Good eats in St. Charles (of all places).

NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 19:39:32 PDT
Organization: SBC Internet Services
Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu stl.dining:338

On 14 Dec 1998 19:14:45 -0500, [email removed] (Andy Finkenstadt) wrote:

>Someone wrote:
>>The Pine Room Bar serves lunch M-F 11a-2p and dinner W-Sat 5p-9p.
>...
>>The Frenchtown Deli is located on 2nd St. in the Frenchtown area of
>...
>>Oh, another good place for the working man to eat in St. Charles is
>>Tubby's Pub in the bowling alley on Droste.  They have about the same
>
>Other good places that I enjoy going to are:
>
>(1)
>
>The Broiler Restaurant inside of Station Casino St. Charles, with
>dinner served nightly starting at 5pm, reservations highly recommended
>on weekends.  I have never had a bad meal there in 2 years of regular
>attendance, the servers are nice, management is nicer and responsive to
>customer requests and suggestions, and the food is excellent.
>
>Highly recommended by me is the Chicken Spring Rolls (chicken strips,
>plus hot cheese, plus spring roll outside, deep fried and served piping
>hot with a sweet chili-hot pepper sauce) and the Filet Mignon.  I order
>mine medium to medium well, and my filet arrives hot and pink
>throughout with no burned-through areas, and of course is tasty.
>
>The specials are usually excellent as well.  The reservations phone
>number is 949-7777, punch in 0 and ask the operator for the broiler.
>
I've never tried this place.  I have been thinking about it, but the notion of "The Boat" in general makes me nauseous.  I do love Filet Mignon though.  What's it like, pricewise?
>(2)
>
>Gingham's Restaurant, on route 94 just south of I-70 at Sherman Road.
>Serves breakfast 24 hours a day, plus sandiwches and home-cooked hearty
>meals from 1030am through 5am.  I especially like their Reuben Sandwich
>served with extra-kraut and extra-cheese.  Yum!  Fast service at 2am,
>too. :)
>
I haven't been to this place in years.  Last time was probably...uh..dunno..years...anyway, it was ok.  I'll try this one again on your recommendation.  I like late-night dining alot.
>(3)
>
>Rich & Charlies Tratorria, serving up any sort of Italian dish just one
>block from West Clay on Droste Road, across from Walgreens.  Appetizers
>are generous, salads are large, and portions are huge - especially the
>pasta dishes that make up most of their menu.  My favorite lunch-time
>place, the "Taste of Italy" comes with a lunch salad, a serving of
>pasta or Lasagne (the best except for mom's), bread and butter, a
>soft-drink or tea, and a bowl of spumoni ice cream.
>
This was another place I didn't think to mention until I'd already posted.  My wife and I eat there a lot.  Yeah, the "Taste of Italy" is great.  We go for the "Early Bird Special" and usually get the Pesce Trattoria (Icelandic cod breaded and served with provel, mushrooms, and wine) or the Beef Spidini (sp?).  The portions are huge and the help is rarely a problem.  Good joint.

BTW, I just remembered another bar/food place.  It's a fairly new place, Mac's C'mon Inn, on Kingshighway between Jefferson and Elm (also near Lindenwood College for non-locals).  This bar has changed hands a lot in the past few years, but I went there last week with a friend and was pleasantly surprised to find that the new owners have cleaned the place up and are serving decent bar fare (chicken strips, hot sandwiches, and such from $3.50 to $5.00).  Also, they're carrying a line of pickled mushrooms for, I think, $2.50 a jar.  They're by a company called Monterrey and they have flavors like jalapeno and garlic and such.  Very tasty little suckers.  We bought a jar of those and woofed them down with the .15 a piece peel-n-eat shrimpers.   Hats off to some good folks striving to do a good job.
>--
>Andrew Finkenstadt (http://www.finkenstadt.com/andy/)
>"I know the answer's in there... the server is just too busy."

Someone wrote:
>>The Broiler Restaurant inside of Station Casino St. Charles, with
>>dinner served nightly starting at 5pm, reservations highly recommended

>I've never tried this place.  I have been thinking about it, but the
>notion of "The Boat" in general makes me nauseous.  I do love Filet
>Mignon though.  What's it like, pricewise?

Price-wise, two can eat to be fully stuffed with appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert for $55 + tip.  The filet mignon (10oz), which comes with potatoe of some kind + veggies is $21.

Environment inside the boat is not bad smoke-wise once you get through the lobby.  there's no appreciable smoke in the restaurant itself unless you sit in smoking, and then it all rises to the top, anyway.

Dress ranges from casual to well-dressed.  I usually wear jeans and a dress shirt and have no embarassments at being seen like that.

>I haven't been to this place in years.  Last time was
>probably...uh..dunno..years...anyway, it was ok.  I'll try this one
>again on your recommendation.  I like late-night dining alot.

It's home cooking.  It's generous.  And it's inexpensive.  I like to taste the butter on my fried sandwiches.  And the grill is kept clean. :-)

Best,
andy