What's good in St. Louis? What should I see? I'm going there for Memorial Day weekend.

Just got back from there, the obvious answer is The Arch. Eat breakfast at Rooster and walk around. We also went to the Crown Candy Kitchen to partake in the Man v Food milkshake challenge. That place is in a bad area but good shakes. Take the free Busch factory tour and get free beer. You always have Busch Stadium too.

Thanks! We're gonig to try to do this trip without renting a car. We'll take the transit system from the airport to a hotel downtown.
Do you happen to know, does the train go to the Busch factory or can we walk from downtown?

St. Louis is not a friendly town to those without cars.

The metrolink will get you from the airport to downtown and hit a few major points in between (the stadiums etc.) but should not be relied upon by tourists unless said tourists are prepared for a lot of walking (and with St. Louis humidity that walking can be quite unpleasant). Be prepared to limit what you can see unless you are willing to pay for cabs.

Back to the city... Go to a Cards game (it is amazing to see how much of the city's psyche is invested in that team), go to the brewery, get some pretzel's at Gus's next to the brewery. If you enjoy walking hit forest park and the free zoo there. Check out some of the cool old neighborhoods like the Soulard and the Central West End. If you are in to nightlife, the Washington Ave. area is nice and close to downtown. Tourists do nightlife down at the Landing (on the river); locals do nightlife in the various neighborhoods (Soulard, CWE, the loop, Clayton, etc.) locals can tell you what vibe predominates in each area.

going in july to visit family. i plan to hit the brewery, the city museum (basically a huge discovery zone that is adult sized), apparently we will have a box for the cards game, and that's probably it for sight seeing.

as for eating, i want to try a burger place called the fatted calf, get pizza at a place called pi, and then get dinner at a place called niche.

the pretzel and milkshake places sound like winners as well.

Johnny's in Soulard

I used to live in St. Louis so can give you a few pointers.

The Arch is a must see, obviously. The zoo is very good and is free. All of the museums in forest park are free. I think that the monument/building I enjoy the most in St. Louis is the St. Louis Basilica. The architecture and mosaics inside remind me of Europe.

The Anheuser Busch tour is ok. They won't let you in to see the bottling plant when it is running. To me, that would be the most interesting part of the process. There is beer in the end but, it's still Bud products.

Try to eat at "The Hill" (italian neighborhood). Cunnetto's is a good place for Italian. Other than that, I don't think the food in St. Louis is very good when compared to other places.

i'll second the zoo and cunetto as well.

Grant's Farm. More free beer. The zoo is also awesome. I second Cunetto's for Italian on The Hill.

And, if you have a sweet tooth, Ted Drewe's frozen custard is pretty much necessary. If you like gambling, there is a casino/hotel in downtown-Lumiere- that is fairly nice.

Go to Sweetie Pies for some soul food. Go to the doctor shortly after that for a quadruple bypass.

Pi isn't that great if you ask me, way overpriced.

McGurk's irish pub is fantastic. Fairly close to downtown.

I've had Cunetto's, everyone likes it, but I'm not a big fan. My two favorite on The Hill are: Zia's & Mama Campisi's.

Oh and good BBQ at Pappy's Smokehouse.

quote:

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And, if you have a sweet tooth, Ted Drewe's frozen custard is pretty much necessary

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TED DREWE'S is awesome!!!!!


Gambling: I preferred the Casinos in Illinois because they are non smoking. Maybe St Louis is the same now? I know it wasn't last year. But don't venture too much into E St Louis, it's a bad city.

If you want to experience the true nature of the area, don't be an annoying tourist and hit up all the touristy sites like the Arch and The Hill and Forest Park. You need to venture into East St Louis for a night and wear your colors. [/Randy03]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to map out all these places to see if we can make it out to a few of them (except east StL). I'll let y'all know how it went when we get back.

But you can take the metrolink to the Casino Queen in East St Louis. That part of the city is safe.

One of my favorite restaurants is called Modesto. It's a Spanish tapas place on (in?) The Hill, which is primarily Italian joints...go figure.

ooo, i love tapas.

If you're traveling from TX then 44 is closed at Joplin...that is if you are driving.

Schlafly Tap Room if you're interested in beers.

Agree with Pilot on Cunettos, not all it is hyped up to be. If I want Italian, I go to a place on the IL side that I think is better than any of the Hill restaurants..

And I would consider renting a car. Just looked on Hotwire, you can get one Fri-Mon for $65. Parking isn't bad in StL. Once you factor in parking and gas, you're probably money ahead, or at worst even, when compared to cabs, etc. And it obviously gives you a lot more flexibility.

Gooey Butter Cake

Go to the top of the arch and see the movie first.