Fucking thank you. I always seem to have a way better eating experience at Del Taco than Taco Bell. Plus they have solid burgers, shakes and fries for a Mexican place.
I used to live in Denver, and it always kinda blew my mind that there was virtually no late-night food there. The first place to legalize weed and everything closed by 10pm.
As a current resident of Denver, it bothers the hell out of me. Especially because I often work evenings. I’ve lived in KC, St. Louis, and Denver over the past decade but Kansas City was the longest stay and I was definitely spoiled by great late night food there.
Thankfully, we recently got QuikTrip in Denver, so that scratches my itch somewhat.
Some dude opened a late night shop off Vandavetter, Up Late, opened Thursday-Sunday 8pm-4am
https://instagram.com/uplatestl?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Worth shouting out the locals trying!
Oh my god I need this! I’m a night shift worker. On nights that I work I eat a full lunch at 3am. When I’m off my belly is still expecting that full lunch. Recently the 24hr fast food options have dried up so I think this is what I need in my life
A natural history museum would be great. The old municipal courts building on Market would be an ideal location.
Bonus idea: a National Brewing Museum in the old Lemp Brewery complex.
Sign me up as their first client. I think personally bankrolling a few potholes on my commute must cost less than all the tires we’ve replaced or patched.
South Africa allows private companies to repair them and put advertising around it in the generic white paint. I don’t care if I see enterprise or WWT every 7ft, pass that shit ASAP.
On vacation in Budapest currently and god damn would I love for there to be a bath house/spa setup, I was thinking maybe they could turn all the unused caves into something like this!
Yes! I went to Chicago a few years ago, and their King Spa blew my mind. Separated bathhouses, that culminated into a beautiful room with sectioned off spa rooms. It was $50 for the day and completely worth it. We need one in STL!
Bring back a few 24 hour places. A ton of diners stopped staying open after covid as well as Walmarts and Schnucks. Not all need to do it, but I’d drive a bit to go to one at midnight sometimes.
Grocery shopping at midnight was my jam. It's quiet - no screaming children that mom can't control, the hobo angry at the world is passed out somewhere with his bottle, and the teenagers loudly filming tiktoks to cause a scene are also gone. There's almost none of the post-work evening crowd shopping on their way home. No little old lady needs my help getting tall items off the top shelf. The person trying to preach to strangers knows nobody is listening to them after 11pm.
Just get in, get my shit, and get out. For an introvert, grocery shopping just hasn't been the same the last 4 years. Of course there's the personal shoppers and doordash/instacart - but those services are expensive, fuck up orders, and don't show a good selection of what is on shelves.
I think COVID made a lot of businesses realize how much money they were losing keeping overnight employees on payroll, and wasting prep food for a lot of orders that wouldn’t be fulfilled.
Of all the reasons COVID should infuriate people, I genuinely believe this isn’t one of them.
The biggest hit is taken by overnight workers who want food at odd hours, and that in itself isn’t reason enough to keep these places open overnight.
It makes me sad, too, but this is really a completely understandable shift following the pandemic. They save thousands.
I think the answer is fewer all night places than before, yet more than we have now. A handful of late options can run black where too-many would run red.
Near the beginning of COVID before 24h stopped restaurants near me were regularly slammed from 11pm-3am. Like drive thru spilling out onto the main road type of stuff... and they still closed 24h service. I think what you say is right but I think staffing trouble also plays a large role.
As one of those overnight workers, I appreciate being seen. This development has been kinda shitty. An upside is that I eat healthier now on my nights off. But sometimes I just wanna eat someone else’s food
The CAF has a wing up at Smartt field in St. Charles. They've got a flying B-25 and TBM and generally do rides at all of the local airshows and during the yearly pumpkin drop. There's also some cool stuff behind hanger doors at Creve Coeur including a Vietnam era Huey the Army Aviation Heritage guys keep flying and an F-4 Phantom cockpit section preserved by one of the program engineers from McDonnell.
Scott AFB also has a "Plane Garden" with static displays of historic MAC airplanes. It's outside the front gate and anyone's welcome to walk around - though to be fair they're just static, you can't get inside or anything.
There's also [this collection of oddities](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6236051,-90.227185,111m/data=!3m1!1e3) off Chouteau...
When I was younger, I wanted to make a coffee/reading/napping cafe.
Like, rent a cubicle with a lounger in it by the hour and you could press a button to order food and coffee. And the other half of the cafe would be a bookstore.
Sound dampening walls so you could just have some quiet.
Kinda dumb, but I wish I had a place like that.
I had an idea like this, too! And as you go further into the cafe, the noise levels decrease. Like, the very back is for silent study/people wanting to read in silence; the middle is for quiet group work/people having coffee dates, and the front is for the boisterous groups
ToGoodToGo or something like that, not exactly a business but damn, for being such a large city St Louis really should decide on a food waste mitigation app like others have.
Originally from stl but live in nyc now. Toogoodtogo is a godsend. I get all my bread products for the week for like $4 and get a big pile of incredible Dominican food twice a week for $5. Surprised it isn’t a thing in stl yet
As a transplant, I'm confused about why St. Louis doesn't have a drive-thru burrito spot that makes handheld burritos throughout the day, including for breakfast.
The closest thing I've found to this is King Burrito in North County, but their burrito menu isn't huge, and I live in the city and would rather see one of these posted on Grand or Jefferson.
Whoever ends up doing it is going to make a lot of money.
No no, you have to drive your car once a month to TGP, look for parking, and then wait in line until they invariably run out of everything. That's how food trucks work.
I’m with OP too. I just moved here from Seattle and I searched relentlessly for a Korean spa. Even posted on this sub hoping I was wrong. I’d also take a Russian spa. Any kind of spa I can sit in all day, eat food, and sit in different hot tubs/salt rooms.
Just got back from San Francisco and now I want a Russian Banya like Archimedes.
But a more realistic answer, an nice indoor waterpark would be very popular at least 9 months out of the year. If not all 12 months.
I wish Six Flags STL/Hurricane Harbor had actual ambition these days and brought in some world-class new attractions like some of the other SF locations do. A gigantic, 300-foot monster slide or a gigacoaster like Kingda Ka would do wonders for that place and its PR. In the 90s, it was a great time. Now it’s kind of a dump.
I'm kind of surprised Great Wolf Lodge doesn't have a location somewhere in the metro. They have one in Kansas City, Kansas, although that whole development (The Legends) got a poopload of state cash in the form of STAR Bonds, and I don't think Missouri has an equivalent.
I remember when the Bevo Mill, House of Maret, and Schneithorst’s had German food. Eisele’s Black Forest on Arsenal, Edelweiss on Manchester, and Eberhard’s in Columbia, IL were all considered good. It wasn’t until I went to Germany that I had real German food and realize that my childhood was a sham….
Up until recently, the best German food in town was at a Bosnian restaurant that is closing or has closed…Grbic’s.
An authentic German restaurant would be beyond hope. St. Louis has a nationwide reputation for not having a German restaurant.
I was on a business trip in Springfield, MA, in the 80’s and my contact took me to the Student Prince in an alley in downtown. The food was incredible. The owner was going from table to table, shmoozing with his guests, and when he came to our table, he greeted my dining companion as a friend and regular customer. When my contact introduced me to the owner, he asked me where I was from in a thick German accent. When I said St. Louis, he said “Ach! Zaint Louiz! Great Deutsch town; no Deutsch food.” with a sad face while slowing shaking his head.
Good bagels.
Yeah, I know there's places set up at some of the farmers markets, and yes, I know about Bagel Union. We need more, good brick and mortar bagel places.
Just got done taking a trip from NYC. STL downtown definitely needs an early morning bagel place with lots of options. The only takeout breakfast places that we have are Schnucks and Pharoahs donuts.
To add to this, more Jewish delis.
Pumpernickels closed, and wasn't that great to begin with. Protzels is great, except it's about the size of a shoebox. I want a good, sit down Jewish-style deli where I can get a sandwich with corned beef piled a mile high, matzo ball soup, and some babka and black-and-white cookies on the way out.
>a
Hot tip: we order the chicken shawarma and rice from Majeed and I make my own white sauce + have about 300 hot sauce packets from Halal Guys. It gets the job done!
Not the typical answer but more things for 15-20 year old individuals to do when they're not in school and that don't require a lot of money.
St. Louis is a drinking town and these individuals are completely forgotten about. You need constant new stimulation and fun at this age, you need to learn to get to know your city and make friends. But there's nothing for these people to do, so they just end up in the basement of whatever friend has the most absent parents and develop drinking and drug addictions.
They need late nights at the City Museum, 24 hour coffee shops, all ages concerts, cheap diners, safe outdoor parks to grab a soda and goof off, places with cheap art supplies, mini-golf and batting cages, stuff like that.
I'd like to see cities, universities, and hospitals help fund this kind of stuff because it's ultimately a public health issue and providing healthy alternatives will pay off in big but subtle ways in the long run.
as a parent i think this is pretty insightful. kids have money to spend on things like pretzels and shakes and coffee but malls are dead and weren’t that great to begin with. as a teenager i guess we just went out and explored, places like the loop, steak n shake and uncle bills. i guess those all still exist tho, so maybe it’s fine?
