Steak & Shake Saved Our Vacation in St. Louis
Written: Mar 19 '06 (Updated Mar 20 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Expanded menu, great tasting food, tasty fries, superb shakes and sundaes, prompt and courteous staff
Cons: Drink extra with kids menu. Locations are not nationwide, limited to mid-west generally.
The Bottom Line: Worth the trip if you're on vacation or nearby (check Steak & Shake web site for locations)
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| swopedesign's Full Review: Steak 'n Shake |
A Miserable Spring Break in Saint Louis, Missouri
We planned a 7-day vacation to Saint Louis in May 2005 (Spring Break). St. Louis offered some cool places to visit, among them Magic House (highly recommended for kids, and a couple Fridays a month kids get in FREE!), Planet Hollywood on the river and Hard Rock Cafe at Union Station. The drive over from Wichita through the night went fine. We even saw a herd of deer cross a winding mountain road in south Missouri. At 3 AM we slept in the SUV (8 of us) to wait until sunrise. The sun finally rose and we went in search of our Sleep Inn hotel in O'Fallon as we planned our first couple of days.
Our Sleep Inn had our room for us. Previous history with Quality Inn (same chain) had been wonderful in Oklahoma City. We expected similar out of Sleep Inn. Didn't happen. Our room was a conference room, complete with conference-room-style chairs stacked along the walls, bright fluorescent lights, no lamps, fold-down and fold-out beds, no wireless internet access (unless I stepped outside our room into the hallway), etc. We thought we could live with that, so happy to be on vacation were we, and off we went to Magic House. Upon our return that night, we dealt with fighting over the television which couldn't be seen but by half the room where it was placed, and our 2-year-old turning on and off the fluorescent lights in the middle of the night waking everyone.
The next morning we saw a cockroach crawling up the wall next to our boxes of cereal we had bought for breakfast. That broke the camel's back. The young lady at the front desk wasn't very knowledgeable, no manager was on site, but when contacted just told the young lady to "handle it." But of course she couldn't, couldn't even give us other accommodations. We got on the Internet in their business center, called the chain's main office, only to discover that they couldn't do anything for us, either, so we were at the mercy of that particular motel. On the wall was a satisfaction guarantee, so we finally didn't have to pay for our single night there, but that was little consolation as we now had to find another hotel with available accommodations, and unpack again, etc.
But before we went to find another hotel, we went to see the famous St. Louis Arch, and that evening decided we'd eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. So we spent $30 to take the St. Louis tram to Union Station, only to find that the Hard Cafe wasn't closed, but rented out for the night by Oklahoma State. They were taking no other customers. So we trooped around Union Station, only to be very unimpressed as many spaces were vacant and wasn't at all what it had been cracked up to be. But we were hungry, so we thought we'd have an appetizer at Hooter's (the kids weren't too thrilled), and after riding the service elevator up to the second floor (the regular elevator was broken), we lugged our stroller up to the third floor and navigated to the back of the restaurant. After our cheesy fries and a couple soft drinks, we made our way back to the ground floor to go to Planet Hollywood down by the river, by the arch, or so we were told.
So we spent more money on the Tram to get back to the Arch (by the way, the Tram wouldn't take all of our bills, so we almost had to borrow money from a stranger just to get back to the Arch!). We went in search of Planet Hollywood. Couldn't find it. It's now 8:30 at night. We ask one of the carriage drivers, as we had before. This one tells us Planet Hollywood had closed up a year earlier. So we had to find another restaurant. In that section by the river, however, the only restaurant we could find that we thought we might like was expensive ($40/plate and more). Now we were all tired and hungry and no restaurant in site.
We got back into our car and got onto the Interstate in search of a restaurant. We managed to exit by an airport of some sort (wrong exit) which took us out of the way some 10 miles or so before we could turn back around. We never did find that Burger King!
But Steak & Shake Saves the Vacation!
