Walking into the store is like walking into a yellow and purple Easter basket, except when you take a second look you realize the Easter bunny is not going to pop out and surprise you; however, the comical gooey butter cake character, Gooey Louie, just might.
Gooey Louie is a family-owned gooey butter cake bakery in the heart of southwest St. Louis at 6483 Chippewa. Gooey butter cake has been a staple in St. Louis bakeries supposedly since it was first accidently made by a St. Louis resident in the 1930s. Gooey Louie has made an entire business out of producing gooey butter cake for St. Louis residents who crave the treat.[gallery][morelink]
Owners of the store, Kirk and Debbie Stieferman, call themselves Louie’s personal assistants. Their philosophy for making gooey butter cake stretches back through four generations.
"My mother, grandmother and I used to make these at home. Our recipe sticks with a homestyle version, but from scratch. No cake mix," Debbie said. "You couldn't go out and buy a gooey butter cake with that quality."
The public tends to agree about the quality of cakes Debbie makes. The Stiefermans decided to open Gooey Louie to share their cakes with everyone in St. Louis after Debbie experienced a strong showing with her gooey treat at the Best of Missouri Market in 2006. Since opening Gooey Louie, Debbie and Kirk have implemented a unique, small family business philosophy when it comes to baking their gooey butter cake. They believe in reducing the mass production that they say seems to be at every turn of businesses today. They eliminate a lot of the chemicals and preservatives put in their product, and they try to slow down and simply make really good cake.
And make really good cake they do. Gooey Louie not only offers traditional gooey butter cake, but the bakery also offers flavors like Chocolate Chippewa, HWY 40: Driving Me Nuts, Lets Go Blueberries and Blackberry Addict. With so many flavors and such great St. Louis style names, it’s difficult to choose just one flavor to try.
"I think once people taste the cake, they realize it is a special cake, and not just something mass-produced at the grocery store." Debbie said. "And, we have a gift box for every occasion featuring the Gooey Louie character. So, lots of people have come to associate Gooey Louie as a special occasion cake."
Since Gooey Louie is just a storefront, the bakery lacks an actual area in which to sit down and enjoy the sweet treat. This is unfortunate since the store has such a fun interior design and a semi-nostalgic atmosphere of old St. Louis style. Nonetheless, great bite-size cakes, Baby Louie’s, and gooey butter cake cookies make it pretty easy to grab the treat and run.
For those who can't just grab a treat and run because they do not live in the St. Louis area, Gooey Louie helps solve that problem. The store sees a substantial demand for long-distance deliveries.
"Gooey Louie gooey butter cake is perfect for out-of-towners. You can't drag any Imos or toasted ravioli on a plane," Debbie said. "We can seal the cake and package it for traveling inside the Gooey Louie "Hello From St. Louis" box."
For more information about the bakery or to place an online order visit http://www.gooeylouiecake.com/index.php and visit the gallery to view more photos of Gooey Louie.
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Tell your goatee-stroking, poetry-reading, beret-wearing hipster friends they finally have a place to nourish themselves without subjection to scorn from society's squares. Beatnik's is among the hippest and latest eateries to set up shop in St. Charles, and the venture has launched with a nod to 50's counterculture as its defining characteristic. One need not even step inside the restaurant to realize the Beatnik's dining experience is far from ordinary. A mannequin donning a chef's coat greets visitors outside the entrance, bearing a massive neon "open" sign. Upon seating, you'll realize the mannequin theme doesn't stop at the door, with figures placed at tables throughout the building. Eccentricity extends to the walls here, as abstract paintings from local artists provide the interior's color. Though it's a disturbing trend for restauranteurs to focus on shaping an establishment's theme at the expense of food quality (The location's prior occupant ran a 40's-themed greasy spoon and didn't last a year.), the Beatnik's brass seems to realize, in this economy, price and food quality tend to trump atmosphere. You won't find an entree topping $15 and cocktails and beers hover shy of three bucks, so bring $30 and you'll stumble out speech-slurred and belly-distended.
Never one to turn down Mediterranean fare, ToastedRav's meal started with the Dig n' Dip, an appetizer platter loaded with red pepper hummus, tabouli, tazziki, and grilled pita wedges. Though it's usually the toppings that stand out with a dish like this, the pita is easily the highlight, with grill marks that make those on any flame-broiled item from Burger King seem like a sunburn. In fact, a few of our wedges came borderline charred, a small price to pay for such carbohydrate ingenuity. The hummus is good, but doesn't stand out from similar offerings at other restaurants. An above-average tazziki offers a cool break from the aforementioned hummus, bringing an oral explosion that isn't disappointingly bland, as is often the case with the yogurt/cucumber/garlic dip. The tabouli dominates the trio, however, with a parsley-heavy taste that isn't overbearing. Though the serving size isn't gargantuan, such is the point of an appetizer. Entree-wise, customers have their choice of a few dozen items ranging from seafood to burgers. Longing for the ocean, we opted for the Crab Cake Sliders with a side of curly fries. The dish came loaded with three miniature sandwiches and a generous helping of hand-curlied curly fries which, one can only assume, means some poor sap is in the back running a scissor blade along a pile of normal fries until they twist, much like ribbon on a Christmas gift. The effort is not done in vain, as the fries are excellent; benefiting only from a bit of salt. The crab cakes are impressive; loaded with more crab meat than breading and topped with a tasty cream-based spread. If anything, the buns take over the sandwiches and a fifty percent size reduction would equal the desired "crab in every bite" result. All said, Beatnik's makes for a nice place to drop a little cash. The atmosphere's fun but not overstated, the food's worth the trip, and the beer (the restaurant boasts its own brand, available in a 100-ounce serving for those walking home.) is cold. 
