My DDD tour in the "Gateway to the West"

From Oklahoma City I continued onto my next DDD stop, the Gateway to the West, the city of St. Louis, Missouri.  After taking a flight from Oklahoma City, I headed onto my next adventure.  I headed out to my first stop in the suburb of Webster Groves.  The "Hwy 61 Roadhouse" is an homage to New Orleans in the St. Louis area.  The place is decorated in everything New Orleans including several drum heads from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  I looked over the menu and it was mostly Cajun, but when the waitress saw my DDD book she showed me a special sampler plate of the items that were cooked on DDD (the episode had yet to be shown) and there was no doubt on what I would try.  The plate included a bowl of Red Beans and Rice, a bowl of Barbecue  Spaghetti and three CajAsian Pot stickers.  The Red Beans and Rice was great with a slight spice kick.  The spaghetti was excellent, loaded with huge pieces of barbecue pork in a spicy barbecue sauce.  The CajAsian Pot stickers were awesome!  Very spicy shredded pork in a Asian pot sticker dumpling.  They are very much like the Gringo Sushi that are featured at Guy's restaurant, Tex Wasabi's in Sacramento.  After chatting a bit with my server and after she signed the book I set off for my second stop.

After a drive of about 15 minutes I arrived in the part of St. Louis called, The Grove to some and The Mangrove to others.  The place is probably the most famous place that Guy has ever visited, but it's fame grew a few years after DDD visited and is due to a reality show being filed there and featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), I had at arrived at "Sweetie Pies".  This is a soul food joint and as you enter there is a huge sign stating that filming of a show is done and by entering you agree to be filmed and could be used on a show.  I must have arrived just before the AME church next door let out because I entered the serving line with only a few ahead of me but by the time I got through the line there was probably 35 people behind me, for once I had pretty good timing.  I got the featured Turkey Leg with a side of the famous Macaroni and Cheese that they made during Guy's visit.  I was seated by a greeter at a small table but near a TV so I could watch the Rams vs the San Francisco 49ers (a game the Rams would win in overtime).  The turkey was very good and the Mac and Cheese was awesome and very rich.  It was so busy there that I couldn't get my book signed and the other thing is the place is extremely loud! 

After a stop at my hotel I went for dinner at a place a few miles west of the St. Louis area in the town of Chesterfield, Missouri.  "Espino's Mexican Bar and Grill" is in an area surrounded by shopping centers and strip malls.  It is in a small strip mall and looks small from the outside, but is actually pretty large and was ding a very god business, especially on a Sunday night.  The place is adorned with Mexican paintings and knick-knacks on the walls.  I found the prices to be very high (I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of Mexican food, so it probably was actually pretty reasonable).  As I was still pretty full from my earlier stops, I decided to get an appetizer and chose the Mexican Shrimp Pizza.  It was pretty good and the "crust" was made of thick corn tortillas.  The toppings were really good and hit the spot.  I didn't find the service to be very friendly but it was very efficient.

After a restful night I headed out for my last day in St. Louis.  My first stop was in an area known as "The Hill" an area that is home to mainly people of Italian descent.  This is the area where Joe Garagiola and Yogi Berra grew up.  I stopped at a place that is sort of unique as it combines both Italian and Greek cuisine.  The owners are brothers whose mohair was Greek and father was Italian.  I chose the Toasted Ravioli, the meal that was made on he DDD episode.  The Raviolis were accompanied with a bowl of tasty tomato sauce.  They were awesome!  I love Ravioli and these didn't disappoint!  The staff was very friendly and I got to talk with several of them about the filming and they asked me about my travels.

I continued into the city to a place called "Dressels Public House".  On the episode they featured tow items, both of which looked great.  I chose the Pretzel with Rarebit sauce.  Rarebit sauce is a Welsh cheese sauce mixed with alot of extras.  The Pretzel was not your ordinary pretzel, it was almost like a loaf of bread and the crust was crunchy as the inside was moist and gooey.  I could taste the wine in the sauce, it was really good. 

I was off to take a break before getting to my last 2 stops.  My first break area was taking a tour of Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.  Busch is a really nice stadium and from most seats you can see the Gateway Arch and has an open few to the downtown area of the city.  After finishing up at Busch I headed to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery just a few miles away to take the tour and hit the Hospitality Room for a couple of few adult beverages
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From the brewery it was off to get to my last two St. Louis stops.  My first stop was at a neighborhood pub and restaurant called "Iron Barley".  there was quite a colorful and loud group of patrons at the bar and made for a fun atmosphere.  I chose a cup of their chili with cheese.  The chili at first didn't seem to have much of a kick but as I dug in it really heated up and had a potent kick.  Form the Iron Barley I went off to my last St. Louis place, a neighborhood restaurant that is set in a row house, without the sign you would not even know that it was a restaurant.  "The Shaved Duck" is a funky place and opened at 5p and at about 515p the place was almost full.  Many of the patrons were there because they saw it on DDD, I overheard several other patrons talking about it.  I ordered the Confit Duck, which is a duck breast served with some greens and bread.  It was delicious!  I got my book signed by the chef and I was off, my St. Louis tour complete and my DDD total at 297.  Just a few more places until the big number 300!

(As you have noticed there are no photos.  This is due to having a lot of problems in downloading the photos into the blog.  Once I figure it out, I will add them.  If you are a facebook friend go into my photos and check them out in my albums.  The St. Louis photos are along with photos of my trip to Denver and Oklahoma City)