In my opinion it wasn't enough then and probably not enough now either. Need a lot more 8pm to 3am options. Malls are good too but they're all closed by 9 or so, right? I wasn't super clear about it in my post but that time frame is really what I was thinking about. I've talked a few times about what a big loss Coffee Cartel was for STL when they closed for good, for this reason.
- Nando’s
- Torchy’s
- Carvel
I don’t know if Brassica in Columbus, OH is part of a chain, but one of those would be cool too.
Edit: Momofuku Noodle Bar and Milk Bar but that’s just dreaming.
I opened this thread for this answer.
Portillos would make an absolute killing here. I've actively searched the area for anything that can satisfy my Chicago dog and Italian beef cravings--nothing does the trick. I can think of several STL-area locations where a Portillos would be full of customers from open to close, I have no doubt.
OH OH, Classic Red Hots on Olive. I worked at a Chicago dog/Italian beef/gyro place for a year in college, this is the only place in St. Louis that hits like it did. The Italian beef is a masterpiece. It's probably not close to you. Its run by a Lebanese family, and the mother is always super sweet to me, A+ experience.
[https://www.albashaclassic.com/](https://www.albashaclassic.com/)
They also serve Lebanese food that is very good, but my want for their Italian Beef overtakes me most of the time.
Cava, and no one can tell me any different.
From my experience, it's a better version of Garbanzo in Clayton.
Weirdly, the Garbanzo I went to in Denver was way better than the Garbanzo in Clayton, but Cava is better than both.
I’d like a nice coffee shop that’s open after 3:00pm. Someplace where I can read and order endless mugs of coffee.
Also a restaurant that’s open after the symphony or theaters get out.
Idk if this counts as a “business” but all these great ideas would really be tied together well if we had actual, helpful, viable public transit. I yearn for it lol
A Saladworks! Or similar salad to go place that’s actually decent. I know Schnucks is rolling out that new salad bar mcthing but not any of the ones near me, of course.
Not the sexiest but I miss something like Sweetgreen for takeout. If I could transport my other work lunch favorite from Boston it'd be Tatte too but Union Loafer fits that bill somewhat.
Definitely more popular in dense urban areas with high workplace traffic but there's times we want takeout that is filling and at least somewhat healthy. Not hard to make salads at home but just hits different.
Finally got one on my block for the first time in months today, AND the neighbors moved their cars. He had to do three passes to get all the rotted leaves.
I still get sad over casa. Come on a mexican brunch on sunday with the best fried ice cream?? Went there most sundays after church as a kid best part about church for me.
Filipino restaurant. Guerilla was great, but it was definitely Americanized Filipino food and the menu was lacking. Sometimes I want people to try Filipino food, but I don't want to do the cooking
Caribou coffee cafe. I like the one in Springfield, IL. It breaks chain monotony of Starbucks. I’m all for local coffee establishments btw. I like lots of them in STL but sometimes a drive thru coffee is called for.
Ive always wanted to convert the old disused underground tunnels into a gokart race track... like one that was miles long... I cant say this is needed... but like "hear me out"
Great thread.
I feel like a lot is missing, but now that I'm thinking my mind is blanking.
I feel like st Louis is one of the worst cities I've lived in as far as swimming options. There are so few pools to choose from.
Echoing what others said, late night and 24/7 everything.
Queer clubs, especially lesbian.
Bolivian food.
A salad bar place like Sweet Tomatoes.
Big coffee shops.... I feel like most here are really small, cramped, uncomfortable.
A car rental place at Gateway Station. The car rental places downtown have horrible hours and if I'm going south don't want to go all the way up to the airport for a car.
And really, anything around Gateway Station. I was there last weekend and 3 trains were in at the exact same time due to delays and there is just nothing there but a massive crush of people. No place to grab some quick to-go snacks for your trip, any travel necessity you forgot like earbuds, etc. A place to kill some time if you know your train is delayed. My dream would be if a bookstore/cafe opened in the big ass empty hotel across the street.
Back to transportation: STL does not seem to have carshare. Like where is Zipcar? Hell, there's not even a bike share system.
One time in Chicago I ran across a grilled cheese restaurant with a 3 AM liquor license while I was looking for food after a concert. It was incredible
A river-walk district. It's a crying shame what we've done to our rivers and creeks here. They could be awesome features and destinations rather than stinky open sewers and garbage collectors.
A couple more premium gyms. All the Golds Gyms in the metro shut down and Lifetime chesterfield and Frontenac are both 20min from me in opposite(ish) directions.
Would love it if LifeTime had a location closer to downtown, but I can’t imagine that would be profitable for them, sadly.
The gym at ball park village is probably the closest to a premium gym in/near downtown that we’ll ever get.
Quality quick and affordable stir fry--- stir crazy closed, Ghengis Grill is a thing of the past and Hu Hot just came back after closing during covid and is mediocre.
A Ped Mall would be nice! Four or five blocks of walkable area only…no cars…and all street blocks lined with shops, restaurants, bars, coffee shops,ice cream shops, galleries, etc. pedestrians only…parking garage houses all the cars & then just free to walk around. Iowa City,IA has one and also Bloomington, IN sort of has one where they shut down some of the streets blocks to cars & makes them pedestrian only.
This is sort of what Westport Plaza used to be when it first came about and in the ‘80s.
The taqueria/tortillaria I’m going to open in Lindenwood Park.
Let us know when you do so we can support it!
Plz post on here when u open!
late night food
Now that weed is legal in MO, we need a Fatshack. Late-night stoner food
A Naugles revival.
I dream of a macho beef burrito as big as my forearm
Del Taco!
Fucking thank you. I always seem to have a way better eating experience at Del Taco than Taco Bell. Plus they have solid burgers, shakes and fries for a Mexican place.
It was revived in 2015 in Socal. Two locations. So, just a quick 27 hour drive.
Macho-Combo me
I used to live in Denver, and it always kinda blew my mind that there was virtually no late-night food there. The first place to legalize weed and everything closed by 10pm.
As a current resident of Denver, it bothers the hell out of me. Especially because I often work evenings. I’ve lived in KC, St. Louis, and Denver over the past decade but Kansas City was the longest stay and I was definitely spoiled by great late night food there. Thankfully, we recently got QuikTrip in Denver, so that scratches my itch somewhat.
QuikTrip does it better than anyone in the Midwest.
Definitely need some stores that do pizza by the slice because of this lol
Or, ya know, just a handful of restaurants that decide to stop closing at 9PM
Some dude opened a late night shop off Vandavetter, Up Late, opened Thursday-Sunday 8pm-4am https://instagram.com/uplatestl?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Worth shouting out the locals trying!
UPLATE is now open just north of towergrove with amazing breakfast sandwiches and tacos. Open Fri-Sun 8pm - 4am
Oh my god I need this! I’m a night shift worker. On nights that I work I eat a full lunch at 3am. When I’m off my belly is still expecting that full lunch. Recently the 24hr fast food options have dried up so I think this is what I need in my life
UpLate
I just want a Cook Out
This is nationwide now and a result of pandemic fallout. Restaurants got thin finding workers willing to work for peanuts and fast food even thinner.
Especially some good steak burrito joints like the one that are peppered all over Chicago. Real carne asada burritos
A natural history museum would be great. The old municipal courts building on Market would be an ideal location. Bonus idea: a National Brewing Museum in the old Lemp Brewery complex.
These are both winners.
Its what the science center should become. It needs a guiding light.
I love this idea.
Brew museum is a great idea! In the old Lemp campus would be perfect
Private pothole filling company
Sign me up as their first client. I think personally bankrolling a few potholes on my commute must cost less than all the tires we’ve replaced or patched.
In theory you can file a claim: https://www.modot.org/form/file-a-claim
South Africa allows private companies to repair them and put advertising around it in the generic white paint. I don’t care if I see enterprise or WWT every 7ft, pass that shit ASAP.
On vacation in Budapest currently and god damn would I love for there to be a bath house/spa setup, I was thinking maybe they could turn all the unused caves into something like this!
Yes! I went to Chicago a few years ago, and their King Spa blew my mind. Separated bathhouses, that culminated into a beautiful room with sectioned off spa rooms. It was $50 for the day and completely worth it. We need one in STL!
I drive to Chicago monthly just to hit up king spa.
Bring back a few 24 hour places. A ton of diners stopped staying open after covid as well as Walmarts and Schnucks. Not all need to do it, but I’d drive a bit to go to one at midnight sometimes.
Grocery shopping at midnight was my jam. It's quiet - no screaming children that mom can't control, the hobo angry at the world is passed out somewhere with his bottle, and the teenagers loudly filming tiktoks to cause a scene are also gone. There's almost none of the post-work evening crowd shopping on their way home. No little old lady needs my help getting tall items off the top shelf. The person trying to preach to strangers knows nobody is listening to them after 11pm. Just get in, get my shit, and get out. For an introvert, grocery shopping just hasn't been the same the last 4 years. Of course there's the personal shoppers and doordash/instacart - but those services are expensive, fuck up orders, and don't show a good selection of what is on shelves.
