RFT Restaurant Info
image stolen from the Benton Park Cafe website.
First of all, I feel the need to say that for a moment there, I thought I was totally going to slack so hard on this silly little blog. But then I remembered that I should update it, and what better night than this overly humid stormy evening to get the writing juices flowing.
Also, before I get sidetracked, my friend, Drawz, has a cool blog of his own with some personal cooking and restaurant reviews. He's also going to post a Bogart's review soon, a place i hope to get out to as fast as possible! http://pitbeef.wordpress.com
As I sit here, spitting out bbq sunflower seeds (new favorite snack), I can't help but ponder back to the many instances I've randomly wound up at Benton Park Cafe. Located in the city's Benton Park/Soulard Neighborhood(s) (its down the street from Soulard, but I guess still technically in Benton Park..), this is a lovely little breakfast spot.
At least on the outside. What this small (but bigger than you'd think) cafe hides is a pretty awesome selection of lunchy-brunchy-dinnertime foods as well. Just pop over to the website and check out the menu.
The first thing I'm sure most of you food blog reading dweebs are thinking is "DAAAAAAMN, that dinner shit is 'spensive!" and that's totally true, but the trick to this joke is that breakfast is served all the time! Get biscuits and gravy (best in the city, by far) at 8 pm! Get an omelet at 3 in the afternoon! Crazy idea, right? I've always been a huge proponent of restaurants serving breakfast whenever I want it. That probably explains my love of diner style eateries.
But probably the best part about BPC is how wonderful and tasteful the whole place is. The food is excellent, the waitstaff are all people i would want to hang out with, and they have a bar. Even the water they give you right as you sit down is garnished with a cucumber slice to add to the swanky factor (who does that?).
As far as food choices go, I've sampled a pretty decent selection of the menu (because its so close to my apartment). My absolute favorite thing to get there is one of the (many) Breakfast Burritos. They're huge, they're probably terribly unhealthy, they're filling, and they pack in a lot of flavor. The salsa that comes on the side of the South of the Border Omelet/Burrito is nothing to write home about, but the Fiesta sour cream really adds a new level of creaminess and taste to the dish. If I decide to go with a lunch/dinner dish, I almost always get the cucumber tomato mozzarella salad as my side. If they let me order a big bowl of this stuff as a main dish, i'd be there all the time.
The one thing that rubs me the wrong way about this joint is something i seem to consistently run into if i end up there after 7 pm. The dreaded open mic/acoustic act is always there playing. Through a PA. It makes it really difficult to carry on a conversation with all that going on, so I've learned to try and hit the place up for breakfast, brunch, lunch, late lunch, but never dinner anymore.
All in all, a very solid, slightly fancy if you feel like it neighborhood cafe. They even have a huge coffee drink chalkboard if you're into that!
And so concludes yet another positive review. I promise that next time I'll review somewhere I absolutely hate, its just so hard to choose when all the small independent restaurants in St. Louis are so good!
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