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From the category archives:

About St. Louis

Coffee House Review ~ Crooked Tree Coffee House

by Karen Goodman on January 3, 2010

in About St. Louis

Crooked Tree Coffee House tweetup - by nanna_j (flickr)Yesterday I discovered a new favorite coffee house.

If you’ve seen my post listing free WiFi options in St. Louis, you’ll see that I have 5 criterion to qualify a WiFi spot as a favorite:

  • Free Wi-Fi (free)
  • Good coffee with free unlimited refills (coffee)
  • Good access to outlets (plugs)
  • Real food…not just muffins & dessert (food)
  • Easy parking (cars)

What I didn’t mention in that post was that atmosphere matters to me too. If a coffee house has an independent, cozy or small town feel, I’ll give them a break if they don’t meet all my other criteria.

Crooked Tree Coffee House:

The Crooked Tree Coffee House in historic St. Charles, MO gives me everything I want. The only drawback I see is parking. They actually have a number of parking options described on their website in addition to their small lot, but the casual visitor that drives by and wants to check it out might have a hard time getting a spot, especially if you come right at noon on a Saturday like we did.

Otherwise, this place is fabulous. If it was closer to my house, I could see this coffee house becoming my regular Saturday morning outing.

Videos & Pictures:

I took some pictures of my twitter friends who joined me for an impromptu lunch and of the interior of the coffee house to give you a feel for the atmosphere. But since nothing is better than video at capturing the essence of a place, I did a little taping too.

I also got the idea that kids might have a very different perspective if they were to review a restaurant. So I turned the camera on my friend Dave’s daughter Rhyen (with his full permission!) to get the 8 year old perspective on the coffee house.

Rhyen was willing to be interviewed, but really lit up when I agreed to let her take some video herself. She first shot some video of Becky’s son Quentin and me playing tic tac toe, and then she took on the challenge of interviewing a squirmy 6 year old. She definitely has a future behind the camera!

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Kirkwood Restaurants & Bars Go Smoke-Free

by Karen Goodman on January 1, 2010

in About St. Louis

On January 2, 2010, all Kirkwood restaurant and bars will become smoke-free.

Kirkwood, MO smoking banCurrently, the only cities in the St. Louis area which have smoke-free ordinances in effect are Arnold and Ballwin. Clayton will join the club in July 2010, and St. Louis City & County will follow on January 2, 2011.

There are a number of restaurants and bars which voluntarily opened smoke-free businesses, and most seem to be thriving. Still, some Kirkwood businesses are worried.

I know that everyone doesn’t agree with the smoke-free ban, but I’m thrilled. I’m a non-smoker who can only handle about an hour in a smokey environment, which means that I miss out on lots of fun things to do including experiencing the live music scene.

Support Kirkwood’s Restaurants & Bars:

Kirkwood pizza restaurantsWith the ban taking place this weekend, Kirkwood businesses will likely lose some of their regular customers who opt for a short drive over the city limits so they can hang out in a bar where they can smoke. Let’s fill up these businesses with new customers who welcome the change.

Listed below are all of the restaurants & bars which serve dinner or are open evenings in Kirkwood, excluding fast food chains. If I missed anything, please let me know so I can update the list.

Amici’s (Italian) **
Amigo’s Cantina (Mexican) **
Bar Louie (American)
Big Bear Grill (American) **
Branica Wine Bar (Tapas) **
Cafe Provencal (French) **
Chili’s Grill & Bar (American)
Citizen Kane’s (Steakhouse) **
Corner Pub & Grill (American) **
Culpepper’s (American) **
Dewey’s Pizza (Pizza)
Eleven Mile House (American) **
Fandango’s Sports Bar & Grill (American) **
Fortel’s Pizza Den (Pizza) **
Highland’s Brewing Company (American) **
Ice & Fuel (American) **
Jefferson Grill (American) **
JJ Twigs Pizza & Pub (Pizza) **
Kaldi’s (American) **
King Doh (Chinese) **
La Salsa (Mexican)
Massa’s (Italian) **
Mike Duffy’s Pub & Grill (American) **
O’Charley’s (American)
PJ’s Tavern (American) **
Panda (Chinese) **
Pasta House Pronto (Italian) **
Pi Pizzeria (Pizza) **
Racanelli’s (Pizza) **
Richard’s Ribs (BBQ) **
San Sai Japanese Grill (Japanese) **
Steak & Rice (Chinese) **
Sunset 44 (American) **
Texas Roadhouse (American)
Trattoria Branica (Italian) **
Uno Chicago Grill (American/pizza)

** Represents businesses that are locally owned, or at least do not appear to be a part of a national franchise. Again, please let me know if I need to modify anything on the list.

I’ve been to 11 of the 36 on the list.

How many have you visited?

(It only counts if you’ve actually been to the Kirkwood location.)

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St. Louis Free WiFi Options

December 30, 2009

I spend a lot of time working out of coffee shops. Yes, I do have an office. And I work from home a lot. But, sometimes I find the office too distracting and home just too quiet.
On these days, I go in search of a coffee shop with free WiFi so I can get some [...]

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St. Louis Real Estate: MHDC Program Income Guidelines

December 22, 2009

The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) offers a number of programs to strengthen communities and provide affordable housing.
The MHDC website describes their purpose as:
MHDC has invested almost $4 billion to construct, renovate and preserve affordable housing. MHDC functions as a bank, providing financing directly to developers of affordable rental properties. The commission also provides [...]

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What are the Best High Schools in St. Louis?

December 10, 2009

Real estate agents here this question a lot.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer. There are so many factors you could consider when comparing high school performance.

College admission test scores (ACT or SAT)
Standardized testing scores (MAP testing in Missouri)
Graduation rate
Dropout rate
Class size
Teacher years of experience or education level
How many graduates go to 4 yr colleges
Discipline issues

The [...]

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Best Places to Live in St. Louis ~ University City

December 7, 2009

Last month I jumped in my car and pulled out my video camera to capture the flavor of University City. Then I got busy with the new website design and all the new market report pages. Somehow, I never got around to splicing together the video clips and posting them here.
I’m still new at this [...]

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