My ideal St. Louis day: restaurant edition

One of my favorite things to do since moving to the city is check out new bars and restaurants. There are so many great neighborhoods chock full of restaurants and bars —Soulard, The Hill, Central West End, Clayton, Dogtown. The list goes on. In all of my travels, I've acquired quite a long list of favorites. If calories didn't count and money grew on trees, these are the places I would spend a glorious, food and drink-filled day in my favorite city.

Brunch- Benton Park Cafe
Dish of Choice- The Slinger
Benton Park is a short drive down the highway from my apartment and the cafe is absolutely worth the wait. Although I've had to wait an hour every time I've gone, the friendly staff, cozy atmosphere and bottomless iced coffee makes it all okay. The food doesn't hurt either. So far I've tried a burrito, the slinger and the biscuits and gravy. The Slinger is a definite must. If you're not familiar- the Slinger is the gooey butter cake or toasted ravioli of breakfast food. It's a St. Louis staple. It's some sort of bread served with runny eggs, chili or gravy and meat all mixed together. Sounds gross. Tastes great. Benton Park's is a must-try because of the spicy homemade gravy they sling on top (see what I did there?).

Is it really brunch without mimosas? I think not!

Lunch- Crushed Red 
Dish of Choice- Five Cheese Flatbred
Crushed Red is great for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it's super close to work. I can be in and out and full of salad within my hour lunch break. Bonus-it's delicious. The menu is filled with fresh made salads and flatbreads, but you can also create your own which is always fun. They make the salads right in front of you and they chop the ingredients into tiny, ultra bite-size pieces, and I absolutely love that. There are so many choices that there's no way you can mess up your salad. And the flatbreads are delicious, too! My favorite is the five cheese. Splitting the flatbread and ordering a salad is the perfect amount of food to get you through the rest of the day without feeling the need to nap under your desk all afternoon.

Dinner- Gringo
Dish of Choice- Carinitas Tacos
I fell in love with the Central West End while I was apartment hunting and vowed to try as many of the restaurants as I could. Then I went to Gringo, and now, if I'm in the neighborhood it's the only place I want to go. It has everything. It's adorable on the inside and out. It's full of yellow decorations and bright blue chairs. It's bright and full of character. And the food is SO good. The chips have seasoning on them, the salsa is the perfect amount of spicy and the queso is divine. The Gringo fries are amazing and of course, there's the tacos. You order by the taco, so you can mix and match, so to speak. And perhaps even more important than the food, there's the margaritas. They're a little strong, but that's what makes them great. They're sweet, but not too sweet and they taste fresh, not out of a bottle.  Overall, Gringo is a ten out ten —maybe even an eleven.

Watching the game- Nick's Pub
Dish of Choice- Whatever is on special
Nick's is your classic tavern/dive bar/neighborhood watering hole. The bar is full of people chatting with each other and the bar tenders like they're all old friends. It's small and dark but it feels really welcoming and cozy. It's a mix of young and old, guys and girls. The best part? There are always specials —and lots of them! There are drink and food specials every day and for every type of game- baseball, football, college football, etc. And they're dirt cheap. Matt and I love figuring out how much we can order for the price of on dish at another place. We've been buzzed and completely stuffed for $30 or less. And that's the sure sign of a great place!