The St. Louis Adventure

Wonderful, casual, country surroundings in The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis.

As this famous place is also a bakery it has really terrific breads. It is really inexpensive and they make sandwiches that are better than average.

Walk in, order at the window, sit where ever you want, and your food will be brought out to your table.

Patrons can choose from a good selection including hot and cold sandwiches, paninis, soups, a host of other menu items. They also serve wine and beer here in bottles/cans.

My 1/2 sandwich was about 6" and was only $3.85. It you are on a budget this is a great value. This is a longtime family tradition cafe and bakery and has a steady clientele' all day long.

Across the street from this cafe is another restaurant with a bocce garden. The older generation of Italians can be seen playing here during the day. It's charming!

Visitors may park on the street or a few fit in the tiny parking lot behind the bakery.

For details how to get here by MetroBus, see my "getting around in St. Louis" blog.

I ate at this restaurant for dinner on a Thursday evening and there was no wait to get in.

Inside the atmosphere was elegant and Japanese chic with modern furniture, very pretty.

Seated alone, the waiter, Bill was very efficient and helpful explaining the specialties and tailored his suggestions to my preferences.

I ordered the tuna sashimi appetizer (for about $14) and was floored at how tender and flavorful it was. The tuna pieces were beautifully arranged with 8 pieces as long as my pinky finger and about as thick. It was filling enough by itself.

Next I ordered a White Tiger specialty roll and WOW! was it ever huge and delicious! z8 very large pieces that were almost too big to eat at once. Blue crab, calamari steak tempura, asparagus, tuna, avacado, caviar... and a few other good things I can't remember off hand. YUMMY~! This specialty roll was one of about 6 offered at this restaurant that are signatures of the chain.

I will admit that I eat sushi sometimes as often as 4 times per week and this was some of the best I ever tasted.

Additionally, before heading to St. Louis I purchased a dinner gift certificate for this place at restaurant.com at their 90% off sale. I saved $10 on this fine meal.

Overall, I love that this location is in Laclede's Landing. I give this experience a perfect score for atmosphere, service, selection, pricing, and most importantly, quality of food. Don't miss this place!

My only caution would be not to sit outside on the sidewalk at this restaurant if they have outdoor dining available - the outside is not NEARLY as appealing as the inside and the street at this end doesn't smell the best. Inside - no problem!

This was the first place I stopped in after arriving to St. Louis about 10pm on a Wednesday.

Just 1 block from the Hilton Ballpark I noticed it was on the other end of the block from TGIFriday's.

The nearest MetroLink Station to this restaurant is the Stadium Station. Calico's is 3 blocks from it.

A good crowd filled most of the seats here even late at night. It seemed that the pizza was a favorite here.

I sat at the bar. Perhaps because I was alone the bartender was relatively unattentive. I noticed that several of her friends had walked in and sat at the bar so basically I was an afterthought.

After watching her chat for about 10 minutes I eventually ordered a Schlaftly beer and received a menu. The menu was pretty large and diverse offering at least a dozen types of sandwiches, another dozen types of pasta, and still another page of pizza options.

I ordered a Philly sandwich (which probably was stupid since I was in St. Louis). It was a large portion for about $10. It lacked flavor and was pretty dull overall. Average is a good way to describe it.

The atmosphere was somewhat lively, the decor was on the gaudy side, the food was average as was pricing. I would probably try Friday's instead next time or stick to the IMO pizza place in the Hilton Hotel for late night dining.

This was the suggested location for the first part of the St. Louis meetup.

We went here to enjoy a leisurely lunch. With several different sized tables to choose from, on a Thursday for lunch we had multiple choices.

A sunny 80 degree day we parked ourselves under a red umbrella and started to wade through the large menu. Tons of selections!

I ordered a Greek salad and Mark had a house salad and Irish stew. The food was good all the way around.

Initially we put off ordering for about 20 minutes in the hopes that more TravBuddies would be joining us. Since we delayed ordering it basically set the stage for our waitress to forget about us a bit during the course of our lunch. Mark flagged her down a couple of times to refresh our sodas.

Atmosphere inside the restaurant was also appealing.

In summary; location - great. Atmosphere - very good. Food - good. Pricing - average (about $9 for a big salad and for sandwiches).

I would recommend this place for lunch while in the area.

I stopped here to eat twice while in St. Louis.

Once was for happy hour - cheap draft beer $2.00 and a happy hour menu. I selected peel and eat shrimp that were "jumbo" but were actually more like "medium." I found them to be over-boiled and ordinary. For $4 skip them and try instead for the sliders.

For dinner this place was the location for the 2nd part of the meetup in St. Louis. Beautiful location at Union Station. There was a man-made lake here with a bridge to Landry's. The Marriott Hotel (Union Station's renovated building), Hard Rock Cafe', and Houlihans all shared this lake. Landry's had a very large patio which was over part of the lake where about 30 tables were graced with umbrellas neatly waiting for patrons. Most patrons opted to sit outside on this warm and wonderful night.

Service here was attentive. Again, we delayed ordering here with the hope that more TB's were joining us. With a large menu with a variety to choose from, steak lovers and seafood lovers would find something to love here.

Moderate prices ($20 for my fish) for meals that were quite filling.

Pleasant atmosphere that was slightly upscale yet casual, food prepared accurately, good portions, and good service. I can safely recommend this restaurant.

While walking through The Hill, which is the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis I happened upon Vitale's Bakery. As long as I was there I decided to go in and see what there was to see.

The delightful aroma of their bakery greets you as you enter. The display cases showcasing the varieties of fresh biscottis, cookies, and breads, I simply couldn't pass on this chance to pick up a few fresh items to take to my room for breakfast for the next couple of days.

I selected two of each chocolate fudge and an almond biscotti, a marble cookie, and a couple of others.

If you need sugar free sweets this bakery also offers an entire case just for you with at least a dozen kinds to choose from.

It was also impossible to resist getting a piece of tiramisu as they had forks ready to go for those like me with the impulse to eat immediately. The tiramisu was incredible~~~ I wish I had more.

What a delightful bakery that honored a family tradition of bakers --- well worth the $8.00 I spent on goodies. Stop here and treat yourself when you are in this neighborhood - they make the things dreams are made of.

I wish I lived near this great grocery store and deli!

An enormous variety of domestic and imported Italian olive oils, coffee, spices, breads, pastas, meats, fresh olives, wines, music, and products. There were a number of items offered here that I had not seen since spending time in Italy back in 2002.

A very friendly and helpful staff, reasonable prices, and a gem of a place if you enjoy Italian cooking.

It is located in the section of St. Louis called The Hill. Several blocks in this neighborhood were settled by Italian immigrants and still operates today much like it has for decades.

Even if you are just passing through, slip inside and take a look at all the great things they offer! I guarantee you won't leave empty handed.

Know of someone Italian that would enjoy a gift from Italy? Order it from their online store!