Indian food lovers rejoice; the authentic dry spice-heavy cuisine many thought impossible to track down in our fair town is, in actuality, only semi-impossible to find. Buried amid a sea of more prominent shops and restaurants in one of Creve Coeur's many strip malls is Ruchi Indian Cuisine, a South Asian eatery that rivals anything served up in the Land of the Hindus. Sure, a more flashy establishment might be compelled to pack its dining room with customers, ensuring the cash flow required of a healthy business, but that's not how Ruchi rolls; there were five people in the place during our visit, three of them Ruchi employees. Don't let that fool you though, this chow will set your soul free.
Appetizer-wise, you'll find about a dozen selections, most of them vegetarian options; from Eggplant Pakora (fried eggplant slices) to Potato Pakora (fried potato slices) to Chili Pakora (fried chili slices,) they've got it all. Even if you're not much for apps, Ruchi starts all customers with a basket of Poori (essentially a tostada,) and a selection of four dipping sauces that run the sweet to spicy gamut. Come entree time, you'll need a little help with your menu. If the crowd's anything like our visit, you'll find plenty of staffers on-hand to translate. From the specials board to the menu placement, owner Sanseev Guduru pimps his seafood pretty hard; a wise move judging by the Shrimp Buna entree. This dish contained about eight jumbo prawns and a handful of peppers and onions in a red sauce that, while spicy, didn't overwhelm the dish. Mix a prawn and a spoonful of sauce with a bit of basmati rice (included,) and heaven will never have seemed so close. Never wanting to ignore turf-dwelling animals, we added the Chicken Tikka to our tab; an entree that included peppers, onions, and chicken breast chunks coated in dry spice and baked in a clay oven. Though still satisfactory, this was the weaker of the two dishes, as the chicken seemed dry compared to the sauce-bathed shrimp. You'd be well-served to throw in an extra three bucks to have your meal served "Thali" style, which adds a basket of Nan (imagine grilled pita bread,) and three to four ounce servings each of vegetable curry, a subtly bitter yogurt dish called Raitha, a vegetable selection, and an orange dessert paste that, if you can get past the appearance, isn't half bad. You'll walk out stuffed and carrying a to-go box for about fifteen bucks per head.
All said, Ruchi makes for an impressive dining experience. The service leaves something to be desired, as our waiter seemed a bit irritable; probably due to boredom. This is one of those restaurants you'll enjoy and find yourself torn between singing its praises and keeping the little gem to yourself for fear of having to wait next time you'd like a seat. If you want Ruchi to survive, however, do the place a favor and pass this article to a friend. Peep the 
We caught up with the folks at 
From Fuzzy Navel to Banana Split, the shack has all your favorite classics. Murray's also features some not-so-common flavors like Bird Poop, Blushing Bride, Hannah Montana, Ninja Turtle and Green Goblin. Those exclusive custom-blended flavors are just part of the reason a trip to the shack is so special. St. Louisans have been heading to 3407 Watson Road for their shaved-ice fixes since 1953, and current owner Rich Murray has been heading up the operation since 1997. Needless to say, it's become a landmark in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.
They're opening for the 2009 season this Saturday (April 4), and to celebrate the beginning of a sweet season, they're offering two shaved ices for the price of one (!) from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. that day.
Owner/operator John Gianoulis said that the local restaurant "takes foods from everywhere south of the border and puts a unique twist on them" Sure, the menu is a bit pricey, but you're getting a heckofalot more than you would at El Maguey; you have to pay for those hard-to-find ingredients, as well as the culinary talents of real professionals in the kitchen. The atmosphere is interesting, the food was bold, and once we walked through the door, there was no indication that were were dining
In lieu of an appetizer, my dinner companion and I decided to split a bowl of Yucatan Chicken Lime Soup ($7). Even though I was starting to feel a little full by the time we finished, I almost regretted splitting the tasty soup instead of getting my own cup.
I love everything from fish to calamari, and since Missouri is kinda land-locked, my true test for restaurants around St. Louis is how fresh their seafood tastes. I ordered the Moqueca, which is a traditional Brazilian seafood stew of shrimp, fresh fish, scallops, mussels and calamari that is simmered in rich coconut milk, bell peppers, onions and tomatoes, then served over golden rice. I got the half order ($14), which was more than enough for a meal after all the rolls and soup. It was phenomenal, and I might have had a little trouble sharing a bite of my dinner, too.
Tricks of the trade: Most people prefer the cabbage to have a little bit of crunch left to it. Also, don't let the look of corned beef in a can scare you off; the finished product will taste awesome. This recipe should serve four people, but if you have a couple more than that, add another can of corned beef to make it more filling. Of course, if you'd rather just skip the cooking and eat your St. Patty's Day chow while out on the town, ToastedRav alum 
pizza tracker told us when when our pizza was being made, when it was baking, when it was en route and even when it was being put in the box. Not to mention we knew who was helping our pizza along the way. "Matt put our pizza in the oven at 6:32 p.m.?" Awesome.
personal touch is pretty obvious if you decide to stop by. The roll they're the most well-known for is the Oh My God, which is shrimp tempura, crab, shrimp, avocado, spicy sauce and eel sauce. Oh, and did I mention that it comes out on fire? Not only was the presentation pretty sweet, but that roll was so good that Chris and I ordered a few other rolls to take back to ToastedRav.