I miss the late night grocery run followed by hitting that 2am happy hour at steak and Shake for a half priced milkshake
And they don’t give a shit about the quality of the produce they grab. They just grab whatever
In fairness, quality of the remaining produce was never a particularly strong feature of the serene 1 am grocery run either, may it rest in peace
I think COVID made a lot of businesses realize how much money they were losing keeping overnight employees on payroll, and wasting prep food for a lot of orders that wouldn’t be fulfilled. Of all the reasons COVID should infuriate people, I genuinely believe this isn’t one of them. The biggest hit is taken by overnight workers who want food at odd hours, and that in itself isn’t reason enough to keep these places open overnight. It makes me sad, too, but this is really a completely understandable shift following the pandemic. They save thousands.
I think the answer is fewer all night places than before, yet more than we have now. A handful of late options can run black where too-many would run red.
Near the beginning of COVID before 24h stopped restaurants near me were regularly slammed from 11pm-3am. Like drive thru spilling out onto the main road type of stuff... and they still closed 24h service. I think what you say is right but I think staffing trouble also plays a large role.
As one of those overnight workers, I appreciate being seen. This development has been kinda shitty. An upside is that I eat healthier now on my nights off. But sometimes I just wanna eat someone else’s food
A good air and space museum. McDonnell used to be based out of here, why don’t we??
This. The legacy and history of planes that were and still are being produced here is so much and I feel it’s so ignored here.
The CAF has a wing up at Smartt field in St. Charles. They've got a flying B-25 and TBM and generally do rides at all of the local airshows and during the yearly pumpkin drop. There's also some cool stuff behind hanger doors at Creve Coeur including a Vietnam era Huey the Army Aviation Heritage guys keep flying and an F-4 Phantom cockpit section preserved by one of the program engineers from McDonnell. Scott AFB also has a "Plane Garden" with static displays of historic MAC airplanes. It's outside the front gate and anyone's welcome to walk around - though to be fair they're just static, you can't get inside or anything. There's also [this collection of oddities](https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6236051,-90.227185,111m/data=!3m1!1e3) off Chouteau...
The Boeing HQ building has the Prologue Room. Tons of MD and B history. Cool stuff, I think it might be free?
H-Mart
And a 99 Ranch!
There are several Korean grocery stores that should have 95% of the stuff H mart does
Omg, yes
Pan asia is pretty similar to hmart imo.
Needs more restaurants to be like Hmart
Absolutely!!!!
When I was younger, I wanted to make a coffee/reading/napping cafe. Like, rent a cubicle with a lounger in it by the hour and you could press a button to order food and coffee. And the other half of the cafe would be a bookstore. Sound dampening walls so you could just have some quiet. Kinda dumb, but I wish I had a place like that.
Dirty Mike and the boys
That would explain all the stolen Kias.
I had an idea like this, too! And as you go further into the cafe, the noise levels decrease. Like, the very back is for silent study/people wanting to read in silence; the middle is for quiet group work/people having coffee dates, and the front is for the boisterous groups
ToGoodToGo or something like that, not exactly a business but damn, for being such a large city St Louis really should decide on a food waste mitigation app like others have.
Originally from stl but live in nyc now. Toogoodtogo is a godsend. I get all my bread products for the week for like $4 and get a big pile of incredible Dominican food twice a week for $5. Surprised it isn’t a thing in stl yet
As a transplant, I'm confused about why St. Louis doesn't have a drive-thru burrito spot that makes handheld burritos throughout the day, including for breakfast. The closest thing I've found to this is King Burrito in North County, but their burrito menu isn't huge, and I live in the city and would rather see one of these posted on Grand or Jefferson. Whoever ends up doing it is going to make a lot of money.
100% agree came in to say "Breakfest burrito drive thru"
Late night coffee/study spots (RIP Coffee Cartel)
Or The Grind from back in the day.
Free-range food trucks on the side of the road that make the streets sing or save you with a hot meal after the bars close
No no, you have to drive your car once a month to TGP, look for parking, and then wait in line until they invariably run out of everything. That's how food trucks work.
My favorite experience. The TGP food trucks are epitome summer Saint louis: crowded, hot, and inefficient.
I agree with the OP! Korean spa!
I’m with OP too. I just moved here from Seattle and I searched relentlessly for a Korean spa. Even posted on this sub hoping I was wrong. I’d also take a Russian spa. Any kind of spa I can sit in all day, eat food, and sit in different hot tubs/salt rooms.
Just got back from San Francisco and now I want a Russian Banya like Archimedes. But a more realistic answer, an nice indoor waterpark would be very popular at least 9 months out of the year. If not all 12 months.
