Family Friendly Restaurants in St. Louis

Root Beer Floats at Fitz's!

Just got back from a fabulous press trip to St. Louis. What was truly amazing was how many free attractions there are – next to Washington, DC, St. Louis is the place to go to get a free and fun history lesson about this great country of ours.

But baby’s gotta eat, right? You need something that will satisfy both your children and you: it’s a two-way street.

We had an incredible meal at Pi Pizzeria. There are three locations in St. Louis (and one coming to Washington, DC); we went to the original. They have both thin crust and deep dish pizzas – as well as vegan and gluten-free options. (Truly, you can have a gluten, dairy free pizza. They say it tastes great, but I have no earthy idea about this and hope never to taste this.)

I prefer thin crust – we devoured the Lincoln Park, and North Beach Classico -- but I must say that we tasted the deep dish, Chicago style pizza and I finally figured out why people like this. The deep dish pizza at Pi was truly delicious. Never understood all that kind of topping until I sank my teeth into the tomatoes at the brink of this pizza. I get it, now.

There are some good salads and even hummus – I’m telling you, they have a diverse family covered!

Best of all, there was Apple Pi for dessert with cinnamon ice cream. This was way above average apple pie – with delicious cornmeal crust. We also had salty caramel ice cream with a Cookie Pi. The Cookie Pi was a little much, but the caramel ice cream was perfect.

A great place for lunch is Fitz’s American Grill & Bottling Works. The original owner just bought back


the place from the corporate types that bought him out years ago and he is busy restoring it to its original
glory. Retooling the menu, owner Michael Alter takes great pride in making his restaurant a place that you want to come back to. I almost never drink soda and I’m telling you, Fitz’s Cream Soda is better than Dr. Brown’s. Maybe knowing that it was just created on the vintage bottling assembly line that you can see in process behind the glass panels affects the way I think about it. But I’m still thinking about it two weeks later. Not only did I drink a glass of cream soda, then I had a cream soda float (root beer is not my thing – but the root beer, if it’s anything like the cream soda…)

But back to lunch: I had a Greek Salad and a bowl of Gumbo. I can’t eat pizza and burgers for every meal, but if that’s what you’re hankering for, Fitz’s has you covered. They also have sandwiches, salads and a long list of kids’ menu items.

The waitresses are pretty and nice and who doesn’t want to see that root beer float sweating it out in front of you? What’s not to like?

The restaurant is located in the historic Delmar Loop are of St. Louis, iste of the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In the summer of 2011, a statue of Chuck Berry will be installed just outside Fitz’s restaurant. Chuck plays once a month across the street at Blueberry Hill. This neighborhood is fun – and necessary -- to walk around after you stuff yourself at Fitz’s.

I had one of the best coffee’s I’ve had in a long time at Messhugah Café. Don’t know what they did to it, but Starbucks can’t hold a candle to the simple pleasure of a drip coffee in this local café.

Lastly, we went to a local favorite, Ted Drew’s, where we got a “Concrete” which is like a blizzard at DQ. But wait! Ted Drew’s is better, creamier, has longer lines, more passionate customers than DQ. This location has been here since 1941! (The line moves fast.) Everyone knows about Ted Drew’s. You can’t go to St. Louis without going there. I got banana/oreo mixed into my concrete and it sat there in my stomach just like concrete oughta. Delicious.

Note: This trip was sponsored by the St. Louis CVB.