I've lived in St. Louis for over 30 years (since I came here to go to Wash U) and I can't really say that St. Louis has great barbecue. There are not many options for you in Clayton without a car. My only suggestion is Lampert's Plush Pig Barbecue 7814 Forsyth Blvd. 314-725-4411. I have not eaten there, but have heard it's decent. Barbeque seems to always inspire people to have very strong opinions.

I do not understand why you point out that you will be in New Orleans in April. St. Louis is about 700 miles north of New Orleans.

And congratulations to your son for getting in to Wash U. The acceptance rate this year is at about 15% (My son was waitlisted. Our college counselor at our HS said thay haven't been getting any local kids into Wash U for the past few years that didn't apply early.)

Maybe you meant you will be in St. Louis, sktutor? I too am confused what New Orleans has to do with the entire post.

I'm a BBQ-aholic. I stongly recommend Smoking Al's which isn't too far away from Wash U or Clayton (10 minutes) but you'd have to take a cab. The ribs are great. But I'm not a fan of their sauces, to put it mildy. Make sure they put the sauce on the side. The good news is that the ribs don't need sauce. This site has a map: http://stlouis.citysearch.com/profile/37157860/

Wash U chat: in my daughter's recently arrived rejection letter, they said 22,000 applied for 1,300 spots, which my math puts closer to 7%. I just wanted to have her nearby.

When your son goes to school here, he can take a road trip to Kansas City and check out the ribs.

I,too, am confused by the New Orleans reference when seeking a restaurant in St. Louis. Ironically, I'm from St. Louis, but have lived in New Orleans for about 30 years. I go back to St. Louis quite often and I have to tell you that I can't find good barbecue in St. Louis or New Orleans. I know that the best barbecue in St. Louis is made in the home, not in restaurants and I don't think there is better anywhere. The key to the great homemade barbecue is the barbecue sauce that the locals use in St. Louis. It's called Maull's and you should do yourself a favor and pick some up while you're there.

As far as restaurants in St. Louis, stick to Italian.

Sorry about the New Orleans reference. I clearly meant St. Louis. I am, however, taking a trip with my son to New Orleans to see Tulane on 3/29. I guess all this college travel is making me confused. We are also heading to Chicago after St. Louis.
Why have I heard so much about about St. Louis style barbecue if there really isn't much good barbecue food in St. Louis? We are from Boston and we don't have many great barbecue places.

I think you're confusing St. Louis with Kansas City which does have several very good and famous barbeque spots.

Thank you Liz5959. Does your son know where he wants to go to school? I am sure it helped that my son is from Boston.
What kind of food is more unique in St. Louis? Someone mentioned that you have good Italian food, but since we have great Italian food in the North End here in Boston, I would rather do something else. Also, is Ted Drewes frozen custard accessible by public transportation?

Italian would most likely be what we're known for.

Here's a list of restaurants in Clayton:

http://www.saucemagazine.com/splserch.php

If your hotel is close to a Metro light rail stop, you could easily get to the University City/Loop area or downtown where there are lots of good restaurants.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/splserch.php

http://www.saucemagazine.com/splserch.php

Unfortunately, neither Ted Drewes location is easily accessible by public transportation.

Hi, sktutor,

From Clayton you can easily take Metrolink light rail to Wash U, and with a little walking to the Loop where there are some fun places to eat. People like Blueberry Hill and Fitz's, and there are some nice ethnic restaurants like Saleem's (where garlic is king) and Thai places.

Ride a few stops farther east to the Central West End, and eat at Duff's, Zoe pan asian, Llyweln's among others. Some walking involved again in charming neighborhoods. Your son will be exploring Forest Park eventually, I hope, where good food can be had at the Boat House, the restaurants at the Art and History Museums (free admission to both).

As far as authentic local food:
St. Louis had a lot of German immigrants in the mid 1880's and African Americans in early 1900's.

Unfortunately a little hard to find good German restaurant food. They have a Strassenfest during the summer, with brat stands and such. We go to Bevo Mill at Christmas time for German food and the decorations. Not easy with public transport. Ditto the Soul food at Sweetie Pie's on Manchester Road in the Grove area.

For future ref, though not many white folks would do this:
Drive through the black neighborhoods of North city on a summer weekend, especially the holidays, and the smell of BBQ will drive you wild. People sell from improvised and quite uninspected grills on the sidewalks. Follow your nose.