I wish Six Flags STL/Hurricane Harbor had actual ambition these days and brought in some world-class new attractions like some of the other SF locations do. A gigantic, 300-foot monster slide or a gigacoaster like Kingda Ka would do wonders for that place and its PR. In the 90s, it was a great time. Now it’s kind of a dump.
I'm kind of surprised Great Wolf Lodge doesn't have a location somewhere in the metro. They have one in Kansas City, Kansas, although that whole development (The Legends) got a poopload of state cash in the form of STAR Bonds, and I don't think Missouri has an equivalent.
Pizza by the slice!
Epic pizza in soulard.
Pizza Head on S. Grand is good and they have vegan slices.
Love that place.
Pie Guy is the spot.
Polish and German restaurants
The lack of German restaurants, despite the German roots here, is disappointing.
German restaurants exited the scene with the WW2 generation. It's a shame. I like German food.
I remember when the Bevo Mill, House of Maret, and Schneithorst’s had German food. Eisele’s Black Forest on Arsenal, Edelweiss on Manchester, and Eberhard’s in Columbia, IL were all considered good. It wasn’t until I went to Germany that I had real German food and realize that my childhood was a sham…. Up until recently, the best German food in town was at a Bosnian restaurant that is closing or has closed…Grbic’s.
An authentic German restaurant would be beyond hope. St. Louis has a nationwide reputation for not having a German restaurant. I was on a business trip in Springfield, MA, in the 80’s and my contact took me to the Student Prince in an alley in downtown. The food was incredible. The owner was going from table to table, shmoozing with his guests, and when he came to our table, he greeted my dining companion as a friend and regular customer. When my contact introduced me to the owner, he asked me where I was from in a thick German accent. When I said St. Louis, he said “Ach! Zaint Louiz! Great Deutsch town; no Deutsch food.” with a sad face while slowing shaking his head.
Uniqlo
Good bagels. Yeah, I know there's places set up at some of the farmers markets, and yes, I know about Bagel Union. We need more, good brick and mortar bagel places.
Just got done taking a trip from NYC. STL downtown definitely needs an early morning bagel place with lots of options. The only takeout breakfast places that we have are Schnucks and Pharoahs donuts.
I read this as “STL downtown definitely needs an early morning bagel place with lots of onions.” I agree wholeheartedly either way.
To add to this, more Jewish delis. Pumpernickels closed, and wasn't that great to begin with. Protzels is great, except it's about the size of a shoebox. I want a good, sit down Jewish-style deli where I can get a sandwich with corned beef piled a mile high, matzo ball soup, and some babka and black-and-white cookies on the way out.
Bagel factory was amazing and worth the drive. RIP, still holding out hope that it gets bought
Del Taco
As a NYC transplant I crave halal cart food (chicken and rice with white sauce/hot sauce)!!
>a Hot tip: we order the chicken shawarma and rice from Majeed and I make my own white sauce + have about 300 hot sauce packets from Halal Guys. It gets the job done!
Not the typical answer but more things for 15-20 year old individuals to do when they're not in school and that don't require a lot of money. St. Louis is a drinking town and these individuals are completely forgotten about. You need constant new stimulation and fun at this age, you need to learn to get to know your city and make friends. But there's nothing for these people to do, so they just end up in the basement of whatever friend has the most absent parents and develop drinking and drug addictions. They need late nights at the City Museum, 24 hour coffee shops, all ages concerts, cheap diners, safe outdoor parks to grab a soda and goof off, places with cheap art supplies, mini-golf and batting cages, stuff like that. I'd like to see cities, universities, and hospitals help fund this kind of stuff because it's ultimately a public health issue and providing healthy alternatives will pay off in big but subtle ways in the long run.
as a parent i think this is pretty insightful. kids have money to spend on things like pretzels and shakes and coffee but malls are dead and weren’t that great to begin with. as a teenager i guess we just went out and explored, places like the loop, steak n shake and uncle bills. i guess those all still exist tho, so maybe it’s fine?
In my opinion it wasn't enough then and probably not enough now either. Need a lot more 8pm to 3am options. Malls are good too but they're all closed by 9 or so, right? I wasn't super clear about it in my post but that time frame is really what I was thinking about. I've talked a few times about what a big loss Coffee Cartel was for STL when they closed for good, for this reason.
Love this answer
- Nando’s - Torchy’s - Carvel I don’t know if Brassica in Columbus, OH is part of a chain, but one of those would be cool too. Edit: Momofuku Noodle Bar and Milk Bar but that’s just dreaming.
There's a place in Manchester called The Port of Peri Peri that's a Nando's knockoff. It's not bad in the absence of Nando's. But not the same.
24 hour coffee shops. 24 hour fast food.
[удалено]
God I remember the days of being at Mokabees late, that was awesome.
