Succotash

“Bacon tastes good.” --Vincent Vega

My sister turned 21 the other weekend and had a costume party to celebrate. Kelly and I went dressed as Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace from “Pulp Fiction” -- good thing my dad was there to recognize us, because none of the kids had any clue who we were supposed to be.

Anyway, that left us daughterless on Sunday morning. Babycakes had spent the night with Kelly’s parents and we didn’t have to pick her up until after naptime, so we decided to take advantage of the situation and go out for breakfast. Kelly was surprised when I suggested we check out the new Succotash.

She was a big fan of the old location in the River Market -- but the few times I went there a couple of years ago, I really didn’t like it. The place struck me as thrift shoppy, and it seems like my sandwiches were always 98% crusty bread, 2% fillings. However, I’d heard enough good things about the revamp that I was certainly willing to give the 4-month-old Succotash 2.0 a shot.

As soon as we walked in the door, we could see that Succotash has traded in the belabored kitsch for a more effortlessly vintage vibe. And even though it was fairly busy, we didn’t have to wait all that long to be seated and get coffee.

Café du Monde is poured at Succotash, and it is one fine cup. Better yet, there was no slacking off on the refills, with somebody coming around to top it off pretty often. Looking down to reach for my coffee, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirrored table and discovered that no matter what angle you look at yourself in it, you have a fantastic view of what’s up your nose.

I ordered the Farmstand plate, which comes with eggs, home fries, bacon and your choice of toast or a biscuit. My choice was biscuit, add gravy. Kelly got the pancake of the day, and today that was blueberry. To make sure my wife knew what she was getting into, our server explained that at Succotash you only get a single pancake, but it’s super big.

There’s a ginormous painting on the wall of a lady with tomato bisque dripping down her chin, and from where I was sitting I had a hard time not looking at it while we were waiting for our food. We’re not the first and we won’t be the last to observe that it looks like she’s enjoying a big bowl of blood soup. The painting was way distracting, even more so once Kelly started hissing “Brains!” at me all “The Return of the Living Dead” zombie-style.

Just when we’d moved on to misquoting the “Pulp Fiction” diner scene to each other, our breakfasts arrived. Kelly’s pancake was indeed a monster -- it covered up her entire plate. Totally thick and chock full of blueberries. It almost made me wish I’d gone with my second choice, the Burrito of Love, which is a buttermilk pancake wrapped around scrambled eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese.

But then I would’ve missed out on the biscuits and gravy, and that would have been a tragedy -- this was some of the best B&G I’d ever had. The flavor was mysteriously like that of lightly sauced pizza. Seriously good bacon, too.

As a relocated Southerner, I also had an obligation to hunt for any succotash-related items on the menu. Here’s what I found:

1. Succotash Veggie Wrap, which consists of two eggs scrambled with succotash, sundried tomatoes and cheddar
2. A lemony lima bean hummus appetizer

I got a mean thing for lima beans, so I’m for sure going to have to stop in for lunch. Sandwiches come with a daily side. Is it too much to ask that when I return, maybe the daily side could be B&G?

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2601 Holmes | Kansas City, MO 64108

Jack Gage American Tavern

What this place needs is actual boxing. Or better yet, foxy boxing.

Having just reread Charles Ferruzza’s positive review of Jack Gage American Tavern in The Pitch when we were trying to settle on a location for Guys’ Night, I suggested the boxing-themed restaurant as a contender and everybody bought in. However, the agreed-upon date was still a couple of weeks away, and in the meantime my co-workers Sarah and Matt had started talking up Jack Gage even more. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I decided to stop in for lunch.

Scott, Zach and Dylan joined me on the initial run. Overall, it wasn’t bad -- although the hostess led us by several open four-tops to seat us right by the kitchen door in the back room. Compared to the rest of the place, this room has about as much character as an unfinished basement. It’s like they experienced a sudden shortage of large wooden boxing murals, prompting them to just hang up a TV and reserve that section exclusively for shady looking riff raff, boisterous work group lunches and families with crying babies.

I got the Flat-Iron Steak Sandwich ($8.99), and it was tasty despite the caramelized onions almost completely overpowering the steak with sweetness. Dylan ordered “The Upper Cut” Pork Tenderloin ($8.29) and liked it. And Zach and Scott got burgers -- respectively the Black & Bleu Burger ($6.99), and Jack’s Burger ($7.99), which is basically a bacon cheeseburger -- and while neither guy was crazy about their lunch, they both said their burger was good enough. So none of our entrees were big winners, but the service was friendly and there were enough intriguing menu items that I was looking forward to a return visit.

