YOLK.lore

I'm calling from the diner

the diner on the corner

I ordered two coffees

one is for you

the cups are so close

the steam is rising

The Slant/The Diner-Ani DiFranco

 Sooooo….sometimes your humble reviewer lucks out and has a chance to hit a new place.... On it’s very first morning.  In its very first hour of existence.  Such was the case this morning when I had the pleasure of going to the opening day of YOLKlore  Crestwood is woefully short on breakfast options.  Bread Co (Sunset Hills), Mc Donald's.  White Caste (Webster).  The best option is obviously the Courtesy Diner on Laclede and Heege but that is pretty far east.  Watson Road near the late and much lamented Crestwood Plaza is a breakfast desert.

At Grant and Watson sits a poor little strip mall on the corner.  It contains a cigar store, a vape store, an oriental massage place… in short a pretty high end location.  Formerly the location occupied by YOLKlore was a fish and chicken place which has expanded and moved down the road.  Anyway, Yolklore is only a mile from my south Webster (upper Crestwood) manse and so I was excited to check out a neighborhood option.  I mean...I could walk there!

It is at best an unassuming location.  There is signage but it is minimal and when i went in there was still an “Opening Soon” banner hanging from the wall outside.  It seems slightly sterile (clean) but not off putting and the staff was welcoming and friendly.  It looked so well organized and clean that I assumed it was a chain, which it decidedly is not.  The menu is limited in the sense that there are not voluminous items (Think First Watch where you have 45 things thrown at you) but has nice diversity and runs gamut from pancakes to biscuits and gravy with a lot of eggs in between.

http://yolklore.com/menu-1/

I walked in and walked to the counter to place my order and after reviewing options I ordered “The Classic Breakfast” and then gave them my name and got my iced tea and had a seat.  They immediately came to my table with a smackerel of St. Louis’s own gooey butter cake.  It was excellent and welcoming.  There are no waiters or waitresses.  My food came up in about 5 minutes and was, in a word, perfect.  They serve on press board basket/plates (which is sort of off putting for me) and they are very functional and I would guess cut down on their labor costs.  

Frequent reader will not my obsession with hash browns.  They don't have them.  They have instead “smashed” potatoes and what they were was two small brown skinned potatoes (I wont say “artisinal” since it has become a meaningless term) but two very nice little potatoes, roasted and it appeared browned slightly in a skillet and browned.  Not crispy but VERY flavorful.  The eggs (over easy) were perfectly prepared.  The sausage (they grind their turkey and chorizo sausage) I ordered was sage and I found it didn't have the kick I like from sage but it was more than adequate.  

If there was a weak spot on the plate it was either that or the side of biscuit and gravy that came with it.  The gravy was perfect in consistency but once again, like the sage sausage, lacked “POP” but not everyone likes the pepper like I do.  The biscuit I found problematic.  I believe it was perfectly done for what it was but it was a heavier (critically I would say “leaden”) biscuit and I prefer lighter.  This was almost scone like in density and I definitely prefer a fluffier product.

I LIKED IT!

I salt n pepper before I taste and since this is a chef driven breakfast place, they might not appreciate that.  I am attributing either that, or opening day jitters but they have no salt n pepper condiments and when i asked they gave me some Mc Cormick grinders from the kitchen which were excellent but a little disjointed and awkward needing to ask.  The seating also might be problematic for some.  They have a long table and high stools up the middle with stools around two edges and a ledge table for eating.  Might not be the best place for a breakfast meeting with those options but they did have a pair of two tops and a four top for regular seating.

Over all I would give this 4.5 Slingers on the 5 scale.  It is really good and really high end without being too pricey.  My breakfast was 10 bucks and although they don't have servers they do have a tip jar at the counter.  While not a “value” place it is really excellent food.  The owners were there on opening day and they seem to have worked out a lot of the kinks by doing breakfast pop ups at places like Byrd n Barrel.  This place is a keeper and I am excited to direct you to go there and give them a shot. This could be my new “home base”.

They also have a DRIVE THROUGH!

Good background Article from the RFT: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog/2016/04/22/new-chef-driven-breakfast-restaurant-yolklore-will-open-in-crestwood

Sauce Article: http://www.feastmagazine.com/the-feed/article_ae09e76a-f03c-11e5-9339-5b7f1d43e724.html

Diner Review: Southwest Diner

 Sooooo... As i have have often stated I have a relentless, voracious appetite to bring new and exciting culinary delights to my several loyal readers.   No one is historically more impressed with my dedication than...well...me.  No one that is other than my loyal mates in the FFL (Fantasy Football League).  The league is made of ner do well plaintiff lawyers, a investment guy, a guy who does unspeakable things at a Catholic boys school and a deeply mentally and spiritually impaired private investigator.  It is a good group.  But they are not really people.  Certainly not people with "regular jobs" so the discussion of lunch, breakfast, dinner, drinks and food tend to take up a great deal of time on the email thread.  Recently the PI guy told me about this place and I was intrigued.  It was formerly a small, dark bar in  a "neighborhood" that nothing to offer but the 7-11 on the corner of Southwest and Mc Causland.

I have been there three times now.  Once for breakfast and twice for lunch.  The verdict is still out on it as  breakfast spot but for lunch it was... unstoppable.  They have a limited menu that is a southwest themed menu but they have all the standards of eggs, sausage, biscuits and what looked like some awesome pancakes which i will need to try on my next trip based on their look on the next table.
The lunch has been a killer.  The first time I got a green chili cheeseburger with onion rings, iced tea and a chocolate malt. My companions got an enchilada and some thing with beans and chicken and everyone was very pleased with their food.  The second time I changed it up by getting a green chili cheeseburger, fries and a tea.  My guests got that but one of them ordered a burrito which he said was awesome.  It looked "toasted a little brown on the top and was slightly bigger than a babies head.  All of the food was fresh and hot.  The service was more than adequate and the third time in one of the waiters recognized me and remembered me for breakfast.  The green chili has a great flavor and is not too hot.  With the cheddar it is outstanding and the burger itself is really fresh and juicy and the next time I go back.... I will get it again.  I first had one of these out in Sante Fe at a place called "Bob Cat Bites" that Road Food and Diners, Drive Ins and Dives had reviewed and spoke glowingly of.  It was good.  But not this good. The onion rings were way above average and the fires fresh, hot and crisp.  they like their malts, milk shakes and pies for desert but I will try those another time


I have only been once for breakfast.  I got the biscuits and gravy with chorizo pictured below.  The biscuits seemed really excellent but the gravy tasted more like chile to me and I thought it would make a great slinger for the slinger lovers among us (you know who you are).  I will report more on breakfast another time but I want to tell you there will be another time.  Go there.  it is off the beaten path.  It is unreviewed to the best of my knowledge in the RFT or Post Dispatch.  They serve all menu items all the time but are only open for breakfast and lunch.  Go there now.  Eat there now.Order that green chili cheeseburger, NOW!

Diner Review: The 11 Mile House

Sooooo...The Eleven Mile House! I used to live in Warson Woods, right down the street from theplace. I enjoyed going there for years mainly to see old people drink Manhattans. I ate theKirkwood Burger and the Kirkwood Klucker. They are a burger or a piece of chicken with baconand rarebit sauce. It was easily chewed and tasty. I was there a week or so ago with aluncheon companion when I noticed that they were open for... wait for it....BREAKFAST!

From The Website:

OUR HISTORYTHE ELEVEN MILE HOUSE WAS ORIGINALLY ONE OF MANY "MILE" HOUSES AS ONE TRAVELEDWEST FROM DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS. FOR MANY YEARS IT WAS A FREE STANDING BUILDING ATTHE CORNER OF MANCHESTER ROAD AND WOODLAWN; IN 1946, THE "ELEVEN MILE HOUSE"OPENED AS A RESAURANT IN THE BUILDING, COMPLETE WITH A POPULAR BEER GARDEN.THE ORIGINAL BUILDING WAS RAISED WHEN GREENTREE CENTER WAS DEVELOPED AND NOWOCCUPIES PART OF THE SHOPPING CENTER'S STOREFRONT. THE DECOR OF THE CURRENTRESTAURANT IS REMINISCENT OF THE CORNER BAR & GRILLS OF YESTERYEAR.MANY GENERATIONS HAVE SINCE PASSED THROUGH THE ELEVEN MILE HOUSE, WHILE OTHERSCONTINUE TO FREQUENT THE ESTABLISHMENT, AND CONSIDER IT TO BE A SECOND HOME. ASTIME CONTINUES TO CHANGE, SO DO WE. OUR GOAL IS TO SEE ANOTHER 62YEARS AND MOREFAMILY GENERATIONS. WE, THE FAMILY OF THE ELEVEN MILE HOUSE, WANT TO THANK YOUFOR YOUR CONTINUED LOVE AND SUPPORT.

So I am pretty excited about the place. It is dark. It opens at 7 which although no good for aweek day but it is a perfect time for Saturday breakfast. Fortunately they are only open forSaturday Sunday breakfast. Did I mention it was dark? Dark is good in the morning and I havebeen looking for a place to perhaps start a regular Saturday breakfast with my retardedacquaintances. Just a 7-8 thing. I think it might be perfect. Tables, booths and did I mention it isdark? They also have drinks! In the MORNING! Anyway, I went. it was not life changing. For the first half hour I was the only one there. The waitress was chatting up the guy who was mopping the floor, doing the dishes and carrying thebread in. She might have been a little too chatty but the iced tea was good, made fresh thatmorning and not dragged out of the walk in from last night. The TV was on but the volume wasoff and it looked like “Head of the Class” or some other excellent show was on.

