Speaker 1: Hello and welcome again to Arch Eats. I'm George Mahe
Speaker 1: and I'm Cheryl Beer. And this week in an episode,
Speaker 1: we're calling Lucky Charms. We're gonna delve into the hallmarks
Speaker 1: of Irish food and the best places in town to
Speaker 1: get it. And we'll end up with a micro rant
Speaker 1: about the use of vacuum cleaners in restaurants. I said
Speaker 1: vacuum cleaners in restaurants. This episode of Ar Eat brought
Speaker 1: to you by Saint Louis Art Museum.
Speaker 1: But first, we're going to lead off with what we
Speaker 1: always do, what I can't stop thinking about this week. Cheryl.
Speaker 2: Well, you apparently have a surprise. So I am in
Speaker 2: anticipation of that right now, but I will go ahead
Speaker 2: and go first and I guess I should say
Speaker 2: one of the things I can't stop thinking about is
Speaker 2: your awesome ensemble today, which I wish we were recording this. George.
Speaker 2: You are decked out in a shamrock gear. You have
Speaker 2: really committed to the theme of this episode. So I
Speaker 2: commend you on that. That's amazing. But the thing I
Speaker 2: can't stop thinking about there is a dive
Speaker 2: bar restaurant in West County that I just discovered called
Speaker 2: Smitty's and George you know, me, you know, my love
Speaker 2: of a good dive.
Speaker 1: You're a dive bar.
Speaker 2: I love them. I think it's my fluorescent roots. I
Speaker 2: can't get enough of them. And I just love discovering places.
Speaker 2: I've never been to kind of hole in the walls because,
Speaker 2: you know, to me that is the heart and soul
Speaker 2: of the restaurant business. These independent little spots where people
Speaker 2: are just doing their thing and what you find is
Speaker 2: they're doing their thing incredibly well. And that's what I
Speaker 2: discovered at this place called Smitty's, which is, um, I
Speaker 2: believe it's Baldwin. It's very near the intersection of Clayton
Speaker 2: and Baxter Roads. Um, kind of not too far from
Speaker 2: that Barnett Lucerne development, but
Speaker 2: this is just a little bitty restaurant and bar
Speaker 2: wood paneling. Old Clydesdale chandelier hanging. You know, you've got
Speaker 2: to love that. But what I was shocked about was
Speaker 2: how well they were doing, um, how well they do
Speaker 2: their food, everything is handmade there. Apparently it's some of
Speaker 2: the best fried chicken in town. I had the chicken
Speaker 2: wings and, um, they actually hand bread the chicken wings
Speaker 2: to order before. And so they're almost like little fried
Speaker 2: chicken wings. And, um,
Speaker 2: and then you can get a variety of sauces. They
Speaker 2: do a lasagna that is as big as your head.
Speaker 2: They do that on Monday nights. It's kind of like
Speaker 2: a blue plate special. So I, I was just blown
Speaker 2: away that this place was kind of hiding in plain
Speaker 2: sight for me. And, um, I just, I can't wait
Speaker 2: to go back and work my way through every blue
Speaker 2: plate special they have on, on the weekdays,
Speaker 1: every neighborhood in town should have a place like this
Speaker 1: and a lot do.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're here to do is kind of
Speaker 1: reveal some of these. But no, I totally agree with you.
Speaker 1: It's so funny because that's what I'm talking about. Not Smitty's,
Speaker 1: but there's a place in Valley Park called the Duck
Speaker 1: In Market. Are you, are you hip to this place
Speaker 1: at all? I am not. They've been there five years.
Speaker 1: I remember reading about them five years ago and I
Speaker 1: just had forgotten about them and I don't, I don't
Speaker 1: even remember why I was out in Valley Park, but
Speaker 1: this is a,
Speaker 1: this is a Market slash Cajun restaurant and convenience store
Speaker 1: in the convenience store in the middle of downtown Valley Park.
Speaker 1: Uh It's run by uh two chefs, a father and son.
Speaker 1: The father is Scott Drake and he was a corporate
Speaker 1: chef at Schnucks. He worked at some of the best
Speaker 1: country clubs in Saint Louis. I mean, this guy's an
Speaker 1: established chef and I was pretty impressed with that until
Speaker 1: he told me about his son who works with him,
Speaker 1: who was a graduate of the culinary Institute in Hyde Park.
Speaker 1: So he's automatically a rock star and I'm just like going,
Speaker 1: oh man, what is going on here. This is so cool.
Speaker 1: And I started looking in the case that they had for, um,
Speaker 1: you know, for, for lunch time there and I saw
Speaker 1: a lot of Cajun goodies. Uh, there was a crawfish
Speaker 1: hand pie voodoo pasta salad.
Speaker 1: Um, they do Cajun bread pudding and apparently I haven't
Speaker 1: had the cookies, but people said the cookies are the
Speaker 1: best thing they do. There's a Butterfinger cookie, a gooey
Speaker 1: butter cake cookie, an oatmeal raisin cookie. Why didn't we
Speaker 1: think to put Raisinets in oat cookies? And one of
Speaker 1: their signatures is what I brought for you today. And
Speaker 1: it's a crawfish crab Rangoon. So, and I have them
Speaker 1: here for you today. Have you tried this or is this,
Speaker 1: I've tried it. Are we doing this?
Speaker 1: I'll keep talking while you are just no, no audible
Speaker 1: chewing on air place. This is not a sound
Speaker 2: effect either folks. This is the real,
Speaker 1: real heavy duty.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you can tell this person is
Speaker 2: a CIA grad because this is the most beautifully put
Speaker 2: together crab Rangoon. I think I've ever seen
Speaker 1: symmetrical. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's kind of like that purse shape where they're folded
Speaker 2: in the center. Not that kind of
Speaker 2: like flatter wonton, but it's like this perfect square. So
Speaker 2: I am going to um go off mic a little bit.