On Guys’ Night, I arrived first and ordered a Boulevard Tank 7, waiting at the ornately decorated bar for everybody else to get there. This was really my first opportunity to check out the décor, which I’d remembered The Pitch marveling over, yet due to being in the back room didn’t get much of a chance to take in the last time. Not too much later, Robert, Voytek, Adam and Dorsett showed up and we were seated. Again in the back room. Must be something about the company I keep. In retrospect, I should’ve said something.

There were so many different things I wanted to try, that Robert, Dorsett and I decided to split a bunch of stuff. We were all agreed on the Buttermilk Fried “Boneless” Chicken & Waffle and the Tavern Sliders Trio Platter, which comes with one each of an Angus Burger, a Buttermilk Chicken and a Maryland Crab Cake slider. Robert was championing the Hot Kentucky Brown sandwich, and we got that as well.

The food came. The food was fine. Slider-wise, my favorite was the Buttermilk Chicken, topped with bacon, onion and sour cream. I’ll tell you this, I don’t know why anyone would ever pick three Maryland Crab Cake Sliders for $12.99 over the Tavern Sliders Trio Platter for $7.99. (Adam got a full-size burger, and confirmed it has a nice flavor, too.)

When we got our Buttermilk Fried “Boneless” Chicken & Waffle ($15.99), we discovered the reason Jack Gage puts quotes around boneless is that each of the dual breasts had one weird extraneous bone jutting out. Topped with a sweet pecan bourbon maple glaze, it tasted good, but we were left a little baffled as to why the dish demanded such a hefty price tag. They didn’t church up the chicken and waffles that much.

As for the Kentucky Hot Brown ($7.99), this one was thoroughly underwhelming -- nothing more than an open-faced club sandwich, loaded way past the breaking point with a Swiss cheese glaze that was more like a heavy sauce. Side effect: Impromptu cheese fries. Now that, I did enjoy.

One thing I noticed on the menu is that they do love to add crabmeat to dishes here -- witness the Eggs on Crab Hash ($13.99), and for an upcharge you can have a couple of the steaks topped with crabmeat. I actually do really want to try the Tavern Crab Mac & Cheese. Made with nine cheeses, it sounds fantastic. On Fat City, Ferruzza and Jonathan Bender rated it the #1 mac and cheese dish in town.

The thing is, it’s $15.99. Do I ever need to pay $15.99 for macaroni and cheese? Could be great, but the Official Lunch Blog Position (OLBP™) is that mac and cheese performs best as a side dish. It’s not a main event. One scoop is plenty. How about a side portion or a half-order? Come on, Jack Gage. Help us out here.

Maybe that’s why my parties keep getting seated in the back room -- they don’t want us mingling with the crab-in-everything aristocracy. Ferruzza describes the tavern’s namesake as “a scrappy fight promoter -- a carny, really.” Considering that reputation, I wonder where Jack Gage himself would be seated?
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5031 Main Street | Kansas City, MO 64112

QuikTrip’s Buffalo Chicken Bites

Because sometimes I don’t want taquitos, except for the fact that I always want taquitos.

Buffalo Chicken Bites are the latest addition to QuikTrip’s roller grill wonderland, and the first time I saw them a couple of weeks ago, I almost got one for breakfast. However, I was in dire need of coffee, and even though coffee and buffalo wings are two of my most favorite things ever, I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be enjoyed in tandem. That morning, my caffeine jones won.

So on our way to see RJD2 at Record Bar last Wednesday, I told Shaw about the Buffalo Chicken Bites. Considering what a connoisseur of QT rolling foods Shaw is, I was surprised he hadn’t heard of them already. Seriously, this is the guy who with his girlfriend brought over a variety box of burritos, taquitos and hot dogs to our New Year’s Day party. Clearly, we were going to need to make a stop at QT.

Buffalo Chicken Bites are 2 for $2 or $1.19 each, and I think having the word bite in the name is misleading. While you can take bites of one, the item in and of itself doesn’t constitute a bite per se. Unless you consider a bite to be the size of roughly five cubic inches of buffalo chicken.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect. They look like giant reddish-orange mozzarella sticks. Or as if they might house a filling of sauce and diced chicken within a thick and bready deep-fried capsule.