Taking a seat farenough away from the door but facing the door to watch all the action unfold. It was no unlike thedive bars that serve breakfast in south city and south county. The fact that they serve booze atbreakfast hours is a prominent factor on the menu with them encoujraging you to that morningBloody Mary or Mimosa.I opted for an alcohol free breakfast this morning (patting myself on the back). As a service tomy readers, here is the breakfast menu which is at best basic. Basic is good.

BREAKFASTThe Eleven Mile House Two eggs, two bacon strips, sausage patties, two buttermilk pancakes and toast7.95
Steak & Eggs Six ounce charbroiled strip steak, two farm fresh eggs, golden hash browned potatoes andtoast. 10.95
Bases Loaded Ham, sausage, bacon, two country fresh eggs, golden hash browned potatoes and toast.7.75
Pancake Breakfast Your choice of three regular or blueberry pancakes, served with bacon or sauasagepatties. 7.75
Country Ham & Eggs Served with golden hash browned potatoes and toast. 8.25
Eleven Mile High Breakfast Two farm fresh eggs, golden hash browned potatoes and authentic southernstyle biscuits andgravy. 6.95
Three Egg Omelet your choice of any three: bacon, ham, sausage, mushrooms, onions, green pepper,tomatoes, swiss, jack,american or pepper cheese, with golden hash browned potatoes and toast. 8.95
Egg Sandwich Fried egg, cheese, and bacon or sausage on Your choice of white or whole wheat bread.4.95
Bagel Egg Sandwich Scrambled egg, cheese and bacon or sausage on a bagel. 5.85Two Egg Breakfast Your choice of eggs any style served with golden hash browned potatoes, and yourchoice of a biscuitor toast and jelly. 5.65
One Egg Breakfast Your choice of eggs any style served with golden hash browned potatoes and yourchoice of a biscuit ortoast and jelly. 4.95
HOT OFF THE GRIDDLEServed with your choice of bacon, sausage or hamRegular and Light Syrups AvailableBlueberry Pancakes. 6.15
Hot Griddle Cakes. 5.65
Short Stack. 4.95
French Toast. 6.25
ALA CARTEBacon or Sausage. 3.75
Hash Browns. 2.75
Country Ham. 4.25
Biscuits & Gravy. 4.35
Hot Oatmeal. 3.95
Bagel with Cream Cheese 2.65
English Muffin 2.05
Toast white or wheat with butter & jelly. 2.05
BEVERAGESFresh coffee. 1.95
Hot Tea. 1.95
Milk 2% or skim sm 1.65 lg 1.95
Hot Chocolate. 1.95
Fresh Chilled Juice
white or wheat with butter & jelly. 2.05
BEVERAGESFresh coffee. 1.95Hot Tea. 1.95Milk 2% or skim sm 1.65 lg 1.95Hot Chocolate. 1.95Fresh Chilled JuiceOrange, grapefruit, apple, tomato,and cranberry small 2.50 large 3.50Iced Tea. 1.95Green Tea. 1.95
ADULT BEVERAGESBloody Marysmall 2.50 large 3.50Iced Tea. 1.95Green Tea. 1.95
ADULT BEVERAGESBloody MaryTomato juice, vodka, and celeryBloody BullTomato juice, beef broth, vodka, and celeryMimosaChampagne and orange juiceBaileys and Coffee.ScrewdriverOrange juice and vodka.

Biscuits and gravy were fresh and hot with a nice textured biscuit and a very acceptable whitesausage gravy. The sausage patties were of the thinner variety but tasty and not requiring anyconcern about done-ness (no one likes pink pork). The hash browns were shredded as Godhimself intended and were perfect.I have been looking lately for a place to gather the faithful on Saturday mornings. Many friendsstill have small children (never a welcome addition to breakfast revelry) but there is certainly agroup of people who I could gather with on Saturday, read my paper and verbally abuse thatwould make Saturday morning more palatable before work. Consider yourself invited. I willtrying it out for each upcoming Saturday in February.I have high hopes for the 11 Mile House.Not too far out of the way. Dark. They also have a jukebox and I will look forward to crank thatup some Saturday morning, nursing a hangover and order a bottle of Busch and see what theday has to offer. What could go wrong?

