gastronomic landmarks!
You can't come to St. Louis without checking out a few of their gastronomic landmarks!
Ted
Drewes has been selling frozen custard and Christmas trees since 1931.
They're so good they've received offers to franchise, but they say they
never will because franchising could lead to mediocrity.
Gus'
Pretzel is a pretzel bakery that opened in 1920 and is still going
strong. From pretzel sticks, to twists, to endz, to cinnamon-sugar or
garlic-butter, to ones stuffed with bratwurst, salsiccia or hot dogs, to
sandwiches made from pretzels instead of bread---they're hard to pass
up.
Soulard
Farmers Market is open year round, Wed. - Sat. It got it's start in
1779 and is still going strong. They feature locally grown and shipped
in goods such as produce, meats, cheeses, spices, flowers, baked goods,
... . There's even a pet shop and severl eateries on the market.
If
you love Italian food, there's a neighborhood teeming with great
Italian restaurants and markets known simply as The Hill. Italiam
immigrants settled in the area, including Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola,
Sr. Soon restaurants and other Italian businesses sprouted up in the
area. One of our favorite restaurants here is Cunetto's. Their
Bistecca Soto is delizioso!
Another
interesting ST. Louis restuarant in the Bevo Mill. It was designed in
the style of Dutch and German windmills and was built in 1916.
Unfortunately it's had a tough time staying open lately, but it is open
for Sunday Brunch now.
Sunday brunch at the Bevo Mill.
Another
landmark of St. Louis is the Crown Candy Kitchen, although expect to
have to wait to get in---notice the line on the right and this was on a
day when it was over 105 degrees! They've been featured on the travel
channel or food channel for their milk shakes and BLTs, but everything
there is great. And, yes, they do make homemade candy, too.
A
fast food place that has gotten an interesting reputation in the mid
west for it's little burgers and their steamed somewhat soggy buns is
White Castle. Everyone should try at least one!
I figure I have a pretty good start on my St. Louis blog. I'll try to update it from time to time.
Just
over the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers north of the city is another
landmark eatery that everyone in St. Louis knows about---Fast Eddie's.
In 1921 Anheuser Busch opened a bar in Alton, Illinois. About ten years
later, Busch had to sell the tavern due to a change in the statutes,
which prohibited breweries from owning drinking establishments. In
1981,Eddie Sholar (alias Fast Eddie) purchased the bar became known as
Fast Eddies Bon-Air. In the twenty plus years that Fast Eddie has owned
Bon-Air, it has quadrupled in size going from 80 chairs to over 400
chairs. They even have live music on weekends. A food bar serves an
assortment of grilled burgers, shish-kabobs, bratwurst and boiled shrimp
all sold at the same low prices as when they were added nineteen years
ago---which is quite a buy! (no doggie bags permitted, though).
