Happy Mardi Gras! Riverbend Bar Restaurant Review

Happy Mardi Gras, St. Louisans!!!  One of my favorite things about St. Louis is our amazing Mardi Gras celebrations, and there is no better place to celebrate in St. Louis than in Soulard.  But if big crowds and cold weather isn't your thing, no worry, because Riverbend Bar down in South Soulard brings New Orleans cuisine to St. Louis year round.  Riverbend is almost a year old, and was started by a true New Orleanian.  It was recently listed in St. Louis Magazine, naming their shrimp and crawfish etoufee as their best dish.  Jessie, Joe and I love good, authentic, Cajun food and we knew we had to try it!

When we first got there, we noticed a neon sign in the bar window advertising Abita beer.  Jessie and Joe had just gone on a trip to New Orleans last year and they got really excited because they drank Abita when they were down there.  Nothing better than authentic New Orleans beer!

Abita Amber

The atmosphere in Riverbend is pretty much like any dive bar/restaurant, with dark wood paneling, pretty low lighting, and with seating in the front and up on a platform in the back.  They don't take reservations, but I heard the waits aren't usually long, and you can always sit at the bar while you wait.  We went on a Wednesday night (they are closed on Tuesdays) and we immediately seated ourselves up on the platform area.  Note that the single room can get really noisy and Jessie and I were literally screaming to each other just to have a conversation.  Once a couple group of people at the tables around us left it got a lot quieter though.

For an appetizer we ordered crabmeat stuffed shrimb.  It was six jumbo shrimp (tails already off!) with a dollop of toasted crabmeat in the curve of the shrimp, all sitting in a buttered sauce and lemons in a hot casserole dish.  It was delicious!!!  I definitely recommend it.  And if crab isn't your thing, I would at least get an order of the jumbo shrimp, because they were really flavorful.

Crabmeat stuffed shrimp

For our entree we ordered the dish that we came there for... shrimp and crawfish etoufee!  I would normally get crawfish etoufee, but the shrimp one sounded good too.  I just couldn't decide, but luckily I didn't have to, because you can get a combination of the two!  It was an easy decision, and a good one!  Jessie and I came to the restaurant planning to split and entree, but we took one look at the etoufee at the table behind ours and we knew we had to have our own.  It was amazing!  Tons of crawfish in each bite, the perfect amount of seasoning, but without being too spicy, and a good amount of rice packed in a small mound in the center of the plate.  I was in heaven.  It brought back really good memories of my trips to New Orleans.  Riverbend definitely does Cajun food right!

Shrimp and Crawfish Etoufee

We were so happy with our meal, we decided to split their House-made Creole Bread Pudding with Whisky Sauce for dessert (for $4, it was hard to pass up!).  It was pretty good and the whisky sauce was really sweet.  It had some hidden white raisins in it, which I didn't even notice until I looked closer.  It was interesting.

House-made Creole Bread Pudding with Whisky Sauce

Overall, I highly recommend Riverbend Bar in Soulard!  It was such a great experience, and the food was amazing!  I'm always wanting to have some authentic Cajun food and I can't wait to go back and perhaps try one of their Po-Boy Sandwiches (that is...if I have the strength to not order their etoufee again).

Restaurant Review: Franco

On the Friday of our "staycation" Josie and I ventured on over to Soulard in St. Louis to try the French restaurant Franco. It is located in the bottom of a loft building right next to the Soulard Farmer's Market. 

Ample street parking is available.

When we were greeted by the host he asked if we had a reservation to which we replied "no" and he asked if we were okay to eat in the bar areas and we replied "yes." I honestly think you would have the same dining experience no matter where you sit in this restaurant. All along the perimeter of the restaurant are high top tables in which two seats are bar stools and the remaining two seats are actually the window ledge. Josie and both sat on the window ledge and faced the bar...we both agreed we would ask for a window table next time we go back.

We both ordered a beer which I'm sorry I do not remember the names of. Josie's was hoppy and mine was wheaty (go figure). It struck us as odd that it took us what seemed like 15 minutes to receive our beer even though we were sitting in the bar area. We did have a waitress who was serving both the restaurant and the bar so maybe that was the hold up, although that was our only complaint of the night.

We ordered the pommes frites (french fries for those of you who don't speak french) for our appetizer. They were crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. They were also heavily seasoned with fresh black pepper and sea salt. I enjoyed dipping mine in the homemade flavored mayonnaise but ketchup was made available too. Overall a great appetizer.

We liked the presentation too!

For our main courses we both had to go with seafood as that is what Franco is known for and it sounded good too! Josie ordered the local Missouri trout. It was pan sauteed and was topped with tomatoes and a parsley pesto. Her side dish was corn with jalapenos, spices and tomatoes. Luckily she shared a little with me and the trout just melted in your mouth and her side dish sounded spicy but actually wasn't and was quite addictive. Delicious dish for sure!

Josie's MO Trout

I went with the seafood stew of the night. It was served in a large bowl and came with a side of sliced bread for dipping. Everything was thrown into a soup that was a tomato base and was very yummy. The seafood included shrimp, mussels, squid, scallops and clams (although probably the smallest clams I have ever eaten). The seafood was not over cooked and the tomato broth was delicious when soaked up by the bread. I was definitely full after this meal.

Seafood Stew

I think our bill was was around $30-35 each which wasn't bad for having beer, appetizer and an entree. I think that Josie and I will definitely be going back to Franco as their menu changes regularly, the service was nice, the atmosphere was welcoming and it is tough to find good seafood in St. Louis. Let us know if you've eaten there and if you recommend any dishes!