El Mezon in Lake St. Louis 11-3-23

 I would give this restaurant a 3.5 out of 5, but I think I need to try more things on their menu.

I get my hair cut by this restaurant and it seems to always be busy.  It is in a strip mall on the north side of LSL and 70.  

I was surprised by the 20 minute wait.  The actual rooms are much bigger inside than I would have expected from a strip mall restaurant.   It also has some rather cool Mexican/Aztec style decorations...different than the typical El Maguey decorations that are so typical all over St. Charles county.

The chips and salsa are about the same.

Mike got a large margarita.  He said it was good...probably not homemade.  

I had shrimp diavolo.  This is typically shrimp in a spicy sauce.  I then put the shrimp on tortillas with lettuce, etc.  This dish was totally different.  It was a base of rice, then they poured melted white cheese all over the rice.  Then there was lettuce, tomato and avacado on top of the cheese.  The shrimp were cooked in a spicy sauce and poured over the lettuce.  There were many things that did not work.

The cheese over the rice made a hard bottom that stuck to the plate.  The hot shrimp and sauce just wilted all the lettuce/tomato.  Also, the sauce on the shrimp was not very spicy.  The waiter actually asked me if it was too spicy.  I told him no, so he brought me out some spicy salsa.  It was too different of a kind of salsa and it was just heat...no actual flavor. There were no tortillas...it was just eaten with a fork.  

Mike got a trio of items (burrito, enchilada, and taquito)...all with beef in them.  He said they were fine.  The taquito (rolled taco) was quite good as it was homemade and especially fresh.  

This place has a very high ceiling and is very loud.  It has some homemade items and we may come back to try some other things, but I didn't especially love my first impression. 

Yellowbelly in the Central West End 10-14-23

I would give this restaurant 4/5 

We went to Yellowbelly before going to the Fox to see Beetlejuice.  Parking in the Central West End is always a pain in the butt.  We parked about 1/2 block away but got caught in a quick rain storm at the corner waiting for the light to change.  

I had heard about this restaurant years ago.  TV Chef Richard Blais helped open this restaurant in 2019.  Then the pandemic hit.  I'm surprised it survived...as so many young restaurants didn't.  It has a menu "from the coasts" is what our waiter told us.  

From the drink menu I tried something noted as "adventurous."  It was called an Italian Clover Club.  It had: Bombay gin, clairin, raspberry, pineapple, strega, lemon, egg whites.  I had to use Google.  Clairin and strega are both liquors.  It was good...different.  

Mike tried a Jungle Bird.  YB aged rum blend, campari, pineapple, lime

We tried an order of crab fritters.  They were like crab cakes only rolled into balls.  They came with a mustard dipping sauce (I don't do anything mustard).  They were good.  

For supper I had grilled salmon with spicy green thai curry sauce over jasmine rice.  It was super yummy.  I would totally order it again!  The salmon was good, but with the sauce...it was great!  (BTW, the things that look like pineapple or potatoes, are actually parsnips and were kind of potatoy and kind of sweet...who knew!!). 

Mike ordered the filet and fries.  The filet comes with bbq butter and Korean charred onion salsa.  The fries are fried in beef fat.  He liked both of them.  The fries are totally different.  Super crispy on the outside and they have a slightly beefy taste.  

We had a tiramisu type of dessert, but I didn't take a photo.  It was a nice dinner.  The restaurant has all ages of people.  On the night we were there, there were a lot of 20-30 yr olds doing drinks and snacks and 30-70 yr olds eating a sit down dinner. It is not a big place, so you need a reservation, but they are known for fun drinks and snacks.  

Little Fox in Fox Park area of STL 8-26-23

Fox Park is an area that is located where some swanky old homes used to be, but is is a run down somewhat scary area, now.  

Little Fox sits on a corner in a residential area of homes that are trying to change the demographic.  They are taking the old homes and investing in renovation and hoping to change the neighborhood.  

Little Fox started out rather small and then was nominated for a James Beard and everything changed.  People from all over St. Louis were coming to Fox Park.  

The night we visited the clientele was almost 100% white and only eclectic in its sexual orientation.  

