With the Sheraton bookending each end of Westport and easy access to the highway, it’s no surprise so many restaurants have collected in one shopping center. I’ve tried all of them. Some are great, some are forgettable, but they’re all incredibly convenient. In addition to the , and , Westport is home to eight diverse, full-service restaurants. You can click on the links for a detailed review or use our handy cheat sheet the next time you can’t decide where to grab a bite. For your convenience, they’re arranged from best to worst. Every single thing about this restaurant is well done. Yes, …

Here at Lunch in 30, we believe in giving restaurants a second chance. I know any restaurant can have a bad day, so in the spirit of fairness, I decided to give it a generous amount of time to clean up its act and go back for a second review. This was the restaurant's chance to make me eat my words. It's a good thing I decided to venture into alone. The last time I stopped by for lunch I practically had the restaurant to myself. This time, it was packed nearly to capacity. I took that as a good sign and cheerfully let them seat me at a small bar table. For those who have never ventured inside…

Here at "Lunch in 30," our goal is to find meals for two you can eat in less than 30 minutes for less 30 dollars. One person could blow through that budget at dinner without touching the best part of Dierdorf and Hart’s menu. Lunch, on the other hand, is an entirely different, completely affordable, animal. This as another great example of why people should try high-end restaurants for lunch. The most expensive item is $12. Most are $8 or less. Heck, the restaurant offers an artisan bison brat with one side for $5, which is less than what I pay for a combo meal at a drive-through.Dierdorf and…

My ongoing quest to find great summer patio dining naturally led me to The Lakehouse in Creve Coeur Park.  The front of the building has a generic look, but step inside and that sameness falls away as you're greeted with a gorgeous view of the lake. The real dining room is outside. You can seat yourself at the bar or the four small tables nestled just inside the door. Large parties in search of air-conditioning can find more seating on the opposite end of the bar. The area near a nice mural of an outdoor boardwalk scene offers a little more privacy. However, the beauty here is the breeze off …

This was my first time trying Drunken Fish at lunch. To my surprise, while the faux indoor patio was mostly empty, the dining room itself was so bustling there were only two free tables at noon. My table was flanked by busy, enthusiastic lunchtime meetings. Congratulations, Jacob. It sounds like you deserve the new the sales job.Drunken Fish isn't cheap, but if you're careful, you can get a bargain at lunch. The good news is two rolls plus either miso soup or ginger-dressed salad costs $10.50 while you can get three rolls for $14.50. The bad news is the lunch selection excludes all of Drunken…

I went into the St. Louis-based Mexican restaurant chain Casa Gallardo feeling optimistic. The chain has five locations in the metro area, including the one in Westport that I visited. Surviving the transition from a single location into a small chain is a daunting and difficult task. I want to see locally owned restaurants like this succeed. So imagine how bothered I was by Casa's gnats. My lunch companion and I sat in the greenhouse-like indoor area adjacent from the patio. The warmth of the sun on my face mixed with blessedly cool air conditioning put me in a forgiving mood, so I ignored …

Summer is the season for outdoor dining. In Maryland Heights, that naturally led me to Westport. The streets of the faux European village are crowded with diners at , , , and . Inside Pujols 5 is an upscale sports bar. It’s split into two areas: a self-seating area with high-topped tables and sports-themed arcade games to the right, and a fine dining area to the left with dim lighting and fewer television screens. Pujols’ lunch menu includes a dozen standard bar appetizers such as potato skins, nachos and sliders. For less than $10, you can choose from eight lunch-sized salads, a dozen …

You know you're in for an authentic Indian experience when the lunch buffet includes goat curry with bones in.Priyaa is the fourth Indian Buffet I've tried in the St. Louis Metro area and is hands down the most pleasantly spicy. The pakoras included deep fried chili peppers as well as the usual balls of shreded cabbage in batter. The rich, dark goat curry was spicy enough that it tasted ready to kick back. Heck, even the requisite chicken tikka masala had a pleasantly spicy bite. I’ve had enough mild curry in St. Louis that Priyaa’s selections delighted me. I wasn’t alone. About a third of …

Vienna Beef—a brand and style of meat produced in Chicago and makes for good Italian Beef sandwiches—is why we domesticated cattle. You can make an argument for a good steak or a rich cheese or tall glass of milk to go with a pile of fresh baked cookies, but you’d be wrong. It’s Vienna Beef. I’m not ashamed to admit that I believe that more than deep dish pizza, Vienna Beef is Chicago’s greatest culinary contribution to the world, which is why I was so delighted to find Foxy’s Red Hots. Foxy’s Red Hots bookends the same strip mall as Off the Grill, another unexpectedly good take out option. …

After my surprisingly good experience with Pattonville High School’s lunches, I went into Parkway North assuming I’d find yet another example of how St. Louis schools were vastly superior to everything represented in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC. Oliver is on a mission to improve nutrition in the nation's schools.As I entered the cafeteria, I first passed a group of snack carts laden with a wide variety of Little Debbie Snack Cakes and assorted potato chips. Next came an ice cream stand offering scoops of cookies and cream, vanilla or chocolate as well as ice cream sandwiches and …

