Dinner and Dessert in St. Louis Missouri

Thanksgiving week and we were on our usual family orientated drive from East Tennessee to St. Louis Missouri, then to Omaha Nebraska and finally, home to East Tennessee.  We always love seeing our families!

Shortly after arriving in St. Louis, we met with Laurie’s sister Bonnie, and Bonnie’s husband Bill for dinner.  I’d looked up the 3 choices that Bonnie had sent me and I’d chosen Olympia Kebob House and Taverna, a local long-time Greek restaurant in the city of St. Louis on the border with Richmond Heights.

As is appropriate for a casual neighborhood Greek Taverna, the dining room is cozy and warm.  It was fairly early on the Monday night before Thanksgiving, so the restaurant was not very busy…

One way to look at any restaurant is to check out its longevity… In this case, Olympia Kebob House definitely measures up, having first opened in 1980!

This dining room photo toward the back of the restaurant captured Bill checking out the menu…with a large mug of beer as a starter.

Laurie chose a Greek red wine for her adult beverage…and she really enjoyed it!  I had a very nice bottle of Greek beer, in this case “Mythos”, a premium Hellenic beer.  It was very nice and I would order it again!  Laurie liked the unicorn on the bottle…

I ordered a bowl of the Avgolemono Soup. (Cup $3.99/Bowl $5.99) This chicken and lemon soup was laced with bits of carrot and quite a bit of orzo pasta.  It was good, but I think that my Greek “taste buds” have been forever ruined by all of the Greek food we ate in Chicago over the years.  I expected a little thicker broth with a little more chicken.

One other thing that I loved to order when we ate at Greek restaurants in Chicago was the Chicken Riganato.  In this case this entrée came with 2 chicken breasts seasoned with lemon and oregano and it was served with roasted potato wedges. ($10.99)

I was disappointed with my dinner… The chicken was overcooked and dry.  The seasoning lacked enough oregano/Greek seasonings and it could have used a bit of garlic. (An Italian version perhaps?) Still, I would have been happier if some lemon/oregano sauce had been on the plate.  I could have used it to moisten the chicken and add flavor.  As for the potato wedges…they lacked much flavor and one more wedge would have been better. 

Everyone else ordered Olympia Kebob House’s Deluxe Gyros Plate. ($9.99) The gyro meat on pita was covered with a pile of shredded lettuce and some feta cheese.  Laurie, Bonnie and Bill were all happy with their choice but given all the lettuce, Bill wished he hadn’t ordered a big salad to start his meal.

We just have to get back to Chicago for Greek food even if it’s just to confirm or reject my memories of Greek cuisine in that city!

My opinion won’t matter much to the locals who have been patronizing this restaurant for 38 years!  So, don’t listen to me.  If you’re in the area, stop by and check out Olympia Kebob House and Taverna for yourself.  This restaurant is located at 1543 McCausland Avenue in St. Louis Missouri.  Phone: 314-781-1299.  Website: https://olympiakebobandtavern.com/.

Well, we just had to have dessert…and Laurie’s sister Bonnie loves ice cream!  This is Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery in Clayton Missouri. 

So why naughty and nice?  Not only does Clementine’s serve small batch handcrafted ice cream made with scratch ingredients, but they also serve alcohol-infused ice cream made from scratch!

The interior of Clementine’s is cute and compact with a few tables for patrons.  Even though it was cold outside, they seemed to have plenty of business. 

Rather than try to explain the menu at Clementine’s, I just took a photo of the menu board.  Note the naughty flavors at the left.  We didn’t try any of them but the bourbon and fig flavor stood out in my mind.  We all talked about the ‘Featured Flavor’, 'Manchego with truffles and honey', but none of us had the nerve to try it! 

This little grouping were the flavors that we ended up ordering.  While I didn’t make notes regarding exactly what we ordered, most of the selections we chose aren’t seen every day in most ice cream parlors.  They even offer vegan ice cream…  

Clementine’s serves top notch ice cream!  It is even creamier than our favorite ice cream parlor serves back in East Tennessee… Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Ice Cream has 2 locations with another scheduled to open soon.  The Clayton location is located at 730 DeMun Avenue in Clayton Missouri.  Phone: 314-858-6100.  For the company’s website and ice cream menu, go to https://www.clementinescreamery.com/.  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave