Hello and welcome again to Arch Eats. I'm George Mahe and I'm Cheryl Beer. And this week in an episode, we're calling Lucky Charms. We're gonna delve into the hallmarks of Irish food and the best places in town to get it. And we'll end up with a micro rant about the use of vacuum cleaners in restaurants. I said vacuum cleaners in restaurants. This episode of Ar Eat brought to you by Saint Louis Art Museum. But first, we're going to lead off with what we
always do, what I can't stop thinking about this week. Cheryl.
Well, you apparently have a surprise. So I am in anticipation of that right now, but I will go ahead and go first and I guess I should say one of the things I can't stop thinking about is your awesome ensemble today, which I wish we were recording this. George. You are decked out in a shamrock gear. You have really committed to the theme of this episode. So I
commend you on that. That's amazing. But the thing I can't stop thinking about there is a dive bar restaurant in West County that I just discovered called Smitty's and George you know, me, you know, my love of a good dive.
You're a dive bar.
I love them. I think it's my fluorescent roots. I can't get enough of them. And I just love discovering places. I've never been to kind of hole in the walls because, you know, to me that is the heart and soul of the restaurant business. These independent little spots where people are just doing their thing and what you find is they're doing their thing incredibly well. And that's what I discovered at this place called Smitty's, which is, um, I
believe it's Baldwin. It's very near the intersection of Clayton and Baxter Roads. Um, kind of not too far from that Barnett Lucerne development, but this is just a little bitty restaurant and bar wood paneling. Old Clydesdale chandelier hanging. You know, you've got to love that. But what I was shocked about was how well they were doing, um, how well they do their food, everything is handmade there. Apparently it's some of
the best fried chicken in town. I had the chicken wings and, um, they actually hand bread the chicken wings to order before. And so they're almost like little fried chicken wings. And, um, and then you can get a variety of sauces. They do a lasagna that is as big as your head. They do that on Monday nights. It's kind of like a blue plate special. So I, I was just blown away that this place was kind of hiding in plain
sight for me. And, um, I just, I can't wait to go back and work my way through every blue plate special they have on, on the weekdays,
every neighborhood in town should have a place like this and a lot do. And that's what we're here to do is kind of reveal some of these. But no, I totally agree with you. It's so funny because that's what I'm talking about. Not Smitty's, but there's a place in Valley Park called the Duck In Market. Are you, are you hip to this place at all? I am not. They've been there five years.
I remember reading about them five years ago and I just had forgotten about them and I don't, I don't even remember why I was out in Valley Park, but this is a, this is a Market slash Cajun restaurant and convenience store in the convenience store in the middle of downtown Valley Park. Uh It's run by uh two chefs, a father and son. The father is Scott Drake and he was a corporate chef at Schnucks. He worked at some of the best
country clubs in Saint Louis. I mean, this guy's an established chef and I was pretty impressed with that until he told me about his son who works with him, who was a graduate of the culinary Institute in Hyde Park. So he's automatically a rock star and I'm just like going, oh man, what is going on here. This is so cool. And I started looking in the case that they had for, um, you know, for, for lunch time there and I saw
a lot of Cajun goodies. Uh, there was a crawfish hand pie voodoo pasta salad. Um, they do Cajun bread pudding and apparently I haven't had the cookies, but people said the cookies are the best thing they do. There's a Butterfinger cookie, a gooey butter cake cookie, an oatmeal raisin cookie. Why didn't we think to put Raisinets in oat cookies? And one of their signatures is what I brought for you today. And it's a crawfish crab Rangoon. So, and I have them
here for you today. Have you tried this or is this, I've tried it. Are we doing this? I'll keep talking while you are just no, no audible chewing on air place. This is not a sound
effect either folks. This is the real,
real heavy duty.