Speaker 2: So I'm not chewing at you all. And so,
Speaker 1: so while you go in, while you get into that,
Speaker 1: this place is just so cool. They've got prepared food.
Speaker 1: They've got, um, you know, like I said, made to order,
Speaker 1: take out food. You, you go to the register and the,
Speaker 1: a third son is taking orders on those little green
Speaker 1: pads
Speaker 1: and you take, he rips off the sheet and you
Speaker 1: take the little order and go back and hand it
Speaker 1: to the father and son and they make your order up.
Speaker 1: They do, um, they do a Cajun dinner once a month,
Speaker 1: uh, where they break out the table cloths, they cater.
Speaker 1: They've got an old school food truck. You know, one
Speaker 1: of those old trucks that go to the construction sites
Speaker 1: with like the quilted stainless steel sides that they pull up. Do,
Speaker 1: do you remember that? And anyway, this is just an
Speaker 1: unbelievable place. Um, they're only open, I think 7 to
Speaker 1: 5 Monday through Friday. So don't go there on the weekend.
Speaker 1: And I mean, it's just like, it's just like a
Speaker 1: place you'd see like down there in Lafayette. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just, it's just really cool. And
Speaker 1: last, but not least there's, there's fishing lures, spinners and
Speaker 1: catfish bait.
Speaker 2: George.
Speaker 2: This is unbelievable. This is so good. I can't get
Speaker 2: over this because it's creamy, like a crab Rangoon. But
Speaker 2: I feel almost, um, you know, you get the Cajun flavors,
Speaker 2: but
Speaker 1: it's almost kind of spice in there for
Speaker 2: sure. It's almost kind of like
Speaker 2: if you could replace the jalapeno of a jalapeno popper
Speaker 2: with like the Trinity of Cajun food. So, it kind
Speaker 2: of has that similar.
Speaker 1: Like, I bet there's peppers, onions and celery in there.
Speaker 1: And you can tell
Speaker 1: it's got a little Ramala, you know, it's got a little,
Speaker 1: probably some cayenne pepper in it. But aren't they just,
Speaker 1: this is unbelievable. And they come with sweet and sour sauce.
Speaker 1: Apparently there's other sauces that they are, but I was
Speaker 1: just totally enamored with that until I saw this item.
Speaker 1: And it's, it's a,
Speaker 1: it's a chicken leg lollipop. They take a chicken leg and,
Speaker 1: and take the meat and bring it toward the end
Speaker 1: of it. They call it French. Right? And they put some, uh,
Speaker 1: some sweet hot sticky sauce on it. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: I wish people could see this,
Speaker 2: like meat, candy
Speaker 1: apple and it's as big as like a baby's fist, right? Or,
Speaker 1: or a five year olds fist anyway. So this is their,
Speaker 1: one of their signature items. They have them there every
Speaker 1: day for lunch and,
Speaker 1: but I've tried to eat it like a regular lollipop.
Speaker 1: You can't do it, you get it all over your nose.
Speaker 1: You've got to turn it to the side. Ok,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna try. All right. Let's see what we do here.
Speaker 2: Let's this thing. It really does. It's, instead of a
Speaker 2: stick that would be on a candy apple. It is a,
Speaker 2: you know, drumstick. So it feels very primal right now. Ok,
Speaker 2: I'm going in
Speaker 1: a little more on duck in. They've got a small menu.
Speaker 1: I mean, the place is packed for lunch every day,
Speaker 1: but they've always got specials and a lot of them are,
Speaker 1: like I said, with a, with a Cajun Flair. One
Speaker 1: thing that I just, I'm really sorry. I missed, there's
Speaker 1: a boneless roasted organic chicken stuffed with New Orleans, French
Speaker 1: bread stuffing, coated in Carolina mustard sauce with homemade gravy
Speaker 1: on the side.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know when they're going to do
Speaker 1: that again, but I want to make sure I check
Speaker 1: it out. You're, you're, you're nodding, you're, you're making, um, and, ah,
Speaker 1: over there off mic,
Speaker 2: if there is a pause in our dialogue here, just
Speaker 2: know it's because I can't stop eating this, this should
Speaker 2: be called what? I can't stop eating what I can't
Speaker 2: stop thinking.
Speaker 1: I, I did the same thing. I brought it to
Speaker 1: take home and this was even worse. I ate it in,
Speaker 1: I ate it in the car, which was, you know,
Speaker 1: so I have, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, drumstick parts all over the front of my car.
Speaker 1: But isn't that just an awesome,
Speaker 2: you know, you know what it reminds me of it
Speaker 2: kind of gives me a similar feeling to like a
Speaker 2: general so's chicken. It's very similar to that, but a
Speaker 2: little sweeter, not hot at all. Um, but kind of
Speaker 2: along that line. This may
Speaker 2: the best kept secret in town,
Speaker 1: I think. So. Too. This will be when we do
Speaker 1: our best Kept Secrets Hidden Gems Podcast. This, this place
Speaker 1: will be at the top of the list. You've
Speaker 2: officially blown my mind.
Speaker 1: Duck in Market. Uh 324 Saint Louis Street, Valley Park.
Speaker 2: I will, I will be there tomorrow. Are you kidding?
Speaker 1: So, uh now that you're green with envy uh over
Speaker 1: the Cajun food, we can talk about some Irish food,
Speaker 1: which is what we're here to do. We'll be right back,
Speaker 1: dive into the world of renowned artist, Henri Matisse as
Speaker 1: his masterpieces come alive to examine the significance of the
Speaker 1: sea through paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and more on view
Speaker 1: through May 12th at the Saint Louis Art Museum. This
Speaker 1: ground
Speaker 1: breaking exhibition explores matisse's lifelong fascination beneath the waves, tracing
Speaker 1: his travels across his career, visit slam.org/exhibitions to get your
Speaker 1: tickets and explore the global influences that shaped matisse's art
Speaker 2: and now back to the show.
Speaker 1: So I was thinking about this and, and my contention,
Speaker 1: I guess my, my gripe with Irish food in Saint
Speaker 1: Louis is we've got all these Irish bars. We've got
Speaker 1: tons of them. They're everywhere, but most of them don't
Speaker 1: deal with much Irish food. Now, they don't get into
Speaker 1: some of these Irish traditional foods. Yes. You see Shepherd's pie.
Speaker 1: You know the, the meat pie, the lamb pie that's
Speaker 1: got the potatoes on top. You'll see Irish stews right again,
Speaker 1: usually made with lamb.
Speaker 1: And uh those are thickened with potatoes, which is something
Speaker 1: I didn't know till not that long ago. It's, it's
Speaker 1: not a ro, it's thickened with potato. So, you know,
Speaker 1: but there's other items that are really good that I
Speaker 1: don't ever see or I hardly see. Have you ever
Speaker 1: had boxy?
Speaker 1: Now, boxy is a potato pancake. It's made with mashed
Speaker 1: potatoes and hash brown potatoes. So it's got some texture.
Speaker 1: It's got some oomph
Speaker 2: to it. Is it like the tuck of potatoes? It
Speaker 2: sounds like it's
Speaker 1: a giant patty and it's so good. The other item
Speaker 1: that you do see occasionally at, at Saint Patrick's Day
Speaker 1: time is called Cannon, which is mashed potatoes with leeks
Speaker 1: and cabbage incorporated into it. And you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of people that don't like cabbage, I'm sure will like
Speaker 1: it this way. So, you know, there's Irish soda bread. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that you see that a lot. But I'm just,
Speaker 1: there's so many Irish kind of traditional Irish soups and chowders.
Speaker 1: And there's a stew called Cottle. There's so many great
Speaker 1: Irish items and you don't even see them at Saint
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day. So I'm here to tell you I would
Speaker 1: just like to see some of these Irish bars, Irish restaurants.
Speaker 1: You know, let's do, let's do it up, let's do
Speaker 1: it right. Let's uh let's see what people, let's see
Speaker 1: if we can get people to like this because let's
Speaker 1: face it. A lot of them are potato based anyway.
Speaker 1: They don't cost a lot of money. I think it's just,
Speaker 1: I think there's a missed opportunity there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I would agree. I mean, I think the
Speaker 2: extent we get is you see, corned beef on menus,
Speaker 2: you see a Reuben and that's, I would call like
Speaker 2: these bars, Irish adjacent rather than like, traditionally like an
Speaker 2: Irish pub.
Speaker 1: And, and, you know, the home cooks definitely can get
Speaker 1: in on this a little bit. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: Irish cheddar cheeses, which are very distinctive in, in flavor
Speaker 1: and color and especially Irish butter, which I buy from
Speaker 1: time to time when I'm feeling flush Kerrygold butter, we
Speaker 1: get Kol all the
Speaker 1: and it's, it's great. It's, you know, there's the reason
Speaker 1: it's so good. It's, it's super yellow, it's got a
Speaker 1: very yellow color and there's, there's less water in it,
Speaker 1: uh than, than American butters. So it's more flavorful. It's
Speaker 1: more spread. And uh I guess the reason I'm told
Speaker 1: that it's sweeter is it comes from grass fed cows.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure the connection there, but grass fed cows
Speaker 1: equal sweeter butter, but that's some really good butter if
Speaker 1: you really want.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a splurge for me. It sounds like it's
Speaker 1: an everyday item. So these
Speaker 2: little luxuries, you know that we
Speaker 1: treat ourselves to. So anyway, that's my Irish lesson for today.
Speaker 1: I hope you find my little history lesson somewhat interesting.
Speaker 1: Looked like you were reasonably engaged over there. It
Speaker 2: is. Well, I'm a big fan of like Guinness stew.
Speaker 2: I think it just doesn't get any better.
Speaker 2: And that, and, uh, I'd love to see that on
Speaker 2: more of these menus for sure.
Speaker 1: And, uh, yes, you see him occasionally but I think
Speaker 1: we should see him more often. Let's, let's move on
Speaker 1: to just straight Irish bars which were, let's face it.
Speaker 1: They're fun in their own. Right. They're fun. 365 and
Speaker 1: around Saint Patrick's Day time, which is where we are now,
Speaker 1: Saint Patty's Day.
Speaker 1: Uh, they, they even get, you know, they, they, they
Speaker 1: knock it up a notch. They, they ratchet it up
Speaker 1: a notch or two. And I know you've got, you've
Speaker 1: got a couple faves. I've got a couple faves. Let's start,
Speaker 1: let's start trading blows here. I
Speaker 2: do. Well, I, I can go ahead and start if, yeah,
Speaker 2: you're great with that. Um, one of my favorites, which again,
Speaker 2: I would probably call it Irish adjacent is a Pat
Speaker 2: Connolly tavern over in Dogtown. So, I mean, it doesn't
Speaker 2: get more Irish than that, but this is just one
Speaker 2: of those iconic Saint Louis restaurants kind of hits that
Speaker 2: spot where, yes, it's a bar, but it also has
Speaker 2: really great food. I'd consider it more of like a tavern,
Speaker 2: something that you would probably find in Ireland, you know,
Speaker 2: where it's, they're serving
Speaker 2: Guinness and, you know, all of the cocktails and everything,
Speaker 2: but
Speaker 1: it's
Speaker 2: great fish and chips, great fried chicken. Um, but it
Speaker 2: just feels like a kind of a family atmosphere. It
Speaker 2: doesn't feel like a bar bar where you would feel
Speaker 2: weird bringing the kids, they encourage you to bring kids
Speaker 1: and it's been there a long, long, long time and
Speaker 1: it's gone over and it's gone through several name iterations too.