Diner Review: The Boardwalk Cafe (Webster)

Sooooo... as it has been discussed the St. Louis Diner Review has lost it’s way. No diners have been reviewed. No hash browns have had their measure taken. Instead what have you been reading? Drivel... drivel at best when compared to the majesty that is breakfast, the pantheon that is the diner. We have lost to friends over the last year, specifically After down in the Grove (how sad is it that “the Grove has actually caught on as the name of that destitute area where Manchester dumps into Vandeventer which has been known primarily for it’s gay and lesbian bars) and The Buttery on South Grand. They will be missed.

In an effort to make amends The Diner Review is staying close to home. I have recently visited The Boardwalk Cafe at 600 East Lockwood right next to the Starbucks and across from the triangle park which separates it from Weber’s Front Row. It is a great little place. It is a great location and there is literally no other tolerable place to get a a breakfast in Webster (and don’t you dare mention “First Watch” to me. It is an anathema) There is very little atmosphere but is a comfortable place. Outside dining when weather cooperates. It is locally owned and run by a family of some ethnicity. They seem extremely pleasant and eager to please. They have several somewhat rickety booths trailing back shot gun style along the side of the kitchen/grill area. Languages are being spoken which I cannot decipher. This is somehow comforting. They do not open till 7 which is an hour too late but you get the feeling that the people who work there might have been partying until they came over to open the place up.

They do all the standards (for me) and they do good bacon, toast, sausage, gravy. I would argue they try and do too much in that they offer 12 types of omelets and 9 “skillets”. “Skillets” are of course an abomination. They are an amalgamation of eggs, home fries and... whatever other crap anyone wants to throw in there. They state that they have the best pancakes and french toast in town and they do coyly offer the much ballyhooed “Pigs In A Blanket”. They also have full lunch menu but I will never be there then. All and all this diner says 7.5 Slingers on 10 scale. There, that wasn’t so hard. Was it?

Diner Review X: The Eat Rite St. Louis

Diner Review
The Eat Rite
Downtown at 7th and Choateau
622 Chouteau Ave, St Louis - (314) 621-9621

There is something ultimately intimidating about the Eat Rite...even for the experienced and adventurous diner. I have been working downtown now for three years and in that time I have visited the Eat Rite only twice. I now pass it every morning and never stop. Whether it is because the over all impression of filth, the unfriendliness (and apparent uncleanliness) of the staff or the unwelcoming parking lot... it intimidates. The parking lot is sometimes used as a cheap option for Cardinal games. It always has cans, bottles and broken bottles.... nice. It is free standing which is a nice touch but standing their on the corner it looks like a beat up old stripper.

Still, a job is a job and the Eat Rite (or don’t eat at all) downtown is a monument. The net tells me it was established in the 1940’s and is one of the few historic surviving Route 66 Roadside Attractions. The plaque commemorating same says diners stopped by for great burgers and a friendly atmosphere. I cannot as of yet comment on the burgers but the “friendly atmosphere” seems to have expired shortly after the troops came home from WWII. These were without a doubt the meanest, hardest looking two women I have ever seen behind a counter. I would back either one in a knife fight because they both looked like they had made it through several.


Entering the place it is a “classic”. A shotgun diner with one long counter which curves at the end of the door for a nice J with stainless steel front and stools all around. No booths. Two vintage pinball machines and a jukebox crowd the wall. The major dominating item in the place is the menu which is up over the grill and it is impressive but once again belies the friendliness with it’s “absolutely no refills” caveat. The pricing is not bad and the grill area seems pretty clean but food is kept in a home kitchen type refrigerator and you can see to the back storage area and out to the parking lot and you wonder who they know at the health inspectors office and OSHA. The counter is covered with at least 1/2 dozen ashtrays... all full... overflowing. It makes you wonder how they do it...keep them just... brimming with ashes at all hours of the day and night. Miraculous.

Food...yes they have food and it is a good menu up on that wall. It includes a slinger and chicken fried steak and even steak though i have not tried it yet. Looks like they do their eggs well. Sausage was unremarkable and the bacon though not tasted seemed like it would be pretty good if it was as good as it looks. The potatoes were of the “breakfast” potatoe variety, not shredded but chopped up pretty food and were more then passable. The place is typified when one asks for iced tea. Clearly not a normal request for the down on their luck and drunken clientele. The friendly waitress said she didn’t know if they made any or not, when her running mate announced the affirmative and they opened the kitchen refrigerator to get a pitcher of it. Though not old... it was less then fresh.

Check out the RFT Review: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/search/restaurants.php?oid=32203

Over all I have to say again that it probably wins all awards as far as authenticity. The problems are that the food is only passable, the service is bad and borders on unfriendly and the place looks dirty as shit. Other then that it is perfect. 6 Slingers on the 10 scale.