Well, first of all, you can tell this person is a CIA grad because this is the most beautifully put together crab Rangoon. I think I've ever seen
symmetrical. Yeah,
it's kind of like that purse shape where they're folded in the center. Not that kind of like flatter wonton, but it's like this perfect square. So I am going to um go off mic a little bit. So I'm not chewing at you all. And so,
so while you go in, while you get into that, this place is just so cool. They've got prepared food. They've got, um, you know, like I said, made to order, take out food. You, you go to the register and the, a third son is taking orders on those little green pads and you take, he rips off the sheet and you take the little order and go back and hand it to the father and son and they make your order up.
They do, um, they do a Cajun dinner once a month, uh, where they break out the table cloths, they cater. They've got an old school food truck. You know, one of those old trucks that go to the construction sites with like the quilted stainless steel sides that they pull up. Do, do you remember that? And anyway, this is just an unbelievable place. Um, they're only open, I think 7 to 5 Monday through Friday. So don't go there on the weekend. And I mean, it's just like, it's just like a
place you'd see like down there in Lafayette. You know, it's just, it's just really cool. And last, but not least there's, there's fishing lures, spinners and catfish bait.
George. This is unbelievable. This is so good. I can't get over this because it's creamy, like a crab Rangoon. But I feel almost, um, you know, you get the Cajun flavors, but
it's almost kind of spice in there for
sure. It's almost kind of like if you could replace the jalapeno of a jalapeno popper with like the Trinity of Cajun food. So, it kind of has that similar.
Like, I bet there's peppers, onions and celery in there. And you can tell it's got a little Ramala, you know, it's got a little, probably some cayenne pepper in it. But aren't they just, this is unbelievable. And they come with sweet and sour sauce. Apparently there's other sauces that they are, but I was just totally enamored with that until I saw this item. And it's, it's a, it's a chicken leg lollipop. They take a chicken leg and, and take the meat and bring it toward the end
of it. They call it French. Right? And they put some, uh, some sweet hot sticky sauce on it. Oh my gosh. I wish people could see this,
like meat, candy
apple and it's as big as like a baby's fist, right? Or, or a five year olds fist anyway. So this is their, one of their signature items. They have them there every day for lunch and, but I've tried to eat it like a regular lollipop. You can't do it, you get it all over your nose. You've got to turn it to the side. Ok,
I'm gonna try. All right. Let's see what we do here. Let's this thing. It really does. It's, instead of a stick that would be on a candy apple. It is a, you know, drumstick. So it feels very primal right now. Ok, I'm going in
a little more on duck in. They've got a small menu. I mean, the place is packed for lunch every day, but they've always got specials and a lot of them are, like I said, with a, with a Cajun Flair. One thing that I just, I'm really sorry. I missed, there's a boneless roasted organic chicken stuffed with New Orleans, French bread stuffing, coated in Carolina mustard sauce with homemade gravy on the side. I mean, I don't know when they're going to do that again, but I want to make sure I check
it out. You're, you're, you're nodding, you're, you're making, um, and, ah, over there off mic,
if there is a pause in our dialogue here, just know it's because I can't stop eating this, this should be called what? I can't stop eating what I can't stop thinking.
I, I did the same thing. I brought it to take home and this was even worse. I ate it in, I ate it in the car, which was, you know, so I have, uh, you know, drumstick parts all over the front of my car. But isn't that just an awesome,
you know, you know what it reminds me of it kind of gives me a similar feeling to like a general so's chicken. It's very similar to that, but a little sweeter, not hot at all. Um, but kind of along that line. This may the best kept secret in town,
I think. So. Too. This will be when we do our best Kept Secrets Hidden Gems Podcast. This, this place will be at the top of the list. You've
officially blown my mind.
Duck in Market. Uh 324 Saint Louis Street, Valley Park.
I will, I will be there tomorrow. Are you kidding?
So, uh now that you're green with envy uh over the Cajun food, we can talk about some Irish food, which is what we're here to do. We'll be right back, dive into the world of renowned artist, Henri Matisse as his masterpieces come alive to examine the significance of the sea through paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and more on view
through May 12th at the Saint Louis Art Museum. This ground breaking exhibition explores matisse's lifelong fascination beneath the waves, tracing his travels across his career, visit slam.org/exhibitions to get your tickets and explore the global influences that shaped matisse's art
and now back to the show.
So I was thinking about this and, and my contention, I guess my, my gripe with Irish food in Saint Louis is we've got all these Irish bars. We've got tons of them. They're everywhere, but most of them don't deal with much Irish food. Now, they don't get into some of these Irish traditional foods. Yes. You see Shepherd's pie. You know the, the meat pie, the lamb pie that's got the potatoes on top. You'll see Irish stews right again, usually made with lamb.
And uh those are thickened with potatoes, which is something I didn't know till not that long ago. It's, it's not a ro, it's thickened with potato. So, you know, but there's other items that are really good that I don't ever see or I hardly see. Have you ever had boxy? Now, boxy is a potato pancake. It's made with mashed potatoes and hash brown potatoes. So it's got some texture. It's got some oomph
to it. Is it like the tuck of potatoes? It sounds like it's
a giant patty and it's so good. The other item that you do see occasionally at, at Saint Patrick's Day time is called Cannon, which is mashed potatoes with leeks and cabbage incorporated into it. And you know, a lot of people that don't like cabbage, I'm sure will like it this way. So, you know, there's Irish soda bread. Yeah, that you see that a lot. But I'm just, there's so many Irish kind of traditional Irish soups and chowders.
And there's a stew called Cottle. There's so many great Irish items and you don't even see them at Saint Patrick's Day. So I'm here to tell you I would just like to see some of these Irish bars, Irish restaurants. You know, let's do, let's do it up, let's do it right. Let's uh let's see what people, let's see if we can get people to like this because let's face it. A lot of them are potato based anyway.
They don't cost a lot of money. I think it's just, I think there's a missed opportunity there.
Yeah. No, I would agree. I mean, I think the extent we get is you see, corned beef on menus, you see a Reuben and that's, I would call like these bars, Irish adjacent rather than like, traditionally like an Irish pub.
And, and, you know, the home cooks definitely can get in on this a little bit. There's a lot of Irish cheddar cheeses, which are very distinctive in, in flavor and color and especially Irish butter, which I buy from time to time when I'm feeling flush Kerrygold butter, we get Kol all the and it's, it's great. It's, you know, there's the reason it's so good. It's, it's super yellow, it's got a very yellow color and there's, there's less water in it,
uh than, than American butters. So it's more flavorful. It's more spread. And uh I guess the reason I'm told that it's sweeter is it comes from grass fed cows. I'm not sure the connection there, but grass fed cows equal sweeter butter, but that's some really good butter if you really want. Yeah, it's a splurge for me. It sounds like it's an everyday item. So these
little luxuries, you know that we
treat ourselves to. So anyway, that's my Irish lesson for today. I hope you find my little history lesson somewhat interesting. Looked like you were reasonably engaged over there. It
is. Well, I'm a big fan of like Guinness stew. I think it just doesn't get any better. And that, and, uh, I'd love to see that on more of these menus for sure.
And, uh, yes, you see him occasionally but I think we should see him more often. Let's, let's move on to just straight Irish bars which were, let's face it. They're fun in their own. Right. They're fun. 365 and around Saint Patrick's Day time, which is where we are now, Saint Patty's Day. Uh, they, they even get, you know, they, they, they knock it up a notch. They, they ratchet it up a notch or two. And I know you've got, you've got a couple faves. I've got a couple faves. Let's start,
let's start trading blows here. I
do. Well, I, I can go ahead and start if, yeah, you're great with that. Um, one of my favorites, which again, I would probably call it Irish adjacent is a Pat Connolly tavern over in Dogtown. So, I mean, it doesn't get more Irish than that, but this is just one of those iconic Saint Louis restaurants kind of hits that spot where, yes, it's a bar, but it also has
really great food. I'd consider it more of like a tavern, something that you would probably find in Ireland, you know, where it's, they're serving Guinness and, you know, all of the cocktails and everything, but
it's
great fish and chips, great fried chicken. Um, but it just feels like a kind of a family atmosphere. It doesn't feel like a bar bar where you would feel weird bringing the kids, they encourage you to bring kids
and it's been there a long, long, long time and it's gone over and it's gone through several name iterations too. I think it was just,
it was Pat for a while. Exactly.
I think it might be Pat Connolly Tavern. But I, I, you know, it could be something else. I don't think it's going anywhere. So, whatever the name is, it's just a great Irish bar in,
well, in the family of the founder, they were running it for a few years recently and that's when it became Pat Connolly to again. Now they did sell it to another gentleman about a year ago, but they've had a long standing relationship. This person was a longtime dogtown or I'm sorry, high point area resident. But he was always in dogtown and really developed a relationship in the family that they felt comfortable. He was going to be a steward of their legacy. So he said that
he's kept basically everything the same. He has no plans on changing things. He does hope to get like a really nice outdoor patio. He even talked about doing snow cones for people who, if you know where Pat Connolly is. It's right by that bridge on Tam that goes over to the zoo. So, yeah, so he's picturing this very festive atmosphere where you're grabbing a snow cone.
The zoo like a creme de Menthe snow cone, please. Oh, that
sounds wonderful. So that's, that's definitely one of the tops on my
list. Speaking, since we're in Dogtown, we can't forget about Seamus mcdaniels, which is, is quintessential an Irish bar in that area is there is, and again, it's, it's a little more Irish in name than cuisine there. Um Just because in days past what they were most known for was that pork tenderloin sandwich? That was as big as big as your face. No wonder to hang out of all sides of the, of the bun, they still serve it. But what has become more popular there now are the burgers.
It's a, it's a really significant burger house. They've got 10 ounce burgers. That's a monster. All the meat you'll ever need and served a whole bunch of different ways. So, so Seamus is, is always there and they've got that patio area back with those three garage doors that they throw up when the weather gets nice. I have a feeling for Saint Patrick's Day. That's gonna be just rocking and rolling. Yeah,
that's just such a fun spot. I mean, you go to the Dogtown parade, which I would argue is the essential Irish parade here in town. Um, and then you just, you gather at Seamus mcdaniels and it's, it's a fun time. Definitely. You
will have a fun time.
Yes. Um, another Irish bar that I love is o'connell's. I think o'connell's just captures everything about that feeling. It's dark, the Guinness is flowing. It has this old historic type feel to it. I love o'connell's so much. I love o'connell's for the atmosphere, but I also love it for their burger and their roast beef sandwich. You know, you're talking about a good burger that burger at o'connell's
just, you know, and it's like, it's a, you know, you, you need a quintessential burger and that was, that was it for a long time and seamless and still is. And the reason why I don't know how they do this when you order a medium rare burger, it's medium rare all the way through. It's medium rare and that's really hard to do. It's medium rare where you get this little band of, you know, red in the middle and they call it medium rare. Not at o'connell's. It's,
it's the temperature of the meat. It's the temperature of the grill. It's the skill of the cook anyway. It is always a perfect burger and that's why it's so well known. It's
perfect and don't sleep on the roast beef sandwich there. We call it the roast beast. And, you know, people, people who know know that that is just, um, that's a monster of a sandwich as well. But I, I, I love o'connell's o'connell's might be my favorite on the, I don't know, it's hard to pick favorites.
It's got a whole bunch more than I want to go through. I might just tempt you with. How about Helen Fitzgeralds? Out in Sunset Hills? That's fine. I mean, it's all the place is humongous and it's always, it's always just chock full of people. It's a cyber family restaurant, which means they sell a lot of those mustard coated wings and I must admit I didn't like that for a while because I was a Buffalo Wing guy and all of a sudden, I, it's, it's a really good wing sauce. A really good,
you know, it's a different sauce, right? Are you a, you a cyber mustardy wing fan? I
was actually just at Cybers last and I did not have the mustardy wings. I, I always go buffalo and they have great blue cheese. I know that sounds like a random thing. But for some reason, their blue cheese is just perfect with. So I always go classic buffalo, but I don't discount the mustard Wing.
And I know you're a, you're a, we were talking about Tuckers and, and inexpensive, uh, steaks. They filet. They've got, I think it's an eight ounce filet dinner for 2499 which is just really crazy cheap. Yes. So, you know, you can do that. They do have, and they have a pretty decent actually, uh, Irish, uh, selection. They've got Shepherd's pie, they've got the Guinness stew and on Thursdays happy hour runs all night long. I didn't
know that till recently, but I'm gonna take note for sure. Right. What else you got?
So, um, you know, I'm going back out west again. You know, we talked about Smitty's, I'm going out west. I am actually going to the Barnett Lucerne this time. Um, right there at, uh, Clayton and Kerr's Mill Roads and that's where Clancy's Irish pub is now. There are actually two Clancys
out that way. This is very confusing. It feels
confusing and I don't quite know the lore of this, but I believe it, the original was out of Manchester, kind of more in that Ellisville area. Um And that one still exists and I would classify that as more of like a bar bar that they do have good food out there. But I would say that's probably more like a little bit more on the divey side. Whereas the Clancys at Barn is kind of a little bit more of an upscale. And what I recently learned is they have a butcher
shop associated with it. So their burger here we are. There must be something about Irish bars in Saint Louis and burgers because they grind their own meat right there on the spot for these burgers. And um it's, it's awfully tasty, but they, they have a, just a ton of great food there. So
that's Clancy's pub at the Barn as opposed to the original Clancy's Irish Pub. I had to look those up because I said, I know they have to have different names. So, you know, like, like you said, one's, uh, one's in the old barn at Lucerne and the other one's off Fold State Road in Ellisville.
Yeah. No, they're fun spots for sure.
Let's go back downtown and no discussion of Irish Bars is complete without talking about Maggie o'brien's. It's supposedly, I, I'm told the oldest longest running Irish pub in the city 45 years old. And they were really smart. They, they knew it was time for a refresh. And with that little stadium going up across the street, they went through a major, major, uh, rehab and, and overhaul and it's now painted Kelly green. You can't miss it. And, uh, it's just a fun place, you know, before
the game, after the game. Uh, it's always busy down there at, uh, at soccer time. You know, they get into those cutesy names for sandwiches and things, you know, there's a Notre Dame, there's a Dublin dip, but I do like the chicken dish called the O Hennessy. Oh, no,
that are fabulous.
Fabulous. And the other one I like. And then I'll let it go. King of Rings with o apostrophe. So, anyway, Maggie o'brien's, you know, it's a great place and the thing that's cool about Maggie's, that a lot of people don't realize you can park for free and take a $2 shuttle to Cardinals games, to the Blues games, to concerts. That's the best deal going. That is a great deal. Maggio's downtown. They also have a location in Sunset Hills. So, have you ever been to Riley's pub?
I have been to Riley's pub.