We finally decided that we would no longer stay in St. Louis but go on up to Hannibal and see Mark Twain's boyhood home. So we wouldn't need to find a hotel/motel in St. Louis. We'd just find one on the way to Hannibal, maybe even in Hannibal. We also settled on Steak & Shake before we got out of St. Louis. At least we could find it right off the Interstate, and it was open!
This was our first experience with Steak & Shake. The restaurant was brightly lit and the staff friendly, prompt and courteous. This helped us to relax and take a breather, as it were. In fact, this felt like the first time we could relax on this trip. We settled in and studied the menu.
Unlike other fast food restaurants based around hamburgers and shakes, Steak & Shake offers a greater variety on the menu. Steak & Shake offers steak burgers instead of hamburgers because they also use the steak portions of the beef to make their 100% beef patties. Like others, I was curious about the difference. :)
In addition to a variety of steak burgers, including mushroom and swiss, bacon steak burgers and a Philadelphia (like a philly cheese steak in burger form), Steak & Shake also offers a variety of steakburger, turkey and chicken melts, fresh salads, a signature chili served in a variety of dishes, a handful of chicken sandwiches, fresh garden, chicken and taco salads, side dishes including fries, cheese fries, onion rings, soups, baked beans, cottage cheese and cole slaw, a full breakfast menu of eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, and biscuits and gravy, and more.
A quick note about Steak & Shake's fries. Other reviewers here on epinions has said that Steak & Shake's fries are unnoteworthy, bland, forgettable. I have had exactly the opposite experience. Steak & Shake's french fries are very good. They are the thin variety like those I used to get as a kid, but they are full flavored. They remind me of shoestring potatoes that my parents used to get when I was young, too. Compared to today's "bigger, better, batter" mentality for french fries, I find Steak & Shake's approach refreshing. In fact, I like Steak & Shake's fries almost as much as I like McDonald's or Burger King's fries. IMHO, no batter is better!
And we can't forget to mention Steak & Shakes' shakes and other fountain items. Though expensive by McDonald's standards, Steak & Shakes' shakes are very, very good. Steak & Shake's fountain helps complete the 1950's drive-in ambience to the restaurants. They offer a variety of flavors, including the standard chocolate, vanilla & strawberry, but also make killer banana, mocha and mint malts & shakes. A favorite for our family (though we've only been twice now to Steak & Shake) is the side-by-side shakes, where we can order two flavors side-b-side in the same glass. (I'd like to know how they do this side-by-side technique, because they are separated vertically and truly side-by-side, not stacked as one might expect!) Though known for their shakes, Steak & Shake also offers some very rich and satisfying sundaes, cobblers and floats.
Like most restaurants today, Steak & Shake is kid-friendly and offers a kids menu of junior sized burgers, shakes, chicken, pancakes, eggs, and pancakes. Our kids have never minded that toys aren't included with Steak & Shake's kids menu items. One thing we did find disappointing is that the kids menu items do not include a drink. For example, a junior steak burger and fries is exactly that. Drink is extra.
Steak & Shake marked the turning point in our 2005 spring break vacation. Its menu was a welcome departure from the fast food norm. As we sat under its brilliant, bright lights, finally feeding our appetites, and relaxing a bit, it was the only true bright spot on our vacation that year (in addition to Magic House) up to that point. This was made even more marked by the darkness outside the restaurant.
Though our experience that night was no doubt colored by the previous two days' bad luck, just yesterday we ate at the Steak & Shake in Branson, Missouri, and our experience was much the same as it was the year before in St. Louis. I was again impressed with the variety on the menu and the tastiness of the food and shakes, and the prompt and courteous staff. This latter quality of its restaurants truly makes it family friendly. With 7 kids, we can't hardly stand to be in a restaurant long enough for the kids to become bored.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
swopedesign
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Member: Mike Swope
Location: Wichita, KS
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Graphic/web designer. Grew brother's retail tire business. Now managing a similar long-established business.
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