The neighborhood is similar.  There are housing projects on the outer areas of Fox Park and that's where there is greater diversity.

Little Fox is a "fancy" restaurant in an old building. You have to plan ahead for Little Fox, as they only take reservations about 3 weeks in advance and it fills up fast.  You can make reservations for inside or outside.  Since you never know about St. Louis weather in August, we made our reservations for inside.  

We began our night with cocktails.  They have a variety of very interesting cocktails.  We started with 2 of them.  

We started with a Prospect Park (left) which has Oaxaca rum, Caribbean rum, aloe liquor, curacao, lime, agave, and egg white. And a Cab Fare (right) which has white rum, aperol, dry vermouth, pineapple, lemon and clarified milk.

I ordered the Cab Fare and Mike ordered the Prospect Park, but it ended up that Mike didn't like his drink.  The Caribbean rum has a distinct mint aftertaste and he didn't like it.  So, we switched cocktails.  

I agree, the Prospect Park was a weird drink with too many flavors and the Cab Fare was light and refreshing and easy to drink

For an appetizer we ordered the 'Nduja Corquetas.  This is made with 'Nduja sausage, rice, prosciutto, fontina cheese, Grenada pepper aioli.  They are very like arancini but with sausage.  

There was too much fatty things in this.  The sausage, the cheese, the prosciutto.  They needed something to balance out all the fat.  Mike liked them, I didn't. 

For dinner Mike ordered the flat iron steak.  It comes with crispy potatoes.  It is a very safe dish and he said it was fine. 

With dinner we had a bottle of red wine.  It was just OK.  It was a red blend from Italy.  

I had mussels.  The mussels are technically on a "small plates" menu.  I knew they wouldn't be a big dinner, but that was OK.  They came with grilled bread with aioli.  The mussels were good.  The broth they were in was fabulous.  The bread was just OK.  I wish they didn't have the aioli.  It was too thick, it gets cold and then it is kind of gross.  It would have been nice to be able to use the bread to sop up the broth.  

After dinner we split a piece of flourless chocolate cake with candied lemon zest.  I really liked that lemon zest on top (Mike didn't).  

Overall this restaurant was fine.  The server was fine.  I definitely wouldn't put it in the "fine dining" category.  The dishes were interesting and good, but nothing to rave about.  

I'm glad we tried Little Fox, but the distance, the neighborhood, and the difficulty getting a reservation, will probably keep us from returning. 

Wentzville Family Diner 8-25-2023

 I had read online about the fact that the Wentzville Family Diner had moved to a new and bigger location.  It was now across from the Wentzville Ice Arena.  So, on a Friday night, we decided to give it a try for supper.

The menu was large.  They serve all their breakfast items all day long.  

We decided to go with supper items.  Fish and chips was a special for the night.  I ordered that and asked if I could have onion rings instead of fries.  Mike ordered chicken fried steak.  Both came with a veg and soup or salad.  I asked for soup and Mike asked for a salad.  

The waitress brought Mike's salad with a bunch of salads for the table next to us.  She said that she accidentally had an extra salad with ranch dressing and gave it to me.  I don't really like salad with onions, and tomatoes and ranch, but I picked at it.  At one point I think a waiter was brining me my soup (chicken  and dumplings) and saw that I had a salad and figured he must have been mistaken and took my soup back to the kitchen.  I never got my soup!

My fish (cod) was good.  They onion rings were find.  

Mike's chicken fried steak was just OK.  He thinks the "steak" was pre-made from a pre-purchases vendor and then fried here.  The "gravy" seemed pre-made too.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. 

Mike said we would come back here and try their breakfast, but their dinner wasn't worth coming back for.  

Chillax in Cottleville 8-19-2023

 We had friends in town from Minneapolis.  We were looking for something to do on a Sat. afternoon and came across a post that said that this was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

It is situated in the end of the Triad strip.  There are a whole bunch of small businesses in the Triad strip mall and then it stops and there is Chillax.  A friend of ours said it used to be a donut shop.

