Now we all know St. Louis is famous for its toasted raviolis, however, I must warn others about the the Pasta House located in Afton. The first and only time I ventured there nearly resulted in me upchucking my delightfully tasty lasagna. The service was slow and our waitress tried to short us of our complimentary rolls and butter. However, the worst part came towards the end. My boyfriend likes to collect all the utensils and plates and place them into one, neat pile for the server. He noticed a knife on the windowsill and as he picked it up we noticed a large swarm of ants covering both the knife and a fork, also on the windowsill. This meant those dirty utensils were sitting there for at least a day. I almost became sick at the table. The manager tried to resolve the issue by grabbing at the ants and trying to carry them away in a napkin - dropping ants on the table and floor as he went. While I understand he was in a panic, you'd think a manager might react a tad different. I felt bad for him, but I felt worse physically. He tried to make it up to us by giving us free dessert, but after that I wasn't hungry for the remainder of the day. I'm not sure if that is a common happening there or not, but beware of this restaurant's window sills!

If you are looking for a nice patio dining experience, the Corner Pub & Grill on Big Bend is the place for you! While your date may not enjoy the increasingly chilly weather, the Corner Pub & Grill has several heat lamps sure to keep you both warm and toasty. The prices are low enough of to satisfy you as well! I went with a small group and all of us enjoyed what we ordered: the burgers were cooked perfectly to our orders (medium rare and medium well) and the fried pickles were practically right out of the fryer. If you are sports fan and must watch your football, fear not, there are large flat screens inside the restaurant, however, seating is a bit harder to come by as the indoor section is not as roomy as the patio. Either way, look forward to pleasant and cheap evening without sacrificing taste or service.

STOMP! Coming to a Fox Theatre near you (assuming you are in Saint Louis) April 3 - 5, 2009.

At the time, tickets are listed with a range from $26 - $65 (subject to change, and not yet available for purchase).  Stay tuned...

 

 

More event info at the Fabulous Fox Theatre website

Jason Mraz will grace us with his presence at the fabulous Fox Theatre on November 23, 2008.

 Tickets are available now, but are limited in quantity for $35 - $40.  Visit Metrotix.com, call 314.534.1111, or go to Fox Theatre box office for ticket info and purchase (limit 4 per transaction).  

 

 

More info for this event at Fox Theatre's Website  

Another guilty pleasure of mine - Dickey's Barbeque . It is set up Hardees (Carl's Jr.) style in the sense that once you place your order, you pick your seat and wait for a cook to bring your baskets to you - no tip expected. If it were cheaper, I'd eat here all the time. It has a drive through making it even more attractive. My favorite plate so far is the 2 meat (smoked chicken and turkey), green beans or the onion ring pieces, mashed potatoes and corn bread. They even offer free all you can eat ice cream everyday. I have not yet dinned their with anyone who has been unsatisfied by their meal and I have some pretty picky friends.The cool part about their beverage bar is that all their cups are BIG and plastic (like the cups you get from promotional giveaways such as Maryville, Tan Co, Bank of America, etc.). Its like you get to take home a cool, re-usable gift each time you go. For the record, Dickey's does offer alcohol beverages!

 

Who has not been to Texas Roadhouse ? You are missing out! To those who have been, chances are you've been more than once - its that good! Its western style set up makes for a pleasant, relaxed and casual evening. My favorite non-menu item are the peanut shells that litter the floor and my favorite menu item is their rolls and butter! If you do not have time to dine in, call ahead and pick it up. This particular menu is a bit on the pricey side, but definitely worth the price. I had a fried chicken plate with mashed potatoes and green beans (and rolls!) and it was the best meal I had experienced while dining out in quite some time. It's a great place for a group of friends or double dates!

Tonight I had dinner at Terrene, and I thought I might as well use it for my first blog post here on HotSpotVibe.com.

Terrene is one of those places that has been around for a bit but I never heard of.  Of course, when mentioning it to friends, it seems that everyone knew about it but me.  My impression before I even stepped foot into the place was that it was vegetarian-friendly, expensive, and that they liked to recycle.  More on that to come.

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Tonight is the Washington Avenue/Garment District tour night!  For those of you who haven't heard, you can register at English Living, which is located at 1520 Washington Avenue.  It basically gives you a map, an information bag and access to a bunch of different lofts, including the Bogen, Ely Walker, Knickerbocker and The Venatana, just to name a few.  This all access pass also buys you a nice discount at a lot of different shops and restaurants on Washington, which are also featured on the tour.  And the best part of all this?  IT'S FREE.  The tour starts at 5 pm tonight and goes until 9 pm.  If you are interested in moving downtown or just nosy in general, you will love this.  It's so much fun!  I'm pretty excited that my building is being featured, so I hope to see you there!

Well, Halloween falls on a Friday this year, so most of you don't have much of an excuse to NOT get out and about.  But what are ya gonna do?  I haven't found anything comin' up this year that is too terribly creative, but you do have some classic options.  Here are a few ideas - if you know of one that I missed, tell me and I might add it to the list.  These don't all necessarily fall ON halloween night, so be sure to check the links for details.   :)

 

Ok, Saturday night I could not figure out what to do and I was pretty bored.  My friend and I decided to go down to Mosaic on Washington and just sit outside and drink.  As we were sitting there people watching, it made me realize how a lot of people who don't live in the city don't even know about this place.  They honestly have the best food and sangria EVER!  For those of you who have never been there, it's a tapas style restaurant that serves everything from hummus and pot stickers, to tandoori chicken and a pork apple that is to die for.  The service is always excellent, and the food has never let me down.  I can honestly say that it's in my top 5 restaurants in St. Louis.  To make it even more convenient they offer valet (which is a dream in the city) and an outside patio.  It's located at Washington and 10^th, right in the middle of Washington.  Let me know if you decide to give it a try!

My family and friends and I were walking home from the taste last Saturday when we came upon the new hookah lounge, Nara.  It's located at the corner of Washington and 14th in a perfect location.  We had an odd age range, from 23 to 55, so it was like, where do we go where we can all be happy?  Surprisingly enough though, everyone had a great time and the prices we pretty reasonable.  $10 for a hookah!  They also had a pretty decent looking Greek menu with gyros and such.  If anyone goes, let me know what you think!