Sinking my teeth into my Buffalo Chicken Bite, the barely-there fried coating offered little in the way of crispiness, but did have a medium level of buffalo heat cooked into it. The interior was made up of some sort of chicken log, with the consistency and flavor of packaged luncheon loaf before it’s cut into individual slices.

Taking about eight bites to finish, my Buffalo Chicken Bite was remarkably mess-free, save for a little bit of grease on my fingers afterward. And it might just be in my mind, but curiously, I found it to have an aftertaste like that of cheese.

Shaw and I both agreed the Buffalo Chicken Bites were neither bad nor by no means great. Actually, they were kind of gross. I don’t think I’d ever choose a Buffalo Chicken Bite over a roller grill burrito -- but then again, there’s no saying what depths I’ll sink to whenever that crave for buffalo sauce kicks in.

What do you think the next QT rolling food breakthrough will be? Here’s my prediction: Stickburgers.

The Burger Stand

If asked to express our feelings for this place by using the name of a fictional band, we’d answer Loveburger.

Yo La Tengo* was at The Granada the other week, and I was lucky enough to score a couple of free tickets from Lawrence.com. Shaw met up with me for the show, although truth be told, he had ulterior motives for making the drive down from KC on a cold Tuesday night -- a chance to finally eat at The Burger Stand. I haven’t shut up about this place since last summer, and he was ready to see if it lived up to the hype.

The Burger Stand opened a year ago, and quite frankly, I could eat here every day. It’s actually located inside Dempsey’s Irish Pub in the former home of Rick’s Place, which moved to 9th & Illinois a while back. You may recall that Rick’s Place was what the gin joint in "Casablanca" was colloquially known as. In college, we played darts here a lot. Never once saw a Nazi.

This was the first time I’d been to The Burger Stand for dinner, and it was much more packed than I’ve ever seen it at lunch. Looking at the menu posted over the counter at the bar, Shaw and I decided on The Classic ($6.99), so that he could see just how incredible these burgers are even when relatively unadorned. We also got the pork burger that was one of the day’s specials ($8.99, but I lost my receipt so don’t quote me).

We placed our order and got a couple of beers. Dempsey’s has a pretty good selection on tap, including Boulevard’s Tank 7. When drinking in Lawrence, however, I still feel compelled to get the cheapest beer available, and tonight that was Boulevard Wheat on special for $2.50. With beers in hand, we sat down at one of the only three tables open, and waited for our names to be called to come and get our burgers. Considering how busy it was, I was surprised we didn’t have to wait all that long.

The Classic is basically The Burger Stands’s cheeseburger, topped with Vermont cheddar and locally grown micro-greens. Like most of the burgers on the regular menu, the 1/2 lb. patty is made with a custom blend of tenderloin, strip steak and ribeye, resulting in a phenomenal, melt-in-your-mouth taste that’s unlike anything I’ve experienced elsewhere. The brioche bun makes it even better.

But when a pork burger is the special, that’s what I’m getting nine times out of ten -- I’ve had three or four of them now, and they’ve all been insanely delicious. Tonight’s pork burger came topped with salsa verde, Chihuahua cheese and chicharones. Just a few bites in, Shaw said, “I don’t ever want to stop eating this.”

The week before, I got a pork burger topped with blackberry mole, blanched almonds and queso fresco. I thought then it must be the toppings that made it so good -- the almonds were super-thin, giving it a bit of a snap to look forward to in each bite. So I was very excited that tonight’s special still had that can’t miss flavor that made the other burger so memorable, yet with toppings different enough that it wasn’t like I was having the same thing twice. Must be the way the pork burger’s patty is seasoned.

For fries, The Burger Stand has regular ($1 with a burger, $3 for a basket), sweet potato ($2, $4), truffle ($2, $5), duck fat ($3, $6) and chili ($3, $6). Don’t get me wrong, the regular fries and the sweet potato fries are both fine, but to truly complement the flavor of these burgers, an upgrade to the truffle butter is necessary. The duck fat fries were a little on the gamey side for me, and I’ve yet to try the chili fries ($3, $6), which seems like a glaring oversight on my part.

Occasionally, the Burger Stand offers poutine -- fries coated with gravy and cheese curds ($4, $7). If poutine is an option, do it. I’m told that in a perfect world The Burger Stand would fix poutine every day, the only problem being they can't find a steady cheese curd supply. Blog Friend Nick suggests Shatto Milk Company and The Burger Stand get to know each other and fast to make poutine a permanent addition to the menu.

Lest this sound like a total mash note to The Burger Stand, I’ll mention my disappointment in the Black & Blue ($7.50), a burger that for me was one and done. It sounded awesome, with an intriguing combination of blackening spice, bleu cheese and apple chutney -- too bad there was way too much of the chutney on it, and the tartness totally overpowered everything else. But yeah, besides that, all the other burgers I’ve had here have been outstanding.

So congrats to you, Burger Stand. We hereby decree you Lunch Blog’s Favorite Burger, an honor given in both recognition of the excellence of your everyday menu as well as your adventurous specials. If you would like to celebrate by offering us free burgers for life, we will protest slightly in order to appear as if we have some sort of scruples, before we ultimately accept.

And now we’re excited to hear The Burger Stand people will soon be opening up Esquina, a taqueria at 8th & Mass where the Round Corner Drug Store used to be. As much as I love burgers, I love tacos even more, and I can’t wait to check that action out.

*If you're a Mr. Show fan and you haven't seen the video for Yo La Tengo's "Sugarcube," do yourself a favor and watch it now.


UPDATE: The Burger Stand has moved -- now it's in The Casbah on Mass Street.

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Dempsey's: 623 Vermont | Lawrence, KS 66044

The Casbah: 803 Massachusetts Street | Lawrence KS 66044

Robert & Kelly Go to St. Louis (Part 4)

This would’ve been much easier if White Castle served crepes.

Rooster

The one thing Kelly really wanted to get on this trip was crepes, and out of all the creperies we could find online, Rooster definitely seemed the most intriguing. It looked to be a hip little place downtown, and quite frankly, the websites for the other creperies were kind of sad and Rooster had a pretty cool logo. Decision made.

Looking over the menu, I thought real hard about the savory brie crepe with roasted spiced apples, but ultimately went with the G.B.L.T. ($7.95) It’s filled with goat cheese, bacon, romaine lettuce and tomato -- and come on, you can’t go wrong with goat cheese and bacon. While typing this, I actually just remembered what G.B.L.T. usually stands for. Wonder if that’s intentional.

Kelly got hers with Nutella and strawberries ($6.95), and when our crepes arrived, we had to stop and admire them for a minute. They were so artfully constructed, we almost felt bad cutting into them. Almost. When we finally did take and trade bites of each, we agreed they were both outstanding. Just look at that bacon peeking out the end of mine.

And while I’m sure the following is true of Kansas City and other cities during the weekend, the streets of downtown St. Louis this morning were eerily quiet and deserted. It was like the daytime scenes in "I Am Legend." Creepy.

I’d probably risk death by vampire for the chance to try that brie crepe, though.

White Castle

After a trip to Trader Joe’s, it was finally FINALLY time to go to White Castle. How I made it 36 hours in St. Louis without going to White Castle, I’ll never know. So we hopped on the highway, figuring for sure we’d stumble across one.

Not so much.

We drove and drove, and I was starting to get seriously nervous. Eventually we stopped for directions at a gas station. While the people working there were no help, lucky for me a guy buying one of the biggest sodas I’ve ever seen was able to tell us how to get to not just one but the three closest White Castles.

When we got there, I couldn’t run to the counter fast enough. I ordered a Sack Meal 1 -- four Sliders (add cheese), crinkly fries and a soda ($5.45). The guy in line behind me got a Crave Case to go ($17.75, without cheese). That’s 30 burgers to take with him, packed in a sweet cardboard briefcase. I was beyond jealous, and would’ve gotten a Crave Case myself to bring back to KC if the practice of freezing and reheating sliders didn’t sound so iffy. (The website also has instructions for making White Chili Castle. Now that’s something I’d like to try.)

Kelly did it wrong and got a couple of chicken sandwiches. Whatever. At Krystal, sure -- especially if the Spicy Chik is an option -- but when it comes to White Castle, it’s all about Sliders and Sliders only.

Of course, right after we got back on the highway, we passed like three more White Castles. Kelly was adamantly opposed to stopping for round two, though.

Good thing a return trip to St. Louis may soon be warranted. For one thing, The Bangles are playing at The Pageant on May 2, right across the street from Pi Pizzeria. Different Light has been one of my favorite records ever since sixth grade. I know -- T-U-F-F, right?

