Booster’s Cafe

I wanted to go but it’s closed now :(

Chocolate chip pancakes were outstanding!

Cheