Visiting St. Louis with my daughter for a look at Washington University. We're staying at the Residence Inn St Louis Galleria because admissions said that would be a good location to catch a shuttle to the school. Is this an OK choice? We will be in St. Louis one night. Since we don't have a car, we're looking for someplace to eat that is reasonably close by taxi. We like all food and probably looking for something casual. Any suggestions?

The Residence Inn is just a couple blocks from the Galleria mall where they have plenty to choose from.

If you are visiting Wash U, why not try to go where the students hang out? They like "The Loop" where there are great restaurants like "Fitz's Root Beer Factory", "Riddles Pentultimate", St. Louis Bread Co., Blueberry Hill.
Here's a website full of St. Louis restaurants.

www.saucecafe.com

Search the Loop area and you'll find a lot to choose from.

Have fun. She'll love Wash U.

I agree, the Loop is the best place to go. She will get a feel for the St. Louis area, especially the part she will be close to if she attends Wash U. And there are a ton of restaurants there. Blueberry Hill is one of my favorites, but Fitz's is very good too. And, you can take the time to walk around the Loop area and visit the record store, or check out the Tivoli.

The Galleria shopping mall is on the other side of I-170 from the Residence Inn. Plenty of chain options like California Pizza Kitchen, PF Changs, Mangianos, Houlihans and Cheesecake Factory are all within that area. (The food court at the mall is closed until November for renovation: no quick bites there.)

The U City Loop would be your best options for getting the local feel where most the students hang out. Ruthijayne has a good selection. Add the Delamr Lounge and 609/U to the list.

It's also a short cab ride to downtown Clayton. BARcelona is a nice tapas restaurant and Miso is a good Chinese place.

Thanks for all your help. We stayed at the Seven Gables Inn in Clayton and walked around the block to the BARcelona for great tapas.

2 great choices! 2 of my favorites!!
good luck with all the college admission stuff. I went through it 2 years ago with my daughter. She is now at SMU in Dallas and loves it. It is a nerve -wracking time!!

Have fun seeing Wash U. for the first time-- it's a gorgeous campus and an awesome school.
I agree that The Loop is a good place to go, as it gives you more a feel for Wash. U. life and where the students go. And Chuck Berry frequently plays at the Blueberry.
On the other side of Wash U., offf Clayton Rd., across the street from the seminary, is a nice little quiet neighborhood (I think it's called DeMun-- any local can direct you). It's got a great corner coffee shop and a restaurant there, "Jimmie's", is very good. It's more upscale than its name sounds, with a nice bar/lounge in it, too, where twenty-somethings hang out when they can afford it.
We stayed at The Cheshire Inn, which is at Clayton and Skinker, close to the campus, with free shuttles to school and downtown. It's slightly in need of a face-lift, but is a nice enough stay for a night or two. Kind of an old St. Louis place.
Personally, I would stay closer to school than the Galleria, to get a feel for where the students are. There are several places on Clayton Rd, in the Clayton area.
Have fun! Has she been accepted to Wash U., yet? I know it's a tough one to get in.

nyvistor: How did your daughter like Washington Univ.? Hope you had a good visit and are getting closer to making a decision.
Our daughter is also going through the college admissions process and looking at both Wash. U and SMU. We just went to Mustang Monday at SMU and she loved it! We are planning a visit to WU in a couple of weeks, so all the local suggestions are greatly appreciated because we are not familiar with St. Louis area at all. We actually live much closer to Dallas, so if anyone would happen to need suggestions for the SMU area, please let me know and maybe I can help you.
Annesherrod: I'm curious how does your daughter like SMU? What was the deciding factor in choosing SMU?

Hi Katiekate,
If you need any specific StL info please let me know.You can email at:
[email protected].

My daughter chose SMU for a few reasons:
1. Very Strong business school - she wants to study Internat'l business.
2. SMU has a very strong German program. She is fluent in the language and wants to minor in it.
3. size
4.She wanted a large city and a warm climate!!

We live very close to Washington U, so please let me know if you have any questions or want suggestions, etc...

Good Luck with the process!!!

Annesherrod: Thank you-I'll be contacting you via email shortly. I DO have a lot of questions.

Our son is graduating Wash U. in 2 weeks. All I can say is that his 4 years there were the best in his life. He would stay another 4 if he could. My younger son applied for fall but didn't get in. He plans on attending another school and re-applying in a year. We love the St. Louis area and will miss going there to visit. Good luck to your daughter.