Another reason is that we picked up some Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies that are shaped like letters for the kiddo, and she’s big into them. So big into them that I’m a little nervous about the fury she might unleash when we run out.

Yes, we’re going to need to go back.

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Rooster: 1104 Locust Street | St. Louis, MO 63102

Robert & Kelly Go to St. Louis (Part 3)

Rollin’ down the street, sipping on Gin & Squirt. (Laid back, and so forth.)

Gian-Tony's Ristorante
Forty-five minute wait? No problem! We’ll just have a seat at the bar.

To be honest, I’d be a little disappointed and a lot suspicious if we were able to get a table right away. Besides, the wait is a big part of the whole Italian restaurant experience for me -- talking to the bartender, people watching and all that. And I’m glad to say that we had a great time here at Gian-Tony’s Ristorante, even if my entrée turned out to be okay at best. More on that in a minute, though.

Sitting at the end of the bar, Kelly and I opened up the wine list to take a look. Seeing as how Gian-Tony’s descriptions were crazy eloquent, I’ll just go ahead and repeat what it said about our selections.

• Sterling Vintner's Collection Cabernet Sauvignon: "Distinctive aromas of ripe blackberries, pepper, toast and hints of smoked meats are followed by subtle notes of light chocolate mint and vanilla."
• Villa Rozzi Nero D'Avola: "An intense inky red, the Nero D'Avola seductively reveals a gorgeous perfume of blackberry liqueur, white flowers and a hint of figs delivered in a leather basket."

After reading that, one of us was totally obligated to get the Villa Rozzi. It was practically made for us, since Kelly and I so often show up on our friends’ doorsteps bearing leather baskets full of white flowers and figs. It’s kind of our thing.

Both the Villa Rozzi and the Sterling Vintner lived up to the hype taste-wise. Then, 45 minutes right on the dot later, we were seated.

As mentioned, I didn’t much care for my entrée. I ordered the Seafood Ravioli ($15.25), which per the menu is “Stuffed with shrimp, crab and clam, finished in a light tomato sauce with white wine, butter, garlic and diced bay scallops.” It’s not like it tasted bad -- it just didn’t taste like anything at all, and the sauce was barely there.

The Polla Alla Romana ($17.50) that Kelly got, however, was ridiculously flavorful. “Breaded with prosciutto ham, broiled, finished in a white wine sauce (with a) touch of sage," it was perfectly cooked with a good crisp and topped with mozzarella. The couple of bites that Kelly gave me more than made up for the Seafood Ravioli.

I’d love to try some of Gian-Tony’s other entrees. That said, considering the drastic difference in the two we had tonight, if we went back I’d probably take the safe route and get the Polla Alla Romana again. Gian-Tony’s isn’t outrageously pricey, but it’s pricey enough that I don’t care to risk a game of menu roulette.

34 Club
After dinner, we took a drive around the neighborhood of our hotel to try and find a bar within walking distance to grab a beer. Most of the places looked way too packed or too loud for us to have a conversation, so we ended up at this hole in the wall -- and please know I mean that in the most positive way.

I don’t know if it’s always like this, but tonight’s clientele at 34 Club was decidedly mixed. There was:

• A group of hipsters, who looked like they were dressed more for an ooncha-ooncha dance-a-teria
• Some guys and their huge dogs, one of which was the spitting image of Sprocket from Fraggle Rock
• Another guy who struck me as kind of a dorky Kid Rock -- he was hunkered down at the bar and had the fedora paired with vest and t-shirt look going, but with floppy hair

Since PBR tallboys were only $2.50, I got us a couple of those. Meanwhile, “Paradise City” came on the jukebox and Dorky Kid Rock’s girlfriend started doing some stripper moves behind him, yet well enough within his peripheral vision that he had to have known what was going on. When Dorky Kid Rock finally acknowledged her after actively ignoring the show for most of the song, I couldn’t tell if he was just disinterested or mildly annoyed. Either way, nobody was acting like this was anything out of the ordinary.

A sign behind the bar said, “Try a Cold Gin & Squirt.” If I remember correctly, it was even written on no less than a starburst cut-out. With that kind of fanfare we figured the drink must be a 34 Club specialty, thus Gin & Squirts it was for our next round.

They weren’t half-bad, so we decided to have two more Gin & Squirts before we called it a night. I sauntered up to the bar to order them, and the bartender was visibly boggled when I told him what we wanted, pausing to give me a questioning, “Really?” His voice went up an octave or so on the second syllable, and then still in disbelief he added, “You liked those?”