Speaker 1: I think it was just,
Speaker 2: it was Pat for a while. Exactly.
Speaker 1: I think it might be Pat Connolly Tavern. But I, I,
Speaker 1: you know, it could be something else. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's going anywhere. So, whatever the name is, it's just
Speaker 1: a great Irish bar in,
Speaker 2: well, in the family of the founder, they were running
Speaker 2: it for a few years recently and that's when it
Speaker 2: became Pat Connolly to
Speaker 2: again. Now they did sell it to another gentleman about
Speaker 2: a year ago, but they've had a long standing relationship.
Speaker 2: This person was a longtime dogtown or I'm sorry, high
Speaker 2: point area resident. But he was always in dogtown and
Speaker 2: really developed a relationship in the family that they felt comfortable.
Speaker 2: He was going to be a steward of their legacy.
Speaker 2: So he said that
Speaker 2: he's kept basically everything the same. He has no plans
Speaker 2: on changing things. He does hope to get like a
Speaker 2: really nice outdoor patio. He even talked about doing snow
Speaker 2: cones for people who, if you know where Pat Connolly is.
Speaker 2: It's right by that bridge on Tam that goes over
Speaker 2: to the zoo. So, yeah, so he's picturing this very
Speaker 2: festive atmosphere where you're grabbing a snow cone.
Speaker 1: The zoo like a creme de Menthe snow cone, please. Oh,
Speaker 1: that
Speaker 2: sounds wonderful. So that's, that's definitely one of the tops
Speaker 2: on my
Speaker 1: list.
Speaker 1: Speaking, since we're in Dogtown, we can't forget about Seamus mcdaniels,
Speaker 1: which is, is quintessential an Irish bar in that area
Speaker 1: is there is, and again, it's, it's a little more
Speaker 1: Irish in name than cuisine there. Um Just because in
Speaker 1: days past what they were most known for was that
Speaker 1: pork tenderloin sandwich? That was as big as big as
Speaker 1: your face. No wonder to hang out of all sides
Speaker 1: of the, of the bun, they still serve it. But
Speaker 1: what has become more popular there now are the burgers.
Speaker 1: It's a, it's a really
Speaker 1: significant burger house. They've got 10 ounce burgers. That's a monster.
Speaker 1: All the meat you'll ever need and served a whole
Speaker 1: bunch of different ways. So, so Seamus is, is always
Speaker 1: there and they've got that patio area back with those
Speaker 1: three garage doors that they throw up when the weather
Speaker 1: gets nice. I have a feeling for Saint Patrick's Day.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be just rocking and rolling. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's just such a fun spot. I mean, you go
Speaker 2: to the Dogtown parade, which I would argue is the
Speaker 2: essential Irish parade here in town.
Speaker 2: Um, and then you just, you gather at Seamus mcdaniels
Speaker 2: and it's, it's a fun time. Definitely. You
Speaker 1: will have a fun time.
Speaker 2: Yes. Um, another Irish bar that I love is o'connell's.
Speaker 2: I think o'connell's just captures everything about that feeling. It's dark,
Speaker 2: the Guinness is flowing.
Speaker 2: It has this old historic type feel to it. I
Speaker 2: love o'connell's so much. I love o'connell's for the atmosphere,
Speaker 2: but I also love it for their burger and their
Speaker 2: roast beef sandwich. You know, you're talking about a good
Speaker 2: burger that burger at o'connell's
Speaker 1: just, you know, and it's like, it's a,
Speaker 1: you know, you, you need a quintessential burger and that was,
Speaker 1: that was it for a long time and seamless and
Speaker 1: still is. And the reason why I don't know how
Speaker 1: they do this when you order a medium rare burger,
Speaker 1: it's medium rare all the way through. It's medium rare
Speaker 1: and that's really hard to do. It's medium rare where
Speaker 1: you get this little band of, you know, red in
Speaker 1: the middle and they call it medium rare. Not at o'connell's. It's,
Speaker 1: it's the temperature of the meat. It's the temperature of
Speaker 1: the grill. It's the skill of the cook anyway. It
Speaker 1: is always a perfect burger and that's why it's so
Speaker 1: well known. It's
Speaker 2: perfect and don't sleep on the roast beef sandwich there.
Speaker 2: We call it the roast beast. And, you know, people,
Speaker 2: people who know know that that is just, um, that's
Speaker 2: a monster of a sandwich as well. But I, I,
Speaker 2: I love o'connell's o'connell's might be my favorite on the,
Speaker 2: I don't know, it's hard to pick favorites.
Speaker 1: It's got a whole bunch more than I want to
Speaker 1: go through. I might just tempt you with. How about
Speaker 1: Helen Fitzgeralds? Out in Sunset Hills? That's fine. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's all the place is humongous and it's always, it's
Speaker 1: always just chock full of people. It's a cyber family restaurant,
Speaker 1: which means they sell a lot of those mustard coated
Speaker 1: wings and I must admit I didn't like that for
Speaker 1: a while because I was a Buffalo Wing guy and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I,
Speaker 1: it's, it's a really good wing sauce. A really good,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a different sauce, right? Are you a,
Speaker 1: you a cyber mustardy wing fan? I
Speaker 2: was actually just at Cybers last and I did not
Speaker 2: have the mustardy wings. I, I always go buffalo and
Speaker 2: they have great blue cheese. I know that sounds like
Speaker 2: a random thing. But for some reason, their blue cheese
Speaker 2: is just perfect with. So I always go classic buffalo,
Speaker 2: but
Speaker 2: I don't discount the mustard Wing.