It is very odd when you walk in.  There are 2 separate businesses.  The bar (drinks) is one business and the food is a 2nd business.  So, we found a table and looked at the menus.  Mike went and ordered drinks and I went and ordered food.  We got a shrimp platter.  It had butterflied fried shrimp and fries. We also ordered some toasted ravioli. They have many different beers on tap in small and large glasses.  

Tim and Vicki ordered drinks and then ordered some fried fish and fries.  Everyone (except me) ordered some type of beer on tap. Tim got some kind of blueberry beer that Mike really liked, so Mike then ordered a 2nd glass of that.  

They text you when the food is ready and you go pick it up at the food counter.   The butterfly shrimp was good but would have been better if the shrimp hadn't been butterflied.  Yes, butterflying them made them look bigger, but it dries they out.  The coating on the shrimp was good and flavorful.  I liked it.  The fries were just OK.  The toasted ravioli were fine, nothing exceptional.  

Tim said the fried catfish was really good.  

The place was loud and very casual.  The cement floors and super casual tables didn't lend to an ambiance that made me want to return.  Because there was friend chicken on the menu, there were families here to enjoy the food.  It was a cross between a restaurant and a bar and it was just and OK place to spend a few hours.  

Pit Stop (on the Hill) 2-11-2023

I'd give this restaurant a 3/5

OK, so this restaurant used to be a gas station, so there are several VERY small rooms.  

We were there the weekend before Valentine's Day and they had some specials but we decided to go with items of their regular menu.  

Bummer:  I think I deleted my photos from this night

We started with a drink and then ordered a bottle of Malbec.  It was good (fruity).

I ordered seafood risotto for dinner.  It was good and had a lot of seafood but I didn't really like the cherry tomatoes in it.  They were wet and seemed to water down each bite they were in.

Mike decided not to order an entree and ordered two appetizers.  He got the brisket raviolis and the baby back ribs.  He liked both of them and together they were a nice sized portion for dinner.  

This was a nice place, I know they do a lot of outdoor business when the weather is better.  I felt a little crowded, even though there weren't many people in our tiny room.  The menu was good but not great.  It is a nice change from Italian on the Hill, but if I'm going to the Hill...I might as well go for Italian.  

Asador del Sur in Maplewood 2-25-2023

I'd give this restaurant 3/5

It seems like all the restaurants of note in Maplewood are within a couple blocks of each other all on Manchester.

This night we tried Asador del Sur...South American food.  I will have to say that many of these old buildings have saved the old feel and not done a lot of renovation to the inside of their buildings.  This was NOT the case with Asador del Sur.  The inside is all very renovated and has a sleek modern feel.  

We had reservations and were taken to the upstairs dining area.  There were many different sized tables (for 2, 4, 6, 8!).  It was a nice space.

The menu has a lot of grilled items and many things with chimicurri sauces.

I started with a signature Paloma cocktail.  I don't think it got stirred or shaken correctly because the first few sips (with my straw) were SUPER bitter.  I think the "bitters" were all in one place.  I really thought I didn't like it.  But then after a few more drinks it was much better.  Who knows if that was the alcohol playing with my empty stomach or if it was really bitter at the beginning.  

I got some calimari for an appetizer and Mike got some chorizo and toast.  The calimari was good as there was some cayenne style pepper in the breading.  Mike said he like the chorizo...it had spices in it, but not too much.  

For dinner I chose a grilled octopus with little potatoes.  The ocotopus had been marinated, boiled and then grilled.  It had a oil based garlic and herb chimichurri on top.  It was good, but I found the chimichurri overpowering.  The garlic in it was raw and I had a huge herb/garlic taste in my mouth for the next 24 hours!

Mike chose a grilled skirt steak and grilled corn.  The steak came with an herb/oil chimichurri (on the side) and the corn came with a herb/mayo sauce (on the side).  He said he liked that he had the ability to put how much of each on each bite and not overpower the dish.  

Final thoughts...I know grilling and chimichurri are big in South American countries, but I found the grill taste AND the chimichurri taste to be too big on my octopus.  I think having them on the side would be always a good idea.  This was an OK restaurant and an OK cuisine.  We don't feel the need to return.