You will remember it. And those, those folks like me that are frugal go on Monday nights and Tuesday nights when the large pizzas are half price and they're really good pizzas. It's just like we're, you know, kind of, some of those bar pizzas are kind of, you know, phoned in jobs. Not these, you have to have a
couple of cocktails before they
just, it's just so good. And you can tell that this is AAA quintessential Irish bar in Saint Louis on their blackboard menu. You see mozzarella available? I love it. Welcome to Saint Louis. Yes, exactly. That's Riley's. Um, you got any more on your list? I know we were, we were just compiling this. Why this could go on for days. Yeah, I
mean, I do have Fallon's Irish bar and grill, which, that's, that's been a fun spot of mine. Um, right there at 170 in Olive, right by the Sugar Fire. That, that's just a fun spot. They have good burgers, they have good wings. Um, the one in Ellisville is very similar to that, that's a fun gathering spot. So, do you have anything else on your list before we get to? The obvious
choice? Yes, there is an obvious choice but one place that I just think is, is incredible. And I must admit I had not been in there, but I was intrigued about it is Foley's bar and grill in Maplewood right near where we are in our office. And uh it's a self proclaimed dive bar and it's, they say we're a self proclaimed dive bar located on the right side of the tracks because they're right by the railroad. Yes. Anyway, it's downtown historic Maplewood. And that's when Jon Hamm was in town, he was
hanging out at Foley's claim to fame. It is. So I walked in that John Hamm was not around, but it's very, it's very on the downlow. There's no posted menu. The food is very inexpensive. I think a quarter pound burger like 550 which is as cheap as burgers are going to get in a bar. Um It's, it's, it's a nice little place. There's two rooms, one of them has pool tables. But what I didn't realize till I walked in is smoking is allowed. And I was just kind of, my
head was on a swivel. There, there were ashtrays everywhere and I talked to the bartender. Uh what's, you know what's going on? He goes, we're grandfathered in. I said, I know there are some, he goes, there's about a dozen of us in town where that still have a smoking uh permission to smoke. So, how about that? So you don't see anymore. You know, I'm not a smoker. You're not a smoker, but there's a lot of smokers out there. Foley's bar in Male Foley's is the
spot. So there is one obvious choice on our list here that I guess we're saving the best for last perhaps. And that of course, is the iconic, legendary, whatever superlative you want to call it mcgurk's the Jewel of Soulard.
Absolutely. It was, it was the top of both our lists with a big star
with stars and asterisks and hearts and everything drawn around it. Uh, Shamrocks, one of the best bars in Saint Louis, one of the best bars in the country they've been nationally recognized by, I think it was Esquire a while ago, did a huge profile on them. They rightfully so when I think of mcgurk's, I can't think of it without actually hearing classic Irish music in my mind. That, that just to me sets the tone for this beautiful bar.
But then there's the courtyard. That courtyard is just stunning. What do you think about? I
think it's the biggest courtyard in the city. I want to say it's 15,000 square feet. There's three bars out there. Uh, it's partially covered in the winter time. So it's open all winter. You know, they've got a, they've got a fountain there, they've got a waterfall there. They've got a Koi pond out there. You can just keep walking and walking and walking. Cheesy one. It's really, it's really well done.
And, uh, I was talking to the manager out there, uh, a short time ago and I said, I'm just curious, I probably know the answer to this, but it's the most popular item on the menu. You wanna guess?
I mean, or not beer? I would say fish and chips, maybe. Reuben. Reuben. Ok. Ok. Yeah, beer
was definitely the right,
the right response non beverage.
So anyway, that, that's, I guess makes sense. But there is a grilled boneless pork chop dish that they have that is really good and they serve it over, uh, French green lentils and there's a, uh, I think a smoked potato rotten that goes with it. And some, uh, there's like a spiced fruit reduction that they put on top with like raisins, Apri Hodson. It's not something you'd normally associate with with that kind of place. But man, it's a really good item. But mcgurk's is, that's it.
It's the, it's the beacon of Solar and it's just a wonderful
place. It's so much fun. There is nowhere else. If you have to pick one place to go for Saint Patrick's Day for any day, it's mcgurk's. It's the place to be.
So, yeah, Ruben, main component, corned beef. That's one of your, like, four essential food groups.
Exactly. Oh, I do. I mean, anything that involves a brisket, I'm, you know, I'm sold
and, and when we originally were talking about this, you said, wait, let me just do a little soliloquy on corned beef So, here goes, folks. Yes.
Well, George, I'll, I'll let you make the joke about corned beef and eating that on, um, on Saint Patrick's Day. What is it that you always
say? I know it's, it's, and I, this is kind of my tradition and uh before I go out to the Irish bars a lot, I will go have a corned beef. Uh And pastrami Reuben at Pretzels deli nothing says Saint Patrick's Day like pretzels. But yeah, so that's like, that's like the running joke in our family is, is George gonna get, is his Jewish deli sandwich? Yes, I am. Would you not? Exactly. That's a whole other story.
