis is home to the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, so it made sense it would be home to some great Cajun food.

The top recommendation was Broadway Oyster Bar in the French district. The restaurant is deceiving on the outside. The building looks like an old house. It looks small on the outside, but with a side extension, the interior is larger.

The older part of the bar definitely has the feel of an intimate drinking establishment. The Mardi Gras decorations give the establishment an identity.

Lisa ordered the sampler – gumbo, jambalaya, Etouffee and red beans and rice. I challenged myself to try something new. At the recommendation of our server, I ordered the crawfish enchilada.

When the dish was brought to us, I tried it. After a couple of bites, I realized I didn’t care for it. I felt terrible because it sounded good. The restaurant staff was so nice about it. They told me they wanted me to be happy with my meal there. We traded it out for the safer chicken po’ boy. I knew I’d like that!

St. Louis is celebrating its 250^th birthday in 2014. As part of the festivities, 250 fiberglass birthday cakes were made and decorated. They are to be located in various spots in the area.

Lisa was excited when we saw one at Oyster Bar. It was located just off the band stage.

Another must-try restaurant we were told about was Pappy’s Barbecue. It was a few blocks from hotel, so we ordered dinner from there one night when Lisa’s step-sister and our niece came to town for the evening, from Evansville.

We tried a variety of items off the menu. The pulled pork was delicious, with a side of Pappy’s sauce. The spare ribs were also tasty. We had several sides, including my favorite – coleslaw. We had pasta salad, potato salad, beans and baked potatoes (carb heaven).

I’d like to try eating some of their sandwiches on site in a future trip.

Since St. Louis has a great reputation as a sports city (Cardinals, Rams and Blues), we figured the sports restaurants have to be good, too. Right?

I wasn’t disappointed in the two we tried.

We ate at the Brewhouse sports bar inside the Hyatt hotel downtown.

We tried a couple of sandwiches – Lisa had pulled pork and I tried a cheeseburger. Both were huge. Neither of us finished our fries. Lisa didn’t finish her sandwich. I left a couple of bites. The meal there could easily be shared between two people.

The restaurant had a nice sports theme. Jerseys hung on one wall with autographs from famous sports figures – Dan Dierdorf from the old football Cardinals, Bernie Federko from the hockey Blues and the Rams’ Marshall Faulk.

Following a visit to Busch Stadium for a tour, we sauntered over to Joe Buck’s for a late lunch one day. Buck’s is a sports-themed barbecue joint.

Buck is the former play-by-play voice of the baseball Cardinals. His dad, Jack, was the longtime voice of the Cards before him. Joe is now the national play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball and the National Football League on Fox TV.

The restaurant has a St. Louis sports décor – all three main teams are represented.

There is a picture of Joe with Troy Aikman on the wall.

For breakfast one day, we met Donna from the St. Louis visitors bureau at Blondie’s, a wine and coffee shop. We had breakfast and coffee. We each tried a turkey sausage omelet with a side of fresh fruit. It was a nice healthy breakfast with a side of tastiness.

Outside of St. Louis, we ate at local establishments on day trips.

In Cape Girardeau, Missouri, we dined at Socials. It has an eclectic menu.

Lisa and our host, Stacey (from the local visitors bureau), had the Ooey Gooey grilled cheese sandwich. It consisted of four cheeses. Stacey added a cup of the tomato basil soup.

I had a chicken salad sandwich and a cup of the tomato basil soup.

Our lunches were delicious. I especially liked the soup. I enjoyed my sandwich, too, with slice grapes in the chicken salad.

Afterward, we all had dessert. The ladies had a chocolate dessert. I had a red velvet cupcake. All were huge and tasty.

Later that night, Lisa and I had dinner at Lambert’s Café in Sikeston, Missouri. You can read more on that visit in the post, http://thewalkingtourists.com/lamberts-cafe-sikeston-mo-restaurant-home-throwed-rolls/.

When we visited Springfield, Illinois, we had lunch with Alicia from the visitors bureau. We met at La Calia, home to an eclectic menu.

Lisa had a quesadilla. It was made differently. Rather than fried or baked with a hard crust, this quesadilla was served on two soft shell tortillas. It seemed like a taco, but it was actually a quesadilla.

I had a “hearty” Reuben sandwich. It was a nice chunk of corned beef served on marble bread. I had a cup of pumpkin chipotle soup. The meal was delicious.

One dessert item everyone must try in St. Louis is the ooey gooey butter cake. It’s ooey gooey goodness.

All told, we made good restaurant choices, based on a lot of strong recommendations.

St. Louis is a great foodie town. I was a little bummed we never made it to The Hill for Italian. I have always planned to go there, but never make it. Next time, t will be a requirement.

I also need to get back to Blueberry Hill in the University District. It’s owned by Rock ‘n’ Roll legend Chuck Berry.

As always, if you can get local recommendations for a place to eat, make sure you follow up. People who are committed to an eating establishment are good sources.

As you travel, enjoy your visit and your meals.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the CVBs for buying breakfast at Blondies in St. Louis, Socials in The Cape and la Calia in Springfield. Also, the St. Louis CVB gave us a downtown gift card, which was partially used for lunch at the Brewhouse and Joe Buck’s.