My son is hoping to head to your locale, he should hear from Tufts this week. It was a little disconcering to have him waitlisted at WashU, (he would have been third generation, DH and I are both grads as are my MIL and FIL), but my DD was waitlisted two years ago and we were expecting it this time too. We don't really want him to stay at home, but it would have been nice to have the option.

Just as you would tell someone visiting Boston to NOT rent a car, I would really tell you that if you want to traverse around St. Louis, you really should rent a car. Although we now have Metrolink, which does stop at both northeast and northwest corners of WashU, you will see a lot more if you have your own transportation. Especially if you have limited time here.

As a freshman coming here from NYC it took quite awhile getting used to the lack of public transportation. I didn't even have a drivers license at that point!

The suggestion to visit the loop in University City is a good one, as It is walkable from WashU and many students head there to eat etc.

Someone else gave you the link to Saucemagazine... it's really the best place to research restaurants.
And besides for toasted raviolis, gooey buttter cake and Ted Drewes, there is not much else around that is specific to St. Louis.

Good luck on your college trips.

I have been to BBQ restaurants here in CA that have St. Louis style pork ribs. So I found the following on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis-style_barbecue

Thanks again for the advice. We are also waiting on Tufts, but my son would rather be further from home. I will think about the car idea, but we have a very short time before we head out to Chicago. It may not be worth it since most of our time we will be at Wash U.
Thanks, trippinkpj. That link was very helpful and made me feel like I wasn't insane for thinking there was good barbecue in St. Louis!

What about a great place for toasted ravioli? That's a good St. Louis food, eh?

Jayna
travels at www.ususbaby.com

Ah ha! That photo of pork steaks looks very familiar. Good old Wicki. This is something you'll find in peoples' backyards. Maybe part of the problem of asking local where they'd go for BBQ is that they wouldn't; they'd do it themselves and then go out for Thai or whatever.

saucemagazine.com is a very good resource, with links to menus.

St. Louis is known for its "St. Louis Style Ribs" or pork steaks, but I too can't really think of a good BBQ restaurant in St. Louis. My dad and father in law BBQ all the time, but it's not something that we usually went out to dinner for.

Super Smokers is a local BBQ restaurant that serves decent BBQ. However, it's out in Eureka and not really convenient to downtown. http://www.supersmokers.com/

For excellent toasted ravioli, my favorite is Lombardo's. The restaurant is in the basement of the Drury Hotel located next to Union Station, on 21st. But don't let that fool you....the food is very good and the toasted ravioli is the best I've found.

Tracy

People around the nation think that St. Louis is some sort of BBQ Mecca with tons of great BBQ joints all over the place. However that's only half true.

A friend of mine is pretty high up in a national food distribution company. He says that they sell far more BBQ sauce at grocery stores in the St. Louis area. St. Louis stores have the most linear feet off BBQ sauce in the country and move tons more volume wise. On a per capita basis St. Louisans use the most BBQ sauce.

So to answer your question: St. Louis is a BBQ headquarters: but that's because was cook it at home so often that we don't need to go out.

When I come home to St. Louis I always want Imo's Pizza! To me, that is all St. Louis. Of course, if you're hanging out in the loop - Cicero's is another good thin crust pizza joint. Aaahhh...I miss STL.

Let's not really have a conversation about pizza...it's very subjective and debated endlessly. I would point out that sktutor is from Boston, and unlikely to appreciate the finer points of an Imo pizza (whatever they may be, I think Imo's is vile).
Cicero's can be fun, but for a one shot stop in the loop, I would suggest Blueberry Hill instead.
http://www.blueberryhill.com/

Ugh....I can't stand Imo's pizza. It's definitely a love/hate thing and I absolutely loathe it. Something about the cracker crust and provel cheese makes my stomach queezy even thinking about it! They do have decent salads though. My favorite pizza in St. Louis is probably il Vicino in downtown Clayton.

Blueberry Hill is fun. We also like going to Fitz's, just up the street, for the root beer and decent food.

Tracy

My theory: if you're not born within a certain radius from, say Manchester and Hanley, that you can never really love provel cheese or, by extension, Imo's. The radius length could be debated, but for the sake of argument I'd say 10 miles.

Well, that theory may not work because I was born and raised in the St. Louis area and still hate it. I am 29 and just left St. Louis in late 06 for Charlotte, NC. I love pizza, I love cheese....but I just don't love Imo's.

