A Perfect St. Louis Saturday, Summer 2015 Edition

7:30am: Coffee and toast at home while I watch Girl Meets World.

9am: Yoga at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market, follow by shopping for tomoatoes, kale, zuchini, blueberries, Marcoot Creamery Tipsy Cheddar and Companion white bread. Chatting with friends over iced coffee and muffins, standing in the newly filled wading pool, and – because it was the 10th Anniversary market – grabbing a Geilles beer from Urban Chestnut (PS: They should come every week, IMHO).

1pm: Lounging at the newly opened and free pool at Marquette Park. 

4pm: AC and frozen blueberries while I finish bingewatching OITNB.

6pm: BBQ and beer on a friend's patio while watch lightening bugs and discuss our favorite musicals.

Don't Say St. Louis Is Boring

Too many events I want to go to this weekend, not enough time.

Neue Form at Hoffman LaChance Gallery, Friday
Thurman Loop Fest, Friday and Saturday
Road House 25th Anniversary Party at the Moolah, Friday and Saturday
Alive Magazine Hot List Party at Cortona, Saturday
Mofu Pop-Up at Sump, Saturday
Tower Grove Farmer's Market, Saturday
Strawberry Fest at Field's Foods, Saturday
Picnic in the Park at Tower Grove, Sunday
Farmhaus Crawfish Boil, Sunday
+ drinks with friends, graduation parites and crossing my fingers for some pool time.

Also, friendly reminder that Shakespeare in the Park is going on and Whitaker Music Festival starts next Wednesday. I love summers in St. Louis. 

Extensive STL Dining and Drink Guide

"Fancy" 

Niche in Clayton

Syndey Street near Soulard

Libertine in Clayton

Farmhaus in South City

Cielo in the 4 Season's downtown and Vin de Set near Lafayette Square both have awesome views of the Arch. Only other place to get that is 360, which is douchey. 

Cool bars that college kids don't go to / Good for drinks and apps

Olio new the Botanical Gardens - wine and apps. The burrata is awesome. It's in a rehabbed old gas station. 

Taste in CWE- cocktails and apps (don't feel weird about getting the fries bc they are amaze balls)

Bridge downtown, wine and beer

Sasha's on Shaw (bonus points for being in my neighborhood and having a patio). Note that there is a Sasha's in Clayton by the big Amoco sign. That's more hoity toity Clayton moms and dads. 

33 Wine Bar in Lafayette Square (not positive they have food....)

Brennan's in CWE (again, not positive they have food....)

For brunch

Brasserie in the CWE

Half and Half in Clayton

Mud House on Cherokee

Pastaria in Clayton - Also, for dinner, the best Italian in the city that IMO tastes more like Italy than anything on the Hill.
Local Harvest on Morganford (weekend brunch only)

- Less fancy brunch options are Benton Park Cafe near the AB Brewery and Soulard Coffee Garden in Soulard

Whiskey bars

All of these opened in the last three months. I guess whiskey is trending in STL:

Planters House near Lafayette Square

Gamlin Whiskey in CWE

Small Batch in Midtown

Whiskey Ring on Cherokee

"Hipster"

Silver Ballroom = pinball on Gravois near Bevo Mill

Fortune Teller Bar on Cherokee. 

Amsterdam + The Dam, soccer bar and hamburger place attached. On Morganford near TG Park. 

Tacos

"Fancy" tacos would be Gringo in the CWE, Mission Taco in the Loop or Seoul Taco in the Loop (*See also "Food Trucks")

Legit/normal tacos on Cherokee Street - Tower Tacos or La Vallesana.
- Other favorite non-taco-specific Mexican includes Pueblo Solis in South City, Milagro in Webster, Las Palmas in Maplewood, Chavas in Soulard

Donuts

Normal - World's Fair Donuts near Botanical Gardens. Cash only. Lady that owns it has a beehive. 

Hispter donuts - Strange Donuts in Maplewood, also open late night. 

Sammiches

Blues City Deli near Soulard 

LeGrands in South City

Mom's Deli in South City 

Burgers

Bailey's Range downtown

Russells on Macklind has an awesome burger, but only at dinner. And their desserts are AWESOME.

Stacked Burger Bar in South City
SOHA on South Hampton

Pizza

Good Pie in the Loop. Wood-fired pizzas. 

Pi - Downtown location is kinda of cool if you want to spend anytime downtown. It's in the new "MX District" on Wash Ave. 

Black Thorn Pizza in Tower Grove South. Deep dish is awesome but call ahead and order bc it takes for-ev-er. 

Breweries

Urban Chestnut - 2 locations. New one in the Grove or older one in Midtown. Both legit. My favorite. 

Civil Life in South City is my second favorite to UCBC

Schlafly Tap Room or Bottleworks = the classic. 

4 Hands near Soulard
AB Biergarten is actually pretty cool, too

Food Trucks

Seoul Taco, Guerilla Street Food, Cha Cha Chow and GoGyroGo are my absolute favorites. If you only have time for two, choose Seoul and Guerilla. Seoul is Korean tacos (I recommend the steak tacos and the yogi bowl) and Guerilla is Filipino. Note that Seoul also has an actual storefront in the Loop. 

BBQ

Pappy's in Midtown is the most popular, be prepared for a line. 

Bogart's in Soulard is 2nd most popular, but my personal fave. Again, lines. 

Southtown Pub in South City

Shaved Duck near TG Park for sit-down BBQ/soul food
Spare No Rib near Soulard / Benton Park

3am bars

Beale on Broadway

Talayana's if you're feeling crazy. It's fratty. But just go in with a good attitude. 