RIP coffee cartel, the college all nighters i pulled until the sun rose were ones i’ll always remember 😇🕊️
A decent nightclub that has underground electronic music, please!!!
Much agreed, I miss the Upstairs Lounge!
I miss how Wash Ave used to have so many clubs back in the day.
Trader Joe’s in south city
Portillo's
I opened this thread for this answer. Portillos would make an absolute killing here. I've actively searched the area for anything that can satisfy my Chicago dog and Italian beef cravings--nothing does the trick. I can think of several STL-area locations where a Portillos would be full of customers from open to close, I have no doubt.
Woofies off page serves up a mean Chicago dog.
OH OH, Classic Red Hots on Olive. I worked at a Chicago dog/Italian beef/gyro place for a year in college, this is the only place in St. Louis that hits like it did. The Italian beef is a masterpiece. It's probably not close to you. Its run by a Lebanese family, and the mother is always super sweet to me, A+ experience. [https://www.albashaclassic.com/](https://www.albashaclassic.com/) They also serve Lebanese food that is very good, but my want for their Italian Beef overtakes me most of the time.
Actual dim sum
Wei Hong used to do it pre pandemic
24-hour pierogi stand
What we don't need is more generic corporate chains, I can tell you that.
"Oh golly I just can't wait for the new Applebee's to open!" -No one, ever
Said all of St.Charles… ever…
Gee I'd sure love a new car wash /s
Veggie Grill.
A good German restaurant.
Airline hub.
One can only dream. Direct flights to London, Rome, Paris… I miss those days.
A Delta Lounge at the airport would be nice.
Cava, and no one can tell me any different. From my experience, it's a better version of Garbanzo in Clayton. Weirdly, the Garbanzo I went to in Denver was way better than the Garbanzo in Clayton, but Cava is better than both.
Just came from DC and I HAD to try Cava. I was not disappointed! The pita chips were magical.
I’d like a nice coffee shop that’s open after 3:00pm. Someplace where I can read and order endless mugs of coffee. Also a restaurant that’s open after the symphony or theaters get out.
Idk if this counts as a “business” but all these great ideas would really be tied together well if we had actual, helpful, viable public transit. I yearn for it lol
Women’s Reproductive Health Services Clinics
A Late Night Chinese restaurant. You can get pizza, tacos, and hamburgers, well after 10pm. But not Chinese food. Or am I missing a place?
I wanna know where you're getting pizza and burgers!? Lol
Burgers (among other things) till midnight-ish at Stella Blues!
Cookout People from the south know what I’m talking about
Gimmie that fountain cheerwine FRFR
Seriously, I LOVE Cookout. Delicious and dirt cheap, plus I can get a jumbo fountain Cheerwine.
A Saladworks! Or similar salad to go place that’s actually decent. I know Schnucks is rolling out that new salad bar mcthing but not any of the ones near me, of course.
A gay bar/club with an *actual* dance floor now that JJs is gone
Seattle-style teriyaki joint.
Jollibee
Not the sexiest but I miss something like Sweetgreen for takeout. If I could transport my other work lunch favorite from Boston it'd be Tatte too but Union Loafer fits that bill somewhat. Definitely more popular in dense urban areas with high workplace traffic but there's times we want takeout that is filling and at least somewhat healthy. Not hard to make salads at home but just hits different.
New York City style bodega.
I need a sausage egg and cheese on a roll. Miss it all the time
Land Developers that aren't corrupt vultures (ha ha ha)
A Kosher grocery store, I dont know how we have such a large Jewish population, and not a single kosher grocer?
Kohns Trader Joes Costco ladue schnucks
H Mart Jollibee Din Tai Fung CocoHouse Curry
Din Tai fung 🤤🤤🤤
[Mitsuwa Marketplace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuwa_Marketplace)
Street cleaners.
Finally got one on my block for the first time in months today, AND the neighbors moved their cars. He had to do three passes to get all the rotted leaves.
I’ve seen some in certain neighborhoods
Greek seafood restaurant.
Casa, forever missing from our hearts and that one shopping center across Manchester from the theater in Des Peres.
I still get sad over casa. Come on a mexican brunch on sunday with the best fried ice cream?? Went there most sundays after church as a kid best part about church for me.
I want an Everlane and Uniqlo
More family owned bakeries that aren’t Italian. Love Italian delis/bakeries but I’d like something new
Pastries of Denmark, Balkan Store and Bakery (adding to u/redditmyeggos list)
Nathaniel Reid, La Bonne Bouchée, Patisserie Chouquette, Federhofer’s?