I was a little nervous when my editor asked me, as a professional restaurant reviewer, to sample Pattonville High School’s lunches. When I graduated from high school in the 1990s, my Oklahoma school lunch line was a horrifying vestigial counter engulfed by full-sized food court offerings from Pizza Hut and McDonald’s. Vegetables included french fries and tater tots. Snacking from the numerous soda and candy machines was encouraged as a patriotic way to help fund school projects. Diet sodas and fruit roll-ups were health food. Today’s Pattonville High School cafeteria is a different world. The…

I didn’t think it was possible for IceKitchen to live up to its reputation. My friends said it had the best kabobs, best chilli, best martini’s and best overall fusion cuisine. I was starting to wonder if they either had no taste or had been bribed to seduce me into a good review.When I finally caved to the pressure to give IceKitchen a try, I did everything in my power to set the restaurant up for failure. Best fusion restaurant in the city, eh? Let’s see how good you are at 2:00 p.m. on a snowy Monday when half the city is shut down. Go on. Impress me. They did.First off, I always assumed …

Papaya Grill and Catering has a short, surprisingly healthy menu focused on house made sauces, plenty of fresh fruit and grilled meat. Mango, papaya, pineapple and ginger are in everything from the sauces to the mango and pineapple cannelloni dessert. For $7.50 - $8.50 you can have a chicken, pork, beef or shrimp kabob made with your choice of tropically flavored, house-made sauces. The $7 sandwiches include smoked beef brisket, pulled pork and grilled chicken. The most expensive item on the menu is $8.84 — a grilled shrimp and mango salad with black beans, red peppers and scallions on a bed …

This week I conned two fellow non-smokers into joining me for Harrah’s Buffet. It’s impressive, but let me first say if you’re asthmatic, have a sinus infection, or are particularly fond of your lungs you might want to think twice. It’s no surprise I couldn’t smell any of my food. The sheer concentration of smoke was almost a physical assault, and I’m no wuss. If I’m in a crowded restaurant I’ll sometimes ask for the smoking section because these days that will take a good 15 minutes off a Saturday night wait. This was more like boarding an airplane in 1960 when everyone inside lit up nonstop…

Sushi Ai was packed the day I arrived for lunch. Every table was occupied and only a few spots were left at the bar. I had perused the menu in advance and narrowed my selection down to three rolls, but when I arrived I learned they have an all you can eat sushi lunch. For $13 you get an admirably large selection of soup and salad, appetizers, sushi and hand rolls, more than 40 items total. All three of the rolls I'd selected were already on the menu, plus a nice diversity of things I'd never normally pay extra for. Buffets normally give me hives, but the sushi ordered was prepared fresh in …

I wanted to like the food at Maryland Yards.  The atmosphere is friendly, both the customers and staff were likable, outgoing people and any place that offers free rum to people who show up dressed as pirates wins points in my book. Unfortunately, they fall prey to one of the usual bar food crimes: anonymous blandness. I decided to try the fried beef ravioli as an appetizer since it's such a St. Louis staple. The ravioli came out as a dozen crispy golden brown squares heavily coated in Parmesan cheese. They were accompanied by an exceedingly sweet marinara sauce, which would prove to be the …

When I want to try something new, I'll surf though the Maryland Heights Patch restaurant listings and wait for something to catch my eye. This week, Guajillo won — and I found homegrown, fast-casual dining. I'm always fascinated by local versions. Fast casual has seen a lot of growth in the last few years. Boston Market is the grandfather of the genre, with places like Qdoba, Fazoli's and St. Louis Bread Company following suit. The combination of freshly made food and fast service makes fast casual popular at lunch. Guajillo has the feel of a large national chain forged in the "burritos as …

I wandered into Thai Kitchen on a Tuesday afternoon and the place was packed. A party of 12 dominated the main area of the dining room, with a party of eight and another of six nearby. That kind of popularity always bodes well. The staff placed all of us dining alone or in pairs at the opposite end of the restaurant. I appreciate good patron spacing. As much as I enjoy a rollicking dinner out with a dozen friends, no one eating out alone wants to be sandwiched between two large, loud parties.  The conscious effort to keep everyone comfortable was both welcome and appreciated. The area …

When a restaurant's online menu features steak, you expect white tablecloths and a wine selection. You won't find that at Off the Grill —or even tables. It turns out it's an exclusively delivery and takeout establishment along Dorsett Road. That doesn't mean you can't dine in, though. The place has a bar alongside the front window with four chairs. I was caught completely off guard. The menu was exactly what I would expect from a steakhouse like Texas Roadhouse, but with two notable exceptions. First, everything was geared for delivery. Second, they don't own a deep fat fryer. Everything at …

From the street, Reynold's Roadhouse looks like an unassuming yellow house. The ample parking in back includes spaces reserved for Harley Riders. Yes, it's that kind of diner and I couldn't wait to go inside. Actual greasy spoon diners are increasingly rare and precious things. The door's sign says to seat yourself. There were only two tables free in the packed dining room, so I quickly snagged the one with the best view. The biker theme continued inside with Harley Davidson mirrors, clocks, kid's toys and posters. Between the Harley memorabilia you'll find photos of classic rockers like the …