St. Louis Near Downtown

Hi,
Usually lurk, but finally mustered up the courage to ask a few questions today..Gonna be in STL late June for a USDA conference. Looking for anything in the downtown (800 Washington) area, Middle Eastern, 1 veget'n in the group, Mexican. Open to almost anything as long as it's good. Searched the web, saw a few places of interest, but many are way over our per diem limit...??
Eau, Melange, Harry's, Balaban's, Schlafly's?

What is your per diem limit and do you have access to a car or are you limited to public tranportation?

The per diem is I think $59 per day, & unfortunately, no vehicle. If it's a short taxi ride that'd be o.k..Lunch will be I fear something that must be very close. I assume they will give us an hour. Dinner, of course is after hours..
I have never been to STL for more than a few hours, so I haven't a clue about n'hoods, or what's even close, without researching everything I find & then mapping it...

$59 a day in St. Louis will feed you pretty well in my opinion. On average, you can generally get a very good meal for $15-20.

I am not very aquainted with the restaurants in the immediate downtown. Although I lived about 4 miles south, we rarely went into the DT area for restaurants as the selection was not as good as some of the neighborhoods.

The restaurant at the Pavillion Hotel has always been fairly reliable and is centrally located at One South Broadway.

Heading up Market St. is the Union Station. The restaurants there are not great but you have to check out the building as well as the Drury Inn across the street.

There are several areas close to downtown that have pretty good food.

The closest is the Soulard area which is about two miles south of the DT area, There are a lot of trendy restaurants. However, I would not recommend walking as the area between Soulard and DT is pretty rough.

The second area is the Grand Ave area which is about four miles from town and features a number of Asian restaurants. One of the originals is The King and I for Thai which is pretty decent but not as good as you would get in Chicago. They are group friendly. Pho Grand is a very excellent Vietnamese place but their seating is fairly limited. The prices are very reasonable. Also, Mekong Delta serves up some pretty good Vietnamese but not as good as Pho Grand. You'll need a taxi to get there. Do NOT try the MetroLink train to Grand as the station is a distance away from the restaurants through an industrial area.

The third areas is The Hill. While I used to live very close to it, I could never get a firm answer as to where it starts and ends. They feature mostly Italian restaurants and you can search for specific recommendations. We really liked Favazzas on Southwest but my last couple of meals have not been that great. You will need a cab to get here.

The fourth area is 4 miles west of downtown - the Central Westend and is accessible from the MetroLink train from downtown. There are a number of restaaurants in the streets behind the Barnes-Children Medical Center. My favorite is the India Rasoi on Laclede. They offer a good variety of South Indian restaurants with vegetarian selections.

India's Rasoi
4569 Laclede Ave
St Louis, MO 63108-2103 View Map
(314) 361-6911

Also, the area is a pretty good walking area with a lot of street traffic.

Louise wrote:Hi,
Usually lurk, but finally mustered up the courage to ask a few questions today..Gonna be in STL late June for a USDA conference. Looking for anything in the downtown (800 Washington) area, Middle Eastern, 1 veget'n in the group, Mexican. Open to almost anything as long as it's good. Searched the web, saw a few places of interest, but many are way over our per diem limit...??
Eau, Melange, Harry's, Balaban's, Schlafly's?

Wow, you're in steakhouse territory there.

Schlafly's Tap Room (2100 Locust St.) is a classic St. Louis place - lots of menu options, stay for dessert (sticky toffee pudding).

Arcelia's Mexican Restaurant (2001 Park Ave.) is within a mile or two of downtown. There is a great place next to that for after dinner called Bailey's Chocolate Bar (chocolate martinis, chocolate truffles, hot chocolate, beer, etc.).

Broadway Oyster Bar (736 S. Broadway) is within a mile of downtown and is a great place for cajun food, especially seafood (and music if you can catch it).

Louise,

We were in STL recently and stayed at the Hyatt Union Station. I second the recommendation of the Tap Room. We ate there our first night and it was very good. Our other favorite place was Kitchen K at 1000 Washington. It's in one of the loft buildings in that neighborhood and has a great vibe, great food, and very friendly service.

Downtown STL is not as dominated by steakhouses as it used to be, or maybe it's just that there are other restaurants coming on the scene that overshadow the steakhouses. You might check out Red Moon which has gotten raves and was on our "to try" list but we didn't make it. Wasabi Sushi, Mosaic, Sen Thai also get high marks. The hot place right now seems to be Eleven Eleven in the Soulard neighborhood which is just a little south of downtown and would be an easy cab ride.

If you have a car, Balaban's in the Central West End is very good. However, if you're going to venture out that way I would pick Remy's in downtown Clayton. We lived in STL for 5 years and that was always my favorite spot.

You asked about Middle Eastern. My favorite was Saleem's in University City. There's also a place out in Creve Couer called Pita Plus. Don't think I ever had a bad meal there plus they had great falafel.

A good place to search for restaurants in Sauce Magazine's web site.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/

Kitchen K
1000 Washington Avenue
St. Louis, MO
314-241-9900

Red Moon
1500 St. Charles
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-436-9700

Sen Thai Bistro
1221 Locust St.
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-436-3456

Wasabi Sushi Bar
1228 Washington Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-421-3500

Eleven Eleven Mississippi
1111 Mississippi
St. Louis, MO 63104
314-241-9999

Mosaic
1101 Lucas Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63101
314-621-6001

Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar
222 S. Bemiston Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
314-726-5757

Saleem's Lebanese Cuisine
6501 Delmar Blvd.
University City, MO 63130
314-721-7947

Enjoy!

Sounds like a plan! Thanks for the tips. I have been looking at Saucemag. Good source. At least, I can determine what's close by & too far to cab...