Inspired by this post on CNN, I wanted to share my opinions. St. Louis has definitely been on my mind lately since we’ll be heading there in April for Eric’s Call Day at the seminary. We are looking forward to catching up with friends and eating our weight in great food!
First off, the Garment District is underwhelming. It is downtown and most of the buildings were empty when we lived there a year ago. The legacy, however, is pretty awesome. Levine hats still has a store on Washington Street. May Company headquarters used to be there. From what I saw during my brief interview there, the building was fabulous. Too bad it was already being sold to Macy’s before we got to town. On the Hill–the Italian neighborhood–is Skif. A fellow classmate of mine works there. They are probably most widely recognized as designing the sweaters in Matrix 2. Gorgeous works indeed! Another nod to a Baylor alum, would be Lori Coulter. She uses body scanning technology to help make swimsuit shopping a pleasurable experience. Awesome idea, and their location on the edge of the Loop seems more savvy than the empty Garment District area.
As far as restaurants, you cannot find much better food or beer than Schlafly’s. They use local foods and have a farmer’s market every Wednesday evening in the summer at their bottle works facility. My favorite beer is probably the cider. I’m obsessed with the vanilla vinaigrette dressing and their bison nachos! I’ve enjoyed every item I’ve tried on their menu. The downtown location, the Tap Room, is a bit more gritty, as they allow smoking in the bar. There are several more beer options available at the Tap Room as well. I highly recommend the Sticky Toffee Pudding. The link will take you to the recipe. It is out of this world yummy. I might be a bit biased because we went to Schlafly’s Bottle Works at least weekly when we lived there.
I’m still a bit Jilly’s fan. Every time Eric and I get a cupcake, which isn’t too often, we compare the taste to Jilly’s. The owner is super nice and their generously-size cupcakes were fabulous. My favorite was the Missy-Licious.
There are several other wonderful restaurants in the city. My suggestion is to ask a local as you walk down the street. Each neighborhood has plenty to choose from.
As far as shopping, I must admit I didn’t do much when I lived in St. Louis. There are plenty of places to look around though. I loved visiting Soulard for the Farmer’s Market–awesome colorful photo opportunities and the University City Loop.
Peace.