Speaker 1: And I know you're a, you're a, we were talking
Speaker 1: about Tuckers and, and inexpensive, uh, steaks. They filet. They've got,
Speaker 1: I think it's an eight ounce filet dinner for 2499
Speaker 1: which is just
Speaker 1: really crazy cheap. Yes. So, you know, you can do that.
Speaker 1: They do have, and they have a pretty decent actually, uh, Irish, uh, selection.
Speaker 1: They've got Shepherd's pie, they've got the Guinness stew and
Speaker 1: on Thursdays happy hour runs all night long. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that till recently, but I'm gonna take note for sure. Right.
Speaker 1: What else you got?
Speaker 2: So, um,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm going back out west again. You know,
Speaker 2: we talked about Smitty's, I'm going out west. I am
Speaker 2: actually going to the Barnett Lucerne this time. Um, right
Speaker 2: there at, uh, Clayton and Kerr's Mill Roads and that's
Speaker 2: where Clancy's Irish pub is now. There are actually two
Speaker 2: Clancys
Speaker 1: out that way. This is very confusing. It feels
Speaker 2: confusing and I don't quite know the lore of this,
Speaker 2: but I believe it, the original was
Speaker 2: out of Manchester, kind of more in that Ellisville area.
Speaker 2: Um And that one still exists and I would classify
Speaker 2: that as more of like a bar bar that they
Speaker 2: do have good food out there. But I would say
Speaker 2: that's probably more like a little bit more on the
Speaker 2: divey side. Whereas the Clancys at
Speaker 2: Barn is kind of a little bit more of an upscale.
Speaker 2: And what I recently learned is they have a butcher
Speaker 2: shop associated with it. So their burger here we are.
Speaker 2: There must be something about Irish bars in Saint Louis
Speaker 2: and burgers because they grind their own meat right there
Speaker 2: on the spot for these burgers. And um
Speaker 2: it's, it's awfully tasty, but they, they have a, just
Speaker 2: a ton of great food there. So
Speaker 1: that's Clancy's pub at the Barn as opposed to the
Speaker 1: original Clancy's Irish Pub. I had to look those up
Speaker 1: because I said, I know they have to have different names. So,
Speaker 1: you know, like, like you said, one's, uh, one's in
Speaker 1: the old barn at Lucerne and the other one's off
Speaker 1: Fold State Road in Ellisville.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, they're fun spots for sure.
Speaker 1: Let's go back downtown
Speaker 1: and no discussion of Irish Bars is complete without talking
Speaker 1: about Maggie o'brien's. It's supposedly, I, I'm told the oldest
Speaker 1: longest running Irish pub in the city 45 years old.
Speaker 1: And they were really smart. They, they knew it was
Speaker 1: time for a refresh. And with that little stadium going
Speaker 1: up across the street, they went through a major, major, uh,
Speaker 1: rehab and, and overhaul and it's now painted Kelly green.
Speaker 1: You can't miss it.
Speaker 1: And, uh, it's just a fun place, you know, before
Speaker 1: the game, after the game. Uh, it's always busy down
Speaker 1: there at, uh, at soccer time. You know, they get
Speaker 1: into those cutesy names for sandwiches and things, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a Notre Dame, there's a Dublin dip, but I
Speaker 1: do like the chicken dish called the O Hennessy. Oh, no,
Speaker 2: that are fabulous.
Speaker 1: Fabulous. And the other one I like. And then I'll
Speaker 1: let it go. King of Rings with o apostrophe. So, anyway,
Speaker 1: Maggie o'brien's, you know, it's a great place and the
Speaker 1: thing that's cool about Maggie's, that a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't realize you can park for free and take a
Speaker 1: $2 shuttle
Speaker 1: to Cardinals games, to the Blues games, to concerts. That's
Speaker 1: the best deal going. That is a great deal. Maggio's downtown.
Speaker 1: They also have a location in Sunset Hills. So, have
Speaker 1: you ever been to Riley's pub?
Speaker 2: I have been to Riley's pub.
Speaker 1: You will remember it. And those, those folks like me
Speaker 1: that are frugal go on Monday nights and Tuesday nights
Speaker 1: when the large pizzas are half price and they're really
Speaker 1: good pizzas. It's just like we're, you know, kind of,
Speaker 1: some of those bar pizzas are kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, phoned in jobs. Not these, you have to
Speaker 1: have a
Speaker 2: couple of cocktails before they
Speaker 1: just, it's just so good. And you can tell that
Speaker 1: this is AAA quintessential Irish bar in Saint Louis on
Speaker 1: their blackboard menu. You see mozzarella available?
Speaker 1: I love it. Welcome to Saint Louis. Yes, exactly. That's Riley's. Um,
Speaker 1: you got any more on your list? I know we were,
Speaker 1: we were just compiling this. Why this could go on
Speaker 1: for days. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean, I do have Fallon's Irish bar and grill, which, that's,
Speaker 2: that's been a fun spot of mine. Um, right there
Speaker 2: at 170 in Olive, right by the Sugar Fire. That,
Speaker 2: that's just a fun spot. They have good
Speaker 2: burgers, they have good wings. Um, the one in Ellisville
Speaker 2: is very similar to that, that's a fun gathering spot. So,
Speaker 2: do you have anything else on your list before we
Speaker 2: get to? The obvious
Speaker 1: choice? Yes, there is an obvious choice but one place
Speaker 1: that I just think is, is incredible. And I must
Speaker 1: admit I had not been in there, but I was
Speaker 1: intrigued about it is Foley's bar and grill in Maplewood
Speaker 1: right near where we are in our office. And uh
Speaker 1: it's a self proclaimed dive bar
Speaker 1: and it's, they say we're a self proclaimed dive bar
Speaker 1: located on the right side of the tracks because they're
Speaker 1: right by the railroad. Yes. Anyway, it's downtown historic Maplewood.
