The Bar - Cape Girardeau, MO

Date of dining experience: June 18, 2016

Place: The Bar

Location: 117 Themis St. in Cape Girardeau, MO

Meal: Prime Rib Panini with fries ($11) - Slow-roasted prime rib, tomatoes, carmelized onions, and perfectly melted Swiss cheese. For my taste, there were too many onions. I'm not very picky, but the first few bites the only flavor I tasted was onion. Once I scraped some of them off I started to get the meat, cheese, and tomato flavors. From them on it was a great sandwich.

Dessert: The Bar is currently promoting some new desserts, so the waitress brought us out a free sampler platter with four desserts on it.

1. Tiramisu - Delicious! Honestly, the third best tiramisu I've ever had. The first two being at Brave New Restaurant in Little Rock, AR and Ciao in Cape Girardeau, MO.
2. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake - This was okay, but is not my favorite. I tend to stay away from chocolate things and cheesecakes. This particular dessert was very rich.
3. Turtle Cheesecake - This is a cheesecake, but I do like caramel. It was definitely better than dessert #2, but still just a cheesecake (unlike #4).
4. Lemon Berry Cheesecake - This is not your typical cheesecake. This dessert had a rather small layer of actual cheesecake, paired with another small layer of actual cake. The lemon berry flavor was also very good. If I had to eat cheesecake, I would want it to be similar to this one.

Coffee: The Bar serves an amazing Italian roast that is perfect just to drink black. This is some of the best coffee available anywhere, not just in this area!

This place is always great. I highly recommend this restaurant for your next even, of any kind (just be sure to order light onions if you get the prime rib panini)! Seriously, it would be great for a date, business meeting, hanging out with friends, or even a nice lunch by yourself! Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Red Robin - St. Louis, MO

Date of dining experience: June 17, 2016

Place: Red Robin (yummm)

Location: 130 Gravois Bluffs Cir. Dr. in Fenton, MO

When you go to Red Robin, you go for a burger! I got the Royal Red Robin Burger (with fries) and it was nothing short of awesome (and a little messy). This burger has bacon, lettuce, mayo, melted American cheese, thinly-sliced tomatoes, and a sunnyside up egg! A royal-style burger with an egg on it is one of my top three favorite types of burgers. If you have never eaten one, you should try it!

Chances are you have seen a Red Robin commercial, but if you have never actually been to the restaurant you need to go! Try it out and let me know what you think. If you don't like it, at least you can say that you tried it. Enjoy!

Ferguson Brewing Company - St. Louis, MO

Date of dining experience: June 17, 2016

Place: Ferguson Brewing Company

Location: 418 S. Florissant Rd. in Ferguson, MO

Appetizer: Spinach-Artichoke Dip ($7.50) - Creamy mixture of cheeses, spinach, and artichokes, served warm with crispy crostinis. Very good!

Meal: The Cuban sandwich with fries ($9) - Smoked ham, pulled pork, and sliced pickles, smothered with melted Swiss cheese on a soft ciabatta and topped with a spicy Cuban sauce. Not many restuarants serve a Cuban sandwich, but when they do it usually really good. This one is no exception! I'm sure you will find this just as delicious as I did!

Beer Samples:

1. Golden Blonde - This is their lightest beer on tap, but it's still better than Budweiser! Refreshing and easy to drink with low hop and malt flavoring. A great all-around beer. (ABV 4.5 and IBU 12)
2. Pecan Brown Ale - American-Style Brown Ale brewed with pecans added directly to the mash. That, and six different malts, is what gives this ale a very distinctive, nutty, malty flavor. (ABV 5.5 and IBU 30)
3. Irish Red - Six different malts are used to create this Irish red ale. The caramel and biscuit flavors really come out in the aroma and taste. The hop presence is there, but definitely takes a back seat to the other soft flavors. (ABV 5.5 and IBU 21)
4. Unfiltered German Pilsner - This is by far the best pilsner I have ever had! It is brewed as a German-style pilsner with crisp malt flavors and Sterling hops. This beer is cold lagered and unfiltered, which gives it a unique, clean flavor profile. (ABV 5.0 and IBU 37)

Seasonal Beer Samples:

1. Dubbel Norton - A very delicious Belgian ale.
2. Peach Wheat - A decent wheat beer with a very light peach flavor.
3. Lemongrass Sour Saison - An excellent sour beer. Sour beers have become all the rage lately. They use to have this same Lemongrass Saison without being sour and it was good as well.
4. Mandarina Wheat - Another decent wheat beer with a very good flavor and aftertaste. 
5. El Dorado IPA - A nice IPA that went very well with the food. 

I love going to Ferguson Brewing Company. I was going to go there last summer and write about it then, but it burned down just two days before I was planning on eating there! I'm sure if you try this place you will not be disappointed.

Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think about it! Enjoy!

Bella Italia - Cape Girardeau, MO

Date of dining experience: June 8, 2016

Place: Bella Italia

Location: 20 N. Spanish St. in Cape Girardeau, MO

Audry and I went to Bella Italia to partake in their Happy Hour specials before a Cape Muny Band concert.

Food: During Happy Hour, all the appetizers except the Pan Seared Tuna and Steamed Mussels are half price, so we made a meal out of appetizers!

1. Stuffed Portobello Mushroom: Stuffed with rich cream cheese, artichoke, pancetta, & black olive tapenade. Topped with mozzarella & baked until bubbly. This was okay, but not my favorite. ($4.48 half price)
2. Antipasta Caprese Salad: Fresh tomato, mozzarella, & basil. This is always a good choice at any restaurant! ($3.63 half price)
3. Crab Cakes: Two homemade crab cakes served with dijonaise sauce. These crab cakes are some of the best in Missouri. They are filled with much more crab than you normally get this far from an ocean. ($4.63 half price)
4. Fried Ravioli: Eight traditional beef pockets fried & served with marinara. Always good, no matter where you are. Definitely one of the safer options. ($3.48 half price)

Wine: During Happy Hour, all wines that are offered by the glass are only $5 per glass! So, naturally, I tried a few of them!

