We spent the weekend of March 4 - 6 in St. Louis, Missouri. Greg had a baseball draft Saturday night, so we decided to make a weekend of it and go into St. Louis to spend the weekend. This is a review of our trip, where we ate, what we did, and places we want to go again.
My friend lives in St. Louis and I tried to coordinate with him to meet up on Saturday, but our plans fell through and we were unable to meet up. He ended up being in Kansas and I was in his stomping ground. I was sad I was unable to meet up with Mark, but Carrie and I are hoping to make another trip into St. Louis in the near future to eat some good food and see the Poggio family.
We found a place to rent and headed out from Topeka early afternoon. We got into St. Louis late in the afternoon. We had made reservations at an Italian place on The Hill, so we cleaned up a little from the trip, had a drink or two, and then did Uber to our dinner reservations. We arrived at
Charlie Gitto’s on The Hill and sat at the bar. When we first arrived and looking at the bar, it looks like a small place, but realized it was much larger than we had imagined. A table in the middle of the main area where we had entered opened up and we thought it was going to be our table. As the hostess came to get us we walked past that table to another area although we quickly declined that location and asked if we could sit at the open table in the enterance. We are so glad Carrie asked about another table as it was a perfect location. We were right in the middle of the place with a great feel. It as wonderful!
We ordered drinks and looked over the menu. Typical for me, I completely forgot to take any pictures while we were in the restaurant, so the pictures from this evening are from Erin. Our table in the middle was great, we were chatting with the people on either side of us and actually paid for part of one table that was celebrating their first anniversary. It was a fun night!
The cappuccino was really good! Again, credit to Erin to taking the picture. The meal was excellent as was the service. The waiter was knowledgable and gave great direction on what to order. We ordered two bottles of wine and Greg even drank red wine. What a wonderful evening!
Charlie Gitto’s on The Hill is a place I would love to visit again. Maybe sit at the bar to enjoy drinks and dinner, but mainly to experience the environment of the place. So much fun!
Following dinner, we went to a few other places in the area. One place that was recommended as
Narwhal’s Crafted Urban Ice. It was an interesting place, but not what I think we were expecting. Seemed to be a popular place for the younger crowd, so we ordered a few drinks and left when we were done.
Saturday morning we went to
SqWires Restaurant & Market which was fantastic! Once again, the service was excellent, helpful, and personable, but the food and drinks were great too! From breakfast, we went to tour
Anheuser-Busch which I think was my third time to do the tour. It seemed shorter from when I did the tour 15 or so years prior plus we were unable to see the production line of bottling as they were working on the line at the time. Still, it was fun to see the production and drink some fresh beer. I believe it was the first time for Erin and Greg to tour. Carrie and I had been through it about fifteen years prior when we were visiting the Poggio family.
We made a quick trip following the tour back to
The Foundatain on Locust. I think I could live at
The Foundatain on Locust with wonderful drinks (both acholic and non-acholic). I had a Mud Slide which was wonderful. We laughed at Greg because he did not speak the whole time he was eating his sundae. I had part of Erin’s shake as she could not finish it all. Enjoyable spot and probably a good thing we have to travel to enjoy this thing in the future.
As Saturday night was coming up and Greg had to get to his draft, Erin, Carrie, and I went to
EdgeWild Restaurant & Windery which was a place we saw on-line and decided to try out. Once again, it was a fun spot. We sat the bar and they were very busy through the place. We had all been eating most of the day, or snacking, so we all got a wedge salad for dinner, some apps, and drinks. We had a good time before we headed to where Greg was doing his draft to hang out and have a few more drinks.
Before we left to head back to Topeka on Sunday morning, we stopped by
Pharaoh’s Donuts in downtown St. Louis. We parked and went walking up to the place on the corner. Not thinking much of the place as it looked like your typical local place for donuts. We made our selections, ordered, and ate in the store at some tables to the side. I have been teased that I say I love a food, or drink, so much, but I am not lying that this might have been the best donuts I have had in my life. They were fresh and melted in my mouth. I got a twist and a Long John. I wanted more! So much more, they were so good! Erin who is not much of a donut person said they were some of the best she had as well. A place we will visit again next time we are in St. Louis.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience in St. Louis. Everyone we encountered from places we ate, drank, or the farmers market we visited Saturday, were all so nice and helpful. We made some wonderful memories and I look forward to making a trip in the future back to St. Louis in the future.
The drinks were good and then dinner was also delicious. I could not finish all of my food, so I took some of it home, but ended up not having the leftovers either. We loved the look of the place and our waiter was excellent. He shared with us that he played baseball in Kansas, so he was familiar with Kansas. It was good to eat some delicious food, have some fun drinks, and try out a new spot.