Handle Bar in the Grove for dancing. 

Sandrina's near the Hill

Patio

Milo's on the Hill. Bocci Ball, sweet patio, and legit good "St. Louis style" pizza. 

Broadway Oyster Bar. Jam bands, cool covered patio even if the weather isn't great, and split a bucket of crawfish. 

Atomic Cowboy in the Grove.Good tacos, too. 

Friendlys near TG Park. Cash only. 

The Royale in South City
Mokabe's for coffee, strawberry lemonade and sandwiches. Right by Tower Grove Park.
The Block in the CWE. Good for dinner, too. Potted Pig appetizer is my favorite app in STL. 

Sasha's on Shaw, Southtown Pub also have patios... but were already featured in other sections of this list.
Also, I hesitantly add Amsterdam Tavern and Tower Pub to this list. I have been to their patios and enjoyed them, but not in ages so I'm not sure what they are like nowadays.

Coffee
Sump Coffee in South City. Do not ask for cream or sugar.
Hartford Coffee Company near TG Park. I recommneded the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It's like crack. 

Shaw Coffee on the Hill
Park Ave Coffee in Lafayette Square or Downtown
Foundation Grounds in Maplewood
Rise Coffee in the Grove
Blueprint Coffee in the Loop
Restituo in Shaw is super artsy. Not even hipster. It's hippie. But feels very NYC art scene.
Any Kaldi's

Food that will make you feel like you are at home with mom/grandma - Mama Josephine's in Shaw

Avoid -

- Clayton bars and Wash Ave in the evenings. Especially douchey. Unless you want to feel like you are back at Fieldhouse on penny pitcher night. 

- I used to advise people to stay away from the AB Brewery. Too touristy, and we have way better beer options in this city to show off. If you're out with beer-drinkers, drink local at one of the places advised. If you are with non-beer enthusiasts / Select 55 drinkers like my Dad, the AB Biergarten is actually pretty cool. 

- The Soulard bars you used to think were cool. We're too old/cool for McGurks, Llewelyns, Molly's. If you find yourself in Soulard, iTap is acceptable, or Carson's for karaoke. 

- The Landing. Period. 

STL Tour Guide: A Day Outdoors

Saturday was seriously the most beautiful July day in St. Louis. Great breeze, blue skies, and I don't even think it hit 80 degrees. Would have been a shame to spend it inside, and so leads me to the second in my STL Tour Guide series.

10:00am We started off the day, as we do many Saturday mornings, at the Tower Grove Farmers Market. Can't miss items this week are peaches (finally in season!) and sun gold tomatoes. Trust me - I don't even consider myself a fan of tomatoes, but I've been snacking on them like crazy. So good. We got some blackberry lemonade from Holy Crepe (in a mason jar! So hipster of us!) and a 'special' from The Big Cheese - goat cheese, pickled red onion, and greens on Companion bread - and sat down in the grass to enjoy our little meal and some people (and dog) watching. 

1:00pm Stopped at G&W to pick up some landjager - they are like little summer sausage / jerky sticks and so, so good. Salty, juicy - not dry like you'd expect. We've been snacking on these sticks like crazy the last couple weeks.

 2:00pm Headed west to Castlewood State Park for a hike. They have plenty of trail options depending on what you're in the mood for (visit their site for more info on the different trails). We did the 1.5 mile Lone Wolf Trail that overlooks the river and then dives down in to a nice shaded walkway along the river. Really pretty, not too difficult and you get some great pictures out of it. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

4:00pm After hiking, we wanted a beer (obviously) and a patio, so we came back to the city to visit one of my new favorites - Milo's on the Hill. I usually opt for the Chicken Florentine pizza, but this time Joe and I split a Milo's Special sandwich and some toasted raviolis (duh). Nice late lunch. Then we played a game of bocce ball, and it was a lot of fun! We had never played before, but the rules were posted on each court and it's a fairly simple game so you catch on quickly.

STL Tour Guide: A Summer Saturday in South City

Last weekend was one of those freak summer weekends in St. Louis - weather only in the 80s, with a nice breeze and, most importantly, we had nothing on the calendar.

We slept in, had breakfast at home, and then had a little STL adventure running errands and stopping at a few of our favorite spots in the city. So I thought I'd share our day here, as the first in a hopefully continuing series - 'STL Tour Guide.'

10:00am Tower Grove Farmer's Market. We hit up the market for veggies, fruit, cheese, meat, and bread from Companion Bakery. There's always a couple food trucks there (my favorite being Holy Crepe) and a grilled cheese sandwich stand, too. We got an iced tea (for Joe) and a fresh lemonade (for me), kicked off our sandals and waded in the fountains. Not a bad way to cool off.

12:00pm Mokabe's for lunch on the patio. My choice is always the chicken salad on a croissant and a fresh strawberry lemonade.

1:00pm Paul's Bait & Tackle for supplies for an afternoon of fishing. Don't forget cash to buy your fishing license ;)

1:30pm G&W Sausage. We stopped in for some brats, and left with about five different kinds, oops. And some beef jerky to snack on while we were fishing. The lines are long on Saturdays, but the staff is friendly and you get a Busch for waiting in line. Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

3:30pm Fishing at Jefferson Lake at Forest Park. We packed a cooler of some waters, Schlafly Summer Lagers and our jerky from G&W and made our way to Forest Park for an afternoon of fishing. I don't know much about the rules there (I leave that for Joe...), but we heard that they stock the lake at the beginning of the month, so if you're going to go that's probably the time to do it. We didn't catch a single fish all afternoon.