Well, I do love corned beef. You are not incorrect about that. And I thought it would be fun to kind of round up some of the best corned beef here in town for those who maybe they just want to grab a sandwich or maybe it's not even a Saint Patrick's Day thing. You just, I mean, why wouldn't you love corned beef every day of the year? So, um some of my favorites, of course, and I did corned beef, not pastrami. I just want
to be very clear on that. There are a lot of great pastrami places in town too, but I'm going straight to corned beef. And
a lot of people think it's a lot of people don't know what the difference is. Corned beef is, is, is boiled or burn and pastrami is the same cut of meat that's smoked. That's, that's in its simplest form. Exactly.
So you talked about pretzels? You are right about this. This is a, you know, since I think, since the 19 fifties, 54 maybe they've been around, they use the same recipe. This is the place on wide down in Clayton. So Pretzels is definitely high on that list there and they use
the same Panini press that they've used for decades. And uh I said in an article that it was old enough to be a George Foreman prototype because I swear to God, it's 40 or 50 years old. Yes.
Yes. And then other institutions, of course, you have Carl's and I know everyone talks about Carl's for the pastrami and rightfully so it's delicious.
This is Carl's Deli, not Carl's
Drive. Yes, that is correct. Carl's Deli right there at Demon and Clayton Road, you know, in the shadow of the Amoco sign. That is a wonderful spot to cones. Another kind of institution here in town. Posh Nosh in Clayton. I mean, they,
you forget
about it. It is. It is. And that's just super traditional as well. Do they
still have the pickle jars on the table? I believe so. Yes.
Yes. Just a classic. But then kind of some of the, I mean, not brand new but the newer kids in town. I love Lester's corned beef. Their Reuben is absolutely fantastic. That's uh in Ledu. Big sports bar. Um, but I'll tell you their Reuben's fantastic there and
they, I think they, they were originally trying to copy Carnegie Deli. Like, we're going to have a sandwich that's going to be a mile high like that. And I think, I think, yeah, one of the options you don't have to get it that way. But you can get it though. So, what Carnegie Deli? I don't know if you remember what the restaurant model was. If you can finish your meal, we've done something wrong. Oh, that's, that's a class. Not there anymore. But boy, it's a great motto. Should pick up on that.
Um, one of my favorite restaurants in town. Stellar hog. It's, it's one of my favorite smokehouses. They have, it's called the Smokey Rubenson. So, of course, so it is their corned beef, but it's smoked. That is fantastic smoked,
which he calls it corned beef. But then he, and then he smokes it, which kind of makes it pastrami. But it's not
peppery. Like, you know, it doesn't have the pepper.
Give him a pass because Alex cup is a really,
we're giving him a pass on that and we're also, I guess then giving heavy riff a pass because they smoke theirs as well. And they use their sauerkraut on there. They do a gin sauerkraut. I don't know if you've heard of that, but they actually use G Yes. Well, they not gin, but I know. Right. They use the same botanicals that they use in gin. So think of Juniper Coriander, things like nutmeg ginger. Um And then they do an Adobo 1000 Island season. That's,
I've never had that. That sounds like a great, that
is a tasty one. And then of course, we can't leave out deli divine Ben Pemba, quintessential New York style Jewish deli over in the Delmar Makers District. He does fantastic corned beef. They're very traditional. You can either get it stacked with other meats, just plain with mustard on rye bread. And um it's, it's a wonderful spot and he's
such a detail fanatic. He did a lot of research on everything that he's done. I remember the breads. I think there was, I forget six or eight different breads that they got in just, just for the breads, for these sandwiches and I forget one of them. I think this comes from my gosh. I don't remember. Um I wanna say Philadelphia is where they ended up with the, the bread of choice. Anyway. So if you any Ben Pemba restaurant everything is, is
just so highly researched. He really does a great job with, with everything he does. Yeah,
very immersive. I love the experiences at his restaurant. And then um I guess the last one on my list is Lefty's bagels out in Chesterfield. Now they have great bagels, but they also do a wonderful corned
beef. I've never made it to the corned beef. I get, I get my bagel fix and run out the door and eat them in my
car. Yes, their bagels are fantastic corned beef on a bagel. It doesn't get any better for those who love corned beef as much as I do. Those are the spots.
