El Torero; Ste. Genevieve, MO
Posted on September 18, 2007
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Name of Restaurant: El Torero
Location of Restaurant: 634 Ste. Genevieve Dr., Ste. Genevieve, MO
Date of Visit: September 8, 2007
El Torero is located in the building that was once a Taco John’s and before that a Taco Bell. Of the three, El Torero is superior. It’s not that wanna-be Mexican fast food, but some good stuff.
We’ve visited several times though none lately. But every time has been a wonderful visit, including this last time. The waiter was attentive, the food arrived fast and fresh and absolutely delicious.
There’s really not much to say, because I give everything a thumbs up from the food and service to the atmosphere. Not to mention that they keep the kids happy with a kids’ menu that includes cheeseburgers (made my four-year-old very happy, he had been upset we weren’t going to McDonald’s). My only complaint would be that it is hard to choose what to eat because it is all so good! Yes, that’s sappy, but it is what it is. If you’re in the area and hungry for some Mexican food, stop by!
Final Rating: 5 Star(s)
Pearl’s Oyster Bar; St. Charles, MO
Posted on June 30, 2007
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Name of Restaurant: Pearl’s Oyster Bar
Location of Restaurant: Ameristar Casino, St. Charles, MO
Date of Visit: April 21, 2007
Pearls Oyster Bar is advertised as “the best of New Orleans come to St. Charles.” I’ve never been to New Orleans, myself, but I did enjoy myself at Pearl’s. I’d like to do this review a little differently in that I will simply list the pros and cons of our visit this past April.
Pros
Once we were seated, we were treated quite well and served in a rather timely manner.
The food was wonderful and brought to us in large proportions. We were able to take a good amount home. My husband ordered the Cajun Shrimp & Crab Pasta (shrimp, crap, andouille sausage, Cajun cream sauce, penne pasta) while I had the Fried Seafood Platter (fried cod, shrimp and oysters, french fries, coleslaw, tarter sauce). Sorry, no photos this time – while there was enough light to see, there wasn’t much to get decent photos of food.
I don’t believe they cook all of the food here, but the area where the bar is, also has a cooking station and it was quite entertaining to watch the cooks at work.
Cons
The restaurant is inside the Ameristar Casino complex which may not be an attractive thing for a lot of people. We had some time to kill and thought we’d check out what kind of restaurants were in the casino, otherwise we would normally not have been there ourselves.
The atmosphere is quite noisy and busy because of the casino, people – especially the employees – are prone to yell quite a bit. The restaurant itself is open on at least two sides so quite a lot of noise filters in, as well.
It took a while for anyone to pay us any attention. We stood waiting to be seated for quite a while and honestly nearly left. The restaurant was by no means full (we were a bit early for the dinner crowd) and was actually quite empty and slow. Once someone started to seat us, they tried to seat us in what appeared to be the most undesirable location right at the edge of the restaurant in a little hallway-like area. However, upon asking for another table, we were accommodated.
Overall, I think that between the food, service, and atmosphere, this restaurant deserves four stars.
Final Rating: 4 Star(s)
Tractors Classic American Grill; Perryville, MO
Posted on June 9, 2007
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Name of Restaurant: Tractors Classic American Grill
Location of Restaurant: St. Joseph St., Perryville, MO
Date of Visit: May 12, 2007
My experience with Tractors was a bit different as I was actually a crafter outside of the restaurant during Mayfest 2007.
I went inside and placed a carry out order and was told it would be about twenty minutes. I expected this as they were extremely busy with the lunch crowd. I had to wait approximately ten minutes before I could place my order so I had some time to look around. The restaurant was nicely decorated and the ambiance was very nice and private for each table. I especially enjoyed the wall of photos of people with their tractors and that visitors can contribute their own photos if they want to.
We ordered two chicken strips meals and an appetizer of stuffed potato skins, and I went back to get them after about twenty-five minutes.
When I got back to my booth with the food, I opened up what turned out to be a napkin-less and utensil-less meal. I apologize if this comes across wrong, but isn’t it common sense to include utensils and napkins with a carry-out meal? Especially when the people serving us knew our situation? But as it was so busy and we were hungry, we didn’t bother going all the way back there for utensils and napkins.
But the food itself? The chicken strips left a little to be desired, they were not quite what we expected, but they were not bad, either. The stuffed potato skins? We loved them! There were a lot more in that container than we had expected there to be in an appetizer, it could have been a full meal for one person, in fact. There was an uneven number so we “fought” over the last one. ;-) They became the bigger part of our meal, actually, and neither of us finished our main courses. We didn’t even try our bread, however, it was mostly hard as a rock.
I’d love to give this place a second try, but for now three stars because the main courses weren’t that great and for the lack of service regarding utensils and napkins, etc.
Final Rating: 3 Star(s)
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