Yes, really. We genuinely enjoyed our Gin & Squirts. If they’d been serving up Bourbon & RC, I would’ve been all over that, too. Welcome to my new obsession of mixing well liquor and third-tier sodas.

I’m going to have to go ahead and draw the line at anything made with Big Red, though.

Next Time on Lunch Blog: I'm gonna go nuts if we don't go to White Castle already.
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Gian-Tony’s Ristorante: 5356 Dagget Ave. | St. Louis, MO 63110

34 Club: 34 North Euclid Ave. | St. Louis, MO 63108

Robert & Kelly Go to St. Louis (Part 2)

Spuds MacKenzie, you are sorely missed.

Anheuser-Busch Brewery

When we started planning our trip to St. Louis, we thought about going to a museum. However, we ultimately decided to take a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery instead. It’s kind of like a museum, just all about Anheuser-Busch. Plus, free beer. And free beer usually wins.

We arrived at the brewery, signed up for the tour, and began making our way around the lobby to check out all the exhibits detailing the history of Anheuser-Busch. Not that much later, our group was called and we were introduced to our two tour guides. One was the Anheuser-Busch equivalent of NBC’s Kenneth Parcell on 30 Rock, so pure and wide-eyed was his devotion to all things Budweiser. The other one reminded me of Scut Farkus from "A Christmas Story," if Scut Farkus thought he was too cool for school and wore clothes mostly from REI. He didn’t even have on any Anheuser-Busch flair, and thus gets a big zero for effort.

Kenneth and Scut walked us through the grounds of the brewery, which is about the size of a small city. They showed us the Clydesdales, the big tanks of beer, the mash room and all that. While we were looking at the bottling line, Kelly wondered if they ever pulled a Laverne & Shirley, putting a glove on a bottle and waving goodbye as it’s spirited off.

Later in the tour, Kenneth schooled us on Renard the Fox, spokesperson for Bevo, the near beer that Anheuser-Busch sold during prohibition. Renard is a very dapper fox that is frequently depicted munching on a chicken leg with a mug of Bevo at the ready. Needless to say, that is one sly fox I want to hang out with.

Doubting the rest of our tour group was as interested in Natural Light as me, I caught up to Kenneth in between his spiels, and he was totally willing to answer some questions. First and foremost I wanted to know, “How close am I right this very second to fresh Natural Light?"

“About as close as you can get,” Kenneth replied without hesitation. His gusto rivaled that of only Lunch Blog’s friend Dorsett, a man internationally recognized as Natural Light’s #1 enthusiast.

We also learned from Kenneth that because Bud Light is brewed with rice and Natural Light is brewed with corn, if the price of corn and rice were ever to flip-flop, then Natural Light would become Anheuser-Busch’s premium light beer. (I thought that was reasonably intriguing enough to share.)

Kenneth couldn’t tell me jack squat about Anheuser-Busch’s malt liquor products.

When the tour was over, we were led to the hospitality room for our two complimentary beers apiece. I stuck to Budweiser, and Kelly had a Bud Light Golden Wheat followed by a Stella Artois. Meanwhile, our tourmates the Lady Mavs, whose college affiliation and sport was unknown, were settling for sodas.

As we enjoyed our beers, we tried to figure out why these girls who were clearly under 21 had chosen to go to a brewery for their Saturday morning entertainment. One suggestion was that maybe they wanted to see the Clydesdales because the Lady Mavs are a polo team, but that theory was quickly discarded. Kelly and I noticed a couple of the Lady Mavs not too inconspicuously grooving on Scut Farkus, although I’m not sure Scut Farkus did.

On our way back to the car, we stopped for a snack at Gus’ Pretzels, which I found disappointingly unremarkable. Then it was off to visit the Gateway Arch.

Gateway Arch Marketing Team, here is a gimmick for you: As mentioned above, you get free beer at the end of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour. When people come down from the top of the Arch, why not give them a free Arch Deluxe?

Just think about it.

Next Time on Lunch Blog: A couple of nice glasses of wine at dinner. A couple of Gin & Squirts at a dive bar after.

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Anheuser-Busch Brewery: 12th & Lynch Streets | St. Louis, MO 63118

Gus’ Pretzels: 1820 Arsenal | St. Louis, MO 63118