Speaker 1: And that's when Jon Hamm was in town, he was
Speaker 1: hanging out at Foley's claim to fame. It is. So
Speaker 1: I walked in that John Hamm was not around, but
Speaker 1: it's very, it's very on the downlow. There's no posted menu.
Speaker 1: The food is very inexpensive. I think a quarter pound
Speaker 1: burger like
Speaker 1: 550 which is as cheap as burgers are going to
Speaker 1: get in a bar. Um It's, it's, it's a nice
Speaker 1: little place. There's two rooms, one of them has pool tables.
Speaker 1: But what I didn't realize till I walked in is
Speaker 1: smoking is allowed. And I was just kind of, my
Speaker 1: head was on a swivel. There, there were ashtrays everywhere
Speaker 1: and I talked to the bartender. Uh what's, you know
Speaker 1: what's going on? He goes, we're grandfathered in. I said,
Speaker 1: I know there are some, he goes, there's about a
Speaker 1: dozen of us in town where that still have a
Speaker 1: smoking
Speaker 1: uh permission to smoke. So, how about that? So you
Speaker 1: don't see anymore. You know, I'm not a smoker. You're
Speaker 1: not a smoker, but there's a lot of smokers out there.
Speaker 1: Foley's bar in Male Foley's is the
Speaker 2: spot.
Speaker 2: So there is one obvious choice on our list here
Speaker 2: that I guess we're saving the best for last perhaps.
Speaker 2: And that of course, is the iconic, legendary, whatever superlative
Speaker 2: you want to call it mcgurk's the Jewel of Soulard.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. It was, it was the top of both our
Speaker 1: lists with a big star
Speaker 2: with stars and asterisks and
Speaker 2: hearts and everything drawn around it. Uh, Shamrocks, one of
Speaker 2: the best bars in Saint Louis, one of the best
Speaker 2: bars in the country they've been nationally recognized by, I
Speaker 2: think it was Esquire a while ago, did a huge
Speaker 2: profile on them. They rightfully so when I think of mcgurk's,
Speaker 2: I can't think of it without actually hearing classic Irish
Speaker 2: music in my mind. That, that just to me sets
Speaker 2: the tone for this beautiful bar.
Speaker 2: But then there's the courtyard. That courtyard is just stunning.
Speaker 2: What do you think about? I
Speaker 1: think it's the biggest courtyard in the city. I want
Speaker 1: to say it's 15,000 square feet. There's three bars out there. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's partially covered in the winter time. So it's open
Speaker 1: all winter. You know, they've got a, they've got a
Speaker 1: fountain there, they've got a waterfall there. They've got a
Speaker 1: Koi pond out there. You can just keep walking and
Speaker 1: walking and walking. Cheesy one. It's really, it's really well done.
Speaker 1: And, uh, I was talking to the manager out there, uh,
Speaker 1: a short time ago and I said, I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: I probably know the answer to this, but it's the
Speaker 1: most popular item on the menu. You wanna guess?
Speaker 2: I mean, or
Speaker 2: not beer? I would say fish and chips, maybe. Reuben. Reuben. Ok. Ok. Yeah,
Speaker 2: beer
Speaker 1: was definitely the right,
Speaker 2: the right response non beverage.
Speaker 1: So anyway, that, that's, I guess makes sense. But there
Speaker 1: is a grilled boneless pork chop dish that they have
Speaker 1: that is really good and they serve it over, uh,
Speaker 1: French green lentils and there's a, uh, I think a
Speaker 1: smoked potato rotten that goes with it. And some, uh,
Speaker 1: there's like a spiced fruit reduction that they put on
Speaker 1: top with like raisins, Apri Hodson. It's not something you'd
Speaker 1: normally associate with with that kind of place. But man,
Speaker 1: it's a really good item. But mcgurk's is, that's it.
Speaker 1: It's the, it's the beacon of Solar and it's just
Speaker 1: a wonderful
Speaker 2: place. It's so much fun. There is nowhere else. If
Speaker 2: you have to pick one place to go for Saint
Speaker 2: Patrick's Day for any day, it's mcgurk's. It's the place
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, Ruben,
Speaker 1: main component, corned beef. That's one of your, like, four
Speaker 1: essential food groups.
Speaker 2: Exactly. Oh, I do. I mean, anything that involves a brisket, I'm,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm sold
Speaker 1: and, and when we originally were talking about this, you said, wait,
Speaker 1: let me just do a little soliloquy on corned beef So,
Speaker 1: here goes, folks. Yes.
Speaker 2: Well, George, I'll, I'll let you make the joke about
Speaker 2: corned beef and eating that on, um, on Saint Patrick's Day.
Speaker 2: What is it that you always
Speaker 1: say? I know it's, it's, and I, this is kind
Speaker 1: of my tradition and uh before I go out to
Speaker 1: the Irish bars a lot, I will go have a
Speaker 1: corned beef.
Speaker 1: Uh And pastrami Reuben at Pretzels deli nothing says Saint
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day like pretzels. But yeah, so that's like, that's
Speaker 1: like the running joke in our family is, is George
Speaker 1: gonna get, is his Jewish deli sandwich? Yes, I am.
Speaker 1: Would you not? Exactly. That's a whole other story.
