South Side Exploration View Comments
This weekend was so beautiful Zack and I decided to get out of the house and try a few new places in South City. Even if that meant sitting inside a dark bar most of the time 
. I need to stick a post-it on my head to take more pictures. I haven’t been taking that many pictures lately and I know how dull a blog post can be without them.
Here are reviews of the places we visited this weekend. You can check out all my other reviews over at Yelp. If you have any feedback, please leave a comment or send me an email. I respond to everything.
Blues City Deli – 2438 McNair
For some reason Zack and I got up really early on Saturday and took the dogs to the dog park. After that our stomachs were growling so we headed off to find lunch. Since I had heard such rave reviews about Blues City, we decided to check it out. It was delicious and affordable! Here’s what I had to say on Yelp.
I’m only upset that I didn’t find this place sooner! Located in a cute area of Benton Park, the deli is a great lunch spot, whether you want to grab to-go or stay for a while and listen to the blues music. Their menu seems like a twist on what you’d find at a classic deli.
It’s a little crowded so make sure to get there early if you want to order and eat quickly. We got there at 11:30am and there were a few people lined up and no seats inside. The sandwiches were filling and had a good amount of meat (always a concern for my boyfriend). We got two sandwiches, a bag of chips and two sodas for $15.78
My only complaint is this – I got The Carmelo, which is advertised as meat and cheese on an Italian Seasoned and Toasted Muffuletta Bun. When I got it, it was served on a toasted sesame seed bun. I expected a little more seasoning on the bun, but you can’t go wrong for $5.25.
As we were leaving I noticed that the line was out the door already for the Saturday lunch rush.
Babe’s Tavern – 3215 Ivanhoe Ave
After eating at Blues City, we decided to check out Babe’s Tavern. Mostly because they won “Best Bar Bar” in the RFT Best of St. Louis but also because I heard it was a nice looking dive. Zack and I are still shopping for that perfect neighborhood bar. When we lived in West County we were always at Brewhouse (12525 Bennington). At first it was because we could walk there from our apartment and then it became a place to see our friends and unwind. Now we go there once a month or so since it’s suck a trek. Babe’s has potential but I’m not sure it will be “our” bar.
We went to Babe’s on a Saturday afternoon after lunch and had a great time. It seems like a hole in the wall bar from the outside, but the inside is well kept, clean and interesting. We loved the coziness of the dark wood and the fireplace in the back. It was a small place, but there’s a covered outdoor patio when it’s warm enough.
It’s apparent that almost everyone knows each other at Babe’s, but Zack and I love those kinds of places. We chatted with the bartender and a few other customers sitting at the bar. The drinks were reasonable and their specials were good. I had a couple Blue Moons for $4 each and then switched to the A-B draft special ($1 pints). We stayed around long enough to catch the evening bartender, who wasn’t as attentive. It seemed like she was geared more toward attracting tips from the men.
Pizza A-Go-Go – 6703 Scanlan
This place is right around the corner from Babe’s Tavern and would be a great place to go after the bar, but it’s only open ’til 10pm. It’s also cash or check only so make sure you’re prepared. We headed there after spending quite a few hours at Babe’s Tavern so my opinion of the taste doesn’t matter much
Riley’s Pub – 3458 Arsenal
This has great potential to become our go-to bar, but unfortunately, there’s no pool table. We went for an engagement party happy hour (congrats Kassie and Julian!) so we had a large group and sat on what looked like the dining side of the place. It was a good spot for our group, but there was no server, so we had to shimmy out of the booth each time we needed another drink. Their pizzas are half off on Monday and Tuesday, making the large $5 (thin crust), which is our motivation to make another trip over to Riley’s soon.
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