This entry is about the two Schlafly restaurants here in St. Louis, Bottle Works and Tap Room. I was originally going to write two different posts, because they are really different places, but in the interest of not appearing to be a fanboy I’ve decided not to. The two restaurants have some similarities, but their menus are fairly different. I would recommend starting off with the beer bread at both of them, as it’s pretty damn good. I actually learned how to make beer bread myself because I liked it so much.
The Tap Room, downtown, is set in a nice old building with nice old lumber and nice old beams and nice old.. stuff. Their menu is more traditional pub fare with some strange twists. The warm potato salad is a bit jarring at first, seems a bit German-style I think, but it is good once you get over the initial “hrm, that’s weird.” I have had the steak sandwich a couple times, and it’s not the huge, overstuffed thing you get at a lot of places – actually, kind of nice. My friends seem to love the fish and chips, and the beer cheese soup got a thumbs up. The sticky toffee pudding is also rumored to be pretty awesome.
Bottleworks, on the other hand, has a more “modern” menu. They still have some interesting things though. I once had a venison cheese steak there that was pretty good. The bison burger and barbecue pork sandwich also went over really well. Personally, I still think I could eat the beer bread for dinner and be happy, but if you want other stuff.. I guess…
I don’t know about Tap Room but I do know that Bottleworks gets BUSY on the weekends. So, if you want a table, you’d better get there early. Two thumbs up, though.
Schlafly Tap Room | 2100 Locust St. (at 21st) | St. Louis, MO 63103 | 314.241.BEER
Schlafly Bottleworks | 7260 Southwest Ave. (at Manchester) | Maplewood, MO 63143 | 314.241.BEER