Speaker 2: Well, I do love corned beef. You are not incorrect
Speaker 2: about that. And I thought it would be fun to
Speaker 2: kind of round up some of the best corned beef
Speaker 2: here in town for those
Speaker 2: who maybe they just want to grab a sandwich or
Speaker 2: maybe it's not even a Saint Patrick's Day thing. You just,
Speaker 2: I mean, why wouldn't you love corned beef every day
Speaker 2: of the year? So, um some of my favorites, of course,
Speaker 2: and I did corned beef, not pastrami. I just want
Speaker 2: to be very clear on that. There are a lot
Speaker 2: of great pastrami places in town too, but I'm going
Speaker 2: straight to corned beef. And
Speaker 1: a lot of people think it's a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't know what the difference is. Corned beef is, is,
Speaker 1: is boiled or burn
Speaker 1: and pastrami is the same cut of meat that's smoked. That's,
Speaker 1: that's in its simplest form. Exactly.
Speaker 2: So you talked about pretzels? You are right about this.
Speaker 2: This is a, you know, since I think, since the
Speaker 2: 19 fifties, 54 maybe they've been around, they use the
Speaker 2: same recipe. This is the place on wide down in Clayton.
Speaker 2: So Pretzels is definitely high on that list there and
Speaker 2: they use
Speaker 1: the same Panini press that they've used for decades.
Speaker 1: And uh I said in an article that it was
Speaker 1: old enough to be a George Foreman prototype because I
Speaker 1: swear to God, it's 40 or 50 years old. Yes.
Speaker 2: Yes. And then other institutions, of course, you have Carl's
Speaker 2: and I know everyone talks about Carl's for the pastrami
Speaker 2: and rightfully so it's delicious.
Speaker 1: This is Carl's Deli, not Carl's
Speaker 2: Drive. Yes, that is correct. Carl's Deli right there at
Speaker 2: Demon and Clayton Road, you know,
Speaker 2: in the shadow of the Amoco sign. That is a
Speaker 2: wonderful spot to cones. Another kind of institution here in town.
Speaker 2: Posh Nosh in Clayton. I mean, they,
Speaker 1: you forget
Speaker 2: about it. It is. It is. And that's just super
Speaker 2: traditional as well. Do they
Speaker 1: still have the pickle jars on the table? I believe so. Yes.
Speaker 2: Yes. Just a classic. But then kind of some of the,
Speaker 2: I mean, not brand new but the newer kids in town.
Speaker 2: I love Lester's corned beef. Their Reuben is absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 2: That's uh in Ledu. Big sports bar. Um, but I'll
Speaker 2: tell you their Reuben's fantastic there and
Speaker 1: they, I think they, they were originally trying to copy
Speaker 1: Carnegie Deli. Like, we're going to have a sandwich that's
Speaker 1: going to be a mile high like that. And I think,
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, one of the options you don't have
Speaker 1: to get it that way. But you can get it though. So,
Speaker 1: what Carnegie Deli?
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember what the restaurant model was.
Speaker 1: If you can finish your meal, we've done something wrong. Oh, that's,
Speaker 1: that's a class. Not there anymore. But boy, it's a
Speaker 1: great motto. Should pick up on that.
Speaker 2: Um, one of my favorite restaurants in town. Stellar hog. It's,
Speaker 2: it's one of my favorite smokehouses.
Speaker 2: They have, it's called the Smokey Rubenson. So, of course,
Speaker 2: so it is their corned beef, but it's smoked. That
Speaker 2: is fantastic smoked,
Speaker 1: which he calls it corned beef. But then he, and
Speaker 1: then he smokes it, which kind of makes it pastrami.
Speaker 1: But it's not
Speaker 2: peppery. Like, you know, it doesn't have the pepper.
Speaker 1: Give him a pass because Alex cup is a really,
Speaker 2: we're giving him a pass on that and we're also,
Speaker 2: I guess then giving heavy riff a pass because they
Speaker 2: smoke theirs as well. And they use their sauerkraut on there.
Speaker 2: They do a gin sauerkraut. I don't know if you've
Speaker 2: heard of that, but they actually use G Yes. Well,
Speaker 2: they not gin, but I know. Right.
Speaker 2: They use the same botanicals that they use in gin.
Speaker 2: So think of Juniper Coriander, things like nutmeg ginger. Um
Speaker 2: And then they do an Adobo 1000 Island season. That's,
Speaker 1: I've never had that. That sounds like a great, that
Speaker 2: is a tasty one. And then of course, we can't
Speaker 2: leave out deli divine Ben Pemba,
Speaker 2: quintessential New York style Jewish deli over in the Delmar
Speaker 2: Makers District. He does fantastic corned beef. They're very traditional.
Speaker 2: You can either get it stacked with other meats, just
Speaker 2: plain with mustard on rye bread. And um it's, it's
Speaker 2: a wonderful spot and he's
Speaker 1: such a detail fanatic. He did a lot of research
Speaker 1: on everything that he's done. I remember the breads. I
Speaker 1: think there was, I forget six or eight different breads
Speaker 1: that they got in
Speaker 1: just, just for the breads, for these sandwiches and I
Speaker 1: forget one of them. I think this comes from my gosh.
Speaker 1: I don't remember. Um I wanna say Philadelphia is where
Speaker 1: they ended up with the, the bread of choice. Anyway.
Speaker 1: So if you any Ben Pemba restaurant everything is, is
Speaker 1: just so highly researched. He really does a great job with,
Speaker 1: with everything he does. Yeah,
Speaker 2: very immersive. I love the experiences at his restaurant.
Speaker 2: And then um I guess the last one on my
Speaker 2: list is Lefty's bagels out in Chesterfield. Now they have
Speaker 2: great bagels, but they also do a wonderful corned
Speaker 1: beef. I've never made it to the corned beef. I get,
Speaker 1: I get my bagel fix and run out the door
Speaker 1: and eat them in my
Speaker 2: car. Yes, their bagels are fantastic corned beef on a bagel.