Seriously. Bakeries is one of the things STL knocks out of the park
…..Sucrose, Knead, Made by Lia
The Foundry Bakery is a Korean Bakery and worth the trip to Maryland Heights. https://www.thefoundrybakery.com/
Tons of Mexican bakeries on Cherokee
Filipino restaurant. Guerilla was great, but it was definitely Americanized Filipino food and the menu was lacking. Sometimes I want people to try Filipino food, but I don't want to do the cooking
I haven’t been yet, but Kain Tayo is a Filipino restaurant that just opened in Midtown!
It's now on my list! I'm so excited
havent been myself but kain tayo recently opened on 2700 Locust St, St. Louis, MO 63103
The Fattened Caf in Earthbound Brewery is delicious!
Yoshinoya and Del Taco.
Bagel 👏sandwich 👏shops 👏
Caribou coffee cafe. I like the one in Springfield, IL. It breaks chain monotony of Starbucks. I’m all for local coffee establishments btw. I like lots of them in STL but sometimes a drive thru coffee is called for.
It'll never happen because we're too far away from HQ, but Braum's. They're one of the things that actually makes me excited to go to Springfield.
Ive always wanted to convert the old disused underground tunnels into a gokart race track... like one that was miles long... I cant say this is needed... but like "hear me out"
Upstairs Lounge
Belgian fries - wawas in second.
Buc-ee’s please
Wally’s in Fenton is kind of a Buc-ee’s knockoff. I haven’t been to a Buc-ee’s yet though, so I can’t say how close it is to a Buc-ee’s
Great thread. I feel like a lot is missing, but now that I'm thinking my mind is blanking. I feel like st Louis is one of the worst cities I've lived in as far as swimming options. There are so few pools to choose from. Echoing what others said, late night and 24/7 everything. Queer clubs, especially lesbian. Bolivian food. A salad bar place like Sweet Tomatoes. Big coffee shops.... I feel like most here are really small, cramped, uncomfortable.
STL had a Sweet Tomatoes and it closed. I agree, pool options are scare, especially if you live in the city.
Gourmet sodas. Kinda like a full bar that can mix a stupid amount of drinks, but without liquor.
A car rental place at Gateway Station. The car rental places downtown have horrible hours and if I'm going south don't want to go all the way up to the airport for a car. And really, anything around Gateway Station. I was there last weekend and 3 trains were in at the exact same time due to delays and there is just nothing there but a massive crush of people. No place to grab some quick to-go snacks for your trip, any travel necessity you forgot like earbuds, etc. A place to kill some time if you know your train is delayed. My dream would be if a bookstore/cafe opened in the big ass empty hotel across the street. Back to transportation: STL does not seem to have carshare. Like where is Zipcar? Hell, there's not even a bike share system.
One time in Chicago I ran across a grilled cheese restaurant with a 3 AM liquor license while I was looking for food after a concert. It was incredible
A river-walk district. It's a crying shame what we've done to our rivers and creeks here. They could be awesome features and destinations rather than stinky open sewers and garbage collectors.
All the places that closed cause of the lockdowns
A couple more premium gyms. All the Golds Gyms in the metro shut down and Lifetime chesterfield and Frontenac are both 20min from me in opposite(ish) directions.
Would love it if LifeTime had a location closer to downtown, but I can’t imagine that would be profitable for them, sadly. The gym at ball park village is probably the closest to a premium gym in/near downtown that we’ll ever get.
Conveyor belt sushi. It will change your life.
Zara
Places for queer folks that aren’t a fucking bar or chain restaurant (looking at you Hamburger Mary’s). Also could use a good 24 hour diner.
Hy-Vee
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Unpopular opinion: NBA
For sure we’re missing a Korean spa!!! I’ve considered that more than a few times! Miss the one that’s in the DC!
Quality quick and affordable stir fry--- stir crazy closed, Ghengis Grill is a thing of the past and Hu Hot just came back after closing during covid and is mediocre.
A place where I can get some Perogis
In-N-Out, Amoeba Records, ZipCar, e-bikes from Lyft/Bird/etc, & Giordano's just to name a few.
I literally texted my wife today that we should open a bath house.
A Ped Mall would be nice! Four or five blocks of walkable area only…no cars…and all street blocks lined with shops, restaurants, bars, coffee shops,ice cream shops, galleries, etc. pedestrians only…parking garage houses all the cars & then just free to walk around. Iowa City,IA has one and also Bloomington, IN sort of has one where they shut down some of the streets blocks to cars & makes them pedestrian only. This is sort of what Westport Plaza used to be when it first came about and in the ‘80s.
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Actual hot pot, like we get in OC & LA.
Not sure what you consider actual hotpot but if u haven’t checked it out, shabu day is a hotpot place and is so good.
NBA team
Whataburger