Tracy

Congrats to your son! Wash U is an excellent school, and has a gorgeous campus. It's well-situated in St. Louis, for the students to get around by bus.

I do suggest you get a car, though, so you can investigate the city and see lots of it on your short visit.

Definitely go to The Loop, and check it out. The students hang out there and Blueberry Hill is fun. See if any musicians are playing there. Sometimes they have amazing people.

Clayton is nice to explore, too, and the Central West End. Go down to St. Louis University, which is an easy commute from Wash U. down Lindell Blvd.

Check out the many possibilities for good rental apartments in neighborhoods near Wash U.

With a car, you could get excellent Italian food at the Hill. Toasted ravioli! Yum.

Have fun making your decision. Our daughter was accepted there, but she chose Johns Hopkins University (she won the Hodson Scholarship).

P.S. I forgot to mention a nice restaurant on the other side of Wash U.. It's called Jimmie's and it's in the DeMund neighborhood, off Clayton and Skinker Blvd. It's a cute little neighborhood, nice coffee shop on the corner. Jimmie's is a great restaurant for a special dinner with your son.

Glad someone else hates Imo's too, especially someone who grew up in STL. I grew up in NYC so I figure I'm allowed to be both a pizza and bagel snob. Imo's is NOT pizza, and Bread Co (aka Panera), does NOT make bagels---case closed

For some reason everyone equates Imos Pizza with St. louis. I rarely eat the stuff except when it catches my fancy every few months. Much better pizza options in St. Louis
-Deweys
-Feraros
-Pi
-Joanies
-Black Thorn
-Fortels

Slight correction Mambo:

1)it's DeMun or Demun: no d at the end.

2)It's Jimmy's on the Park: with a y and not ie.

Not trying to be snarky. I live about a block from Jimmy's.

Yum...I forgot about Joanies! I love sitting outside on nice sunny days enjoying their pizza and salads.

liz, I agree on both accounts. I don't really think of myself as being a pizza snob, but as I've been to Italy numerous times and had some delicious pizza its hard to even call that stuff at Imo's pizza! And don't even get me started on the Bread Company...we have it here in Charlotte as well (Panera Bread, obviously) and the only thing I like is the hot chocolate. The service is always terrible (both in St. Louis and here) and the food isn't nearly good enough to justify the crowds that it seems to gather!

Tracy

Thanks for the clarification, Dweebe. I love your neighborhood. My husband went to CBC in the 60s.

St. Louis cut ribs describes the cut of a rack of ribs. Doesn't have much to do with St.L as a Q center.
http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/rib_cuts.html

Wow. Who knew the mention of a pizza place could unleash so much hatred I can't wait to get it when I come back for visits - to each his own!

Hatred - no. Extreme dislike for Imos - yes. As you said, to each their own!

Since you are coming tomorrow - you probably already have your plan mapped out.

If you need any last minute suggestions - please let us know.

BTW - I hate Imo's too - Yuk.

Super Smokers is great but not near Clayton. The Plush Pig is good - near Wash U.

Congrats on Wash U!!

St. Louis isn't the style of cooking BBQ. It is the cut of meat.

I've tried most of the best known BBQ restaurants in metro St. Louis, and never found one that made me want to hurry back.

When in St Louis, be sure to get a St. Paul sandwich. They are great, inexpensive sandwiches made of eggfooyoung. Available at most Chinese restaurants.


Keith

A few years ago, I saw an article in a Sam's magazine about Richard's Ribs in St. Louis. It looked so good and I found so many good comments about it on various websites when I googled "Richard's Ribs". It has been voted some of the best STL BBQ, featured in many magazines and let me tell you first hand, it WAS FABULOUS!!!

We were traveling through STL on our way to VA, but we drove out of our way to find it and we were sure glad we did. It is in Kirkwood, a suburb of STL. They do not take credit cards, so take cash or check book. I don't think you will be disappointed. I look forward to going back there again. Do a google and check out the websites about Richard's Ribs. I vote this place as one not to miss!

Richard's Ribs listed in Sauce Magazine.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/rest/318

oh yes, and congratulations, sktutor, on your son getting accepted to Wash. My cousin went there and I know how hard it is to get in. He's definitely one of the lucky ones.

Well, I didn't pay attention to the dates at the beginning, so by the time I posted, you were already there. Anyway, hope you had a good trip and if your son accepts Wash., he will have lots of time to try Richard's.