Speaker 2: It doesn't get any better for those who love corned
Speaker 2: beef as much as I do. Those are the spots.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: This episode of Arch Eats brought to you in part
Speaker 1: by Opera Theater of Saint Louis experience the future of
Speaker 1: opera with stories for Saint Louis chosen by Saint Louis,
Speaker 1: see three genre defining short operas with the new works
Speaker 1: collective playing March 14th through the 16th at the Kirkwood
Speaker 1: Performing Arts Center, learn more at experience opera.org.
Speaker 2: And now back to the show,
Speaker 1: there's a few kind of like random Irish goodies that
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring up that are always, I think
Speaker 1: about them every year. There is, of course, Irish coffee,
Speaker 1: like you know what's interesting about that is a lot
Speaker 1: of the places in town don't serve Irish coffee, traditional
Speaker 1: Irish coffee. Bailey's in it. It's Bailey's in coffee. But
Speaker 1: uh Bailey's chocolate bar does on request Momo out in
Speaker 1: Rock Hill does.
Speaker 1: But most of them like you say or the, the
Speaker 1: Irish coffee is Irish Cream. It's not like they serve
Speaker 1: it at the point of this to cafe out in
Speaker 1: San Francisco, which is like the quintessential uh Irish coffee joint.
Speaker 1: But I tell you they have a frozen Irish coffee
Speaker 1: at the pitch
Speaker 1: across City Park Stadium and it is really good and
Speaker 1: really potent and really deceiving you drink one of these
Speaker 1: down and, you know, you've had some, some alcohol. It's just, it's,
Speaker 1: it's one of the best frozen drinks in town to
Speaker 1: limit one. But, but it's really, really good. Um, there
Speaker 1: is a corned beef and cabbage kolache that, um, Saint
Speaker 1: Louis kolache does only on one day, only on Saint
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day. And, uh, I always,
Speaker 1: I'm tempted to get an Irish cream cheesecake at Hank's
Speaker 1: at this time of
Speaker 2: year. It's always a good time for an Irish cream
Speaker 1: cheesecake. It is, you know, kind you gotta love Hanks
Speaker 1: comes in three sizes. You know, you can get a
Speaker 1: small one if you want. But the other one that,
Speaker 1: that I really like the other item is, is something
Speaker 1: that they have as stars. I mean, kids of all ages,
Speaker 1: likely sour cream and shamrock potato chips. Oh, that's so fun.
Speaker 1: And I just, how the heck can anyway, I just
Speaker 1: thought it was so, and I was just going to
Speaker 1: bring you some of those today and I didn't, but
Speaker 1: they're made with, with real shamrocks and they're from a
Speaker 1: line of chips called Kos. And that
Speaker 1: it's an Irish family farm that grows their own potatoes
Speaker 1: and makes their own chips. And anyway, they've got different
Speaker 1: seasonings that they put on them and stars carries it. Uh,
Speaker 1: one of them is blue cheese and onion. That's a
Speaker 1: good chip and one I haven't had that I want
Speaker 1: to is flavored with roast turkey and stuffing.
Speaker 1: Wow. How the heck did they do that? I don't know.
Speaker 1: But I want to find out. Oh,
Speaker 2: that sounds fun. I wonder if you eat those chips
Speaker 2: and maybe go play the lottery if, like, you've ingested
Speaker 2: luck or something.
Speaker 1: I do it the way I like it. That exhausts
Speaker 1: our knowledge for today on Irish foods and Irish goodies.
Speaker 1: And we're going to get into the last segment, which
Speaker 1: is
Speaker 1: our micro rant and it's, it's always something that's fun
Speaker 1: to talk about. I think it's something that most people
Speaker 1: identify with and Cheryl. I know that you feel the
Speaker 1: same way as I do when somebody turns on a
Speaker 1: vacuum in a restaurant, it's 20 or 30 minutes before
Speaker 1: closing time and you might, might hear it in the
Speaker 1: next room and all of a sudden that noise gets closer,
Speaker 1: that droning noise and it's like, wait, what? It's like
Speaker 1: this is it time for us to go already? Did
Speaker 1: somebody like, blow a whistle?
Speaker 1: You know, like when did floor maintenance coincide with open hours?
Speaker 1: What the heck's going on here? Are you, are you
Speaker 1: with me on that? I am.
Speaker 2: So, with you on it there, you know, you've just,
Speaker 2: you've probably spent several $100. I mean, it is not
Speaker 2: cheap to go out to eat anymore and you're getting back.
Speaker 2: I mean, do they want you to lift your feet?
Speaker 2: I don't
Speaker 1: know. Queue up the parties over. What's, you know, what's next,
Speaker 1: that yellow mop bucket with the squeaky wheels? Is that
Speaker 1: going to come through that? What I, you know, that's
Speaker 1: what I'm
Speaker 1: expecting to see. Fine. Keep your restaurant clean with one
Speaker 1: of those little manual vacuum cleaners. You know what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about? The hokey. Right. With the skinny handles. Those
Speaker 1: are fine. They don't make any noise. You can use
Speaker 1: them all the time. Otherwise keep that electrical monster in
Speaker 1: the closet until we've walked out the door.
Speaker 2: It's just, I mean, it's just a courtesy. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: think they're may be signaling it's time to leave. But
Speaker 2: you know,
Speaker 1: I don't either. Come on restaurants, get it together.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Arch Eats. Be sure to
Speaker 1: follow us and share with your friends because we put
Speaker 1: out new episodes every other Friday and we always provide
Speaker 1: links in the show notes for everything you heard about
Speaker 1: today and don't forget to hit that subscribe button and
Speaker 1: follow along on Instagram at Saint Louis Mag and feel
Speaker 1: free to give us a call personally,
Speaker 1: George Mahe and Cheryl Hebert.
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Speaker 2: restaurant and culinary scene. That's
Speaker 1: it for this week, best dishes and see you next time.