1. Sauvignon Blanc, Wither Hills 2014, New Zealand - This was very good while sitting outside on a hot day and was probably my favorite of the three wines.
2. Sauvignon Blanc, Quivira 2014, Dry Creek Valley (California) - This was also very good, but a little more dry than the Wither Hills. 
3. Pinot Grigio, "Riff" A. Lageder 2014, Alto Adige - A very nice, light Pinot Grigio to end the meal.

Bella Italia is always a delight and we love to sit out on the patio. The people are always so nice and we always have a great time. Try this place out for yourself and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

P.S. If you sit on the patio, it is okay to toss a little bread out onto the sidewalk and watch the birds. :-)

Watami - Cape Girardeau, MO

Date of dining experience: May 28, 2016

Place: Watami Sushi & Hibachi Steakhouse

Location: 45 South Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, MO

I don't write very many negative reviews, but this place gets one. Not for the food, but for the service.

Entree: Audry and I split the Sushi and Sashimi for Two ($50) - Served with Miso Soup and Salad. The meal was very good, but the overall experience was not as we felt hurried along by our waitress.

Beers: Audry and I also split a 22 oz. bottle of Sapporo and a 22 oz. bottle of Kirin Ichiban. The Kirin Ichiban was by far the better of the two.

Audry and I both love sushi and sashimi. We also both love good beer with a meal. However, we do not like being hurried along because the waitress who took our table wanted to leave. She gave us our check before we were even close to finished eating and came back multiple times to check on it without asking if we wanted dessert. I didn't, but Audry did, so she ordered her green tea ice cream. Our waitress immediately added it to the check and brought it back to us before even bringing us the dessert! To top it off, our waitress was training another person. I feel so sorry for that kid. When we did finally give her our card and she brought it back, she waited there until we filled it out. And as soon as she turned it in she and her trainee bolted out the door.

Overall, the food was great, but this was a very disappointing experience. And this is not my first disappointing experience at Watami. If you are ever thinking of going to Watami, don't. You'll probably be disappointed in some way. The soup and salad dressing are both way better at Shogun anyway, so you might as well just go there in the first place.

If you do try this place, I hope you have a better experience that we did. Enjoy, hopefully...

The Block - St. Louis, MO

Date of dining experience: May 27, 2016

Place: The Block - restaurant, butcher, bar

Location: 146 West Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves, MO

Entree: White Wine Braised Pork ($17) - served with whipped potatoes, grilled asparagus, roasted pineapple chutney, and country gravy. This dish was very good, and so was the extra side of roasted broccoli I ordered ($5). You could really taste the roasted flavor in the broccoli; it was almost as if it had been smoked.

Wine: A very nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon with the entree.

Beer: Afterward, while talking with friends, I had a delicious pint of Goose Island Green Line Pale Ale. Delicious!

This restaurant was very enjoyable. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

REPEATS: 4 Restaurants

Since we are moving to Pennsylvania soon, Audry and I have been eating at some of our favorite local restaurants one last time. Each of these restaurants have their own blog posts, and some of them have more than one, so I thought I'd save myself a little time and group them together in one post.

1. Dhafer's Mediterranean Steak House in Dexter, MO on May 26, 2016 --- Chicken Caprese: perfectly grilled chicken breast with just the right amount of tomato, basil, and garlic; served with green beans and roasted red potatoes. This was a new dish for me as I normally do not order chicken at restaurants (basically because chicken is so easy to cook I can make most restaurant chicken dishes at home). I really enjoyed this dish and I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about ordering chicken the next time they go to Dhafer's. We also had the Spinach Dip appetizer this trip, which is really good. And, of course, we had some drinks. I started with the White Merlot to accompany the appetizer and was feeling fruity when the main course came, so I ordered a Johnny Appleseed cider.

2. Winslow's Home in St. Louis, MO on May 28, 2016 --- Smoked Salmon Hash: hot smoked salmon, pickled red onion, sweet potatoes, spinach, and sunny up eggs; served with a bird seed cracker. Winslow's is our favorite brunch restaurant, and you really can't go wrong with this dish. It is my absolutely favorite thing at Winslow's. Winslow's also offers very good bakery items and has really great coffee. If you get the chance to pay this place a visit, definitely try a Mimosa with fresh-squeezed orange juice. Delicious!

3. El Cabrito in Dexter, MO on June 9, 2016 --- Cabrito Special: grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp, cooked with bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions; served on top of a bed of rice and covered in cheese sauce. I mixed it up a little bit this trip as this is not my typical dish (though I have had it before). This dish is very good and wraps up nicely in some tortillas. El Cabrito also has some great cheese dip and the best salsa I've ever had in my life (always made fresh with extra cilantro) for the chips. My drink of choice here is the Cantarito with Jose Cuervo. This drink is made with a little fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, but what really makes the flavor is the fresh-squeezed orange juice. My mouth is watering now just thinking about it!

4. Cheeburger Cheeburger in St. Louis, MO on June 12, 2016 --- Special of the Day: Classic burger (1/4 lb.) with Havarti cheese, lettuce, and pickles; served with their fantastic fries (cooked in peanut oil) and a side salad with Greek dressing. I love this place. The burgers are made to order, so you know they're fresh, and the fries are absolutely the best! This is one of the few restaurants where I will order a soda, but it's because they mix cherry syrup into their Coke for a delicious Cherry Cola.

All four of these restaurants are fantastic. Try them out for yourself and let me know what you think. Enjoy!