We'll be right back. This episode of Arch Eats brought to you in part by Opera Theater of Saint Louis experience the future of opera with stories for Saint Louis chosen by Saint Louis, see three genre defining short operas with the new works collective playing March 14th through the 16th at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, learn more at experience opera.org.
And now back to the show,
there's a few kind of like random Irish goodies that I wanted to bring up that are always, I think about them every year. There is, of course, Irish coffee, like you know what's interesting about that is a lot of the places in town don't serve Irish coffee, traditional Irish coffee. Bailey's in it. It's Bailey's in coffee. But uh Bailey's chocolate bar does on request Momo out in Rock Hill does. But most of them like you say or the, the
Irish coffee is Irish Cream. It's not like they serve it at the point of this to cafe out in San Francisco, which is like the quintessential uh Irish coffee joint. But I tell you they have a frozen Irish coffee at the pitch across City Park Stadium and it is really good and really potent and really deceiving you drink one of these down and, you know, you've had some, some alcohol. It's just, it's, it's one of the best frozen drinks in town to
limit one. But, but it's really, really good. Um, there is a corned beef and cabbage kolache that, um, Saint Louis kolache does only on one day, only on Saint Patrick's Day. And, uh, I always, I'm tempted to get an Irish cream cheesecake at Hank's at this time of
year. It's always a good time for an Irish cream
cheesecake. It is, you know, kind you gotta love Hanks comes in three sizes. You know, you can get a small one if you want. But the other one that, that I really like the other item is, is something that they have as stars. I mean, kids of all ages, likely sour cream and shamrock potato chips. Oh, that's so fun.
And I just, how the heck can anyway, I just thought it was so, and I was just going to bring you some of those today and I didn't, but they're made with, with real shamrocks and they're from a line of chips called Kos. And that it's an Irish family farm that grows their own potatoes and makes their own chips. And anyway, they've got different seasonings that they put on them and stars carries it. Uh,
one of them is blue cheese and onion. That's a good chip and one I haven't had that I want to is flavored with roast turkey and stuffing. Wow. How the heck did they do that? I don't know. But I want to find out. Oh,
that sounds fun. I wonder if you eat those chips and maybe go play the lottery if, like, you've ingested luck or something.
I do it the way I like it. That exhausts our knowledge for today on Irish foods and Irish goodies. And we're going to get into the last segment, which is our micro rant and it's, it's always something that's fun to talk about. I think it's something that most people
identify with and Cheryl. I know that you feel the same way as I do when somebody turns on a vacuum in a restaurant, it's 20 or 30 minutes before closing time and you might, might hear it in the next room and all of a sudden that noise gets closer, that droning noise and it's like, wait, what? It's like this is it time for us to go already? Did somebody like, blow a whistle? You know, like when did floor maintenance coincide with open hours? What the heck's going on here? Are you, are you
with me on that? I am.
So, with you on it there, you know, you've just, you've probably spent several $100. I mean, it is not cheap to go out to eat anymore and you're getting back. I mean, do they want you to lift your feet? I don't
know. Queue up the parties over. What's, you know, what's next, that yellow mop bucket with the squeaky wheels? Is that going to come through that? What I, you know, that's what I'm expecting to see. Fine. Keep your restaurant clean with one of those little manual vacuum cleaners. You know what I'm talking about? The hokey. Right. With the skinny handles. Those are fine. They don't make any noise. You can use
them all the time. Otherwise keep that electrical monster in the closet until we've walked out the door.
It's just, I mean, it's just a courtesy. Yeah, I think they're may be signaling it's time to leave. But you know,
I don't either. Come on restaurants, get it together. Thank you for listening to Arch Eats. Be sure to follow us and share with your friends because we put out new episodes every other Friday and we always provide links in the show notes for everything you heard about today and don't forget to hit that subscribe button and follow along on Instagram at Saint Louis Mag and feel free to give us a call personally, George Mahe and Cheryl Hebert.
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