Saint Louis: Great Eats

One exciting thing about traveling is tasting new foods. When traveling overseas, of course one expects to try new and exciting food, but many people don't realize that simply traveling to another region brings a slight change to the culinary dishes offered. When traveling in St. Louis there are several dishes that will whet your appetite.

Start out by trying a slice of St. Louis style pizza. The defining characteristics of this pizza are the crust and the cheese. The crust is very thin and unleavened. It is typically crispy and almost cracker-like in consistency. The cheese is typically provel, instead of the usual mozzarella. St. Louis style pizza comes with a variety of toppings, and is cut into squares, instead of pie shaped slices. Popular places to eat are Imo's Pizza, Elicia's and Cecil Whitakers Pizzeria.

Toasted Ravioli is another St. Louis favorite. The exact origin of this dish is unknown, but several restaurants in St. Louis claim the invention and popularization of the ravioli. Typically toasted ravioli contains beef or veal stuffed into ravioli pillows and deep fried. It is usually served with marinara sauce and is a common appetizer in many St. Louis restaurants.

For dessert try a piece of Gooey Butter Cake. This cake is unlike any other cake, and contains an absurd amount of sugar, so be warned that consuming it will not please the family dentist. It will, however, please the taste buds; the bottom layer of a Gooey Butter Cake consists of a dense yellow cake, and the top layer is made using cream cheese, butter and sugar, giving it a rich and creamy texture.

For those who are gastronomically adventurous, try a Slinger. This dish consists of two eggs, a hamburger patty and hash browns. This mixture is then covered in chili and topped with cheese and onions, for a truly cholesterol laden meal. If having at least one artery clogged is too high a price to pay for one meal, consider some barbeque. St. Louis is famous for pork steaks; simply a pork butt or shoulder, thickly sliced, grilled, and served with plenty of sauce.

Apart from the types of food that should be tried when visiting St. Louis, there are also several restaurants in the area that are popular hang out spots, and offer unique dining experience. For a more upscale dining experience, try one of the restaurants located at The Hill. This neighborhood is an Italian neighborhood located south of Forest Park. There are several restaurants, bakeries and grocers located in this area. If you're craving burgers and fries, rather than fancy Italian food, try Fitz's. This restaurant has gained fame for its root beer, and the restaurant also doubles as a site for making and bottling this soda. Finish off a meal with a trip Ted Drewes. This is possibly the most famed frozen custard joint in the city, and it is tradition to grab a concrete after a St. Louis Cardinal's game. Ted Drewes concretes are made with vanilla flavored frozen custard and topping and flavors are added in and blended. The concretes are so thick that they can be turned upside down without spilling any of the custard. The servers typically hand concretes to their customers this way to demonstrate that they are made right.

With this information you should now be armed to enjoy a wide variety of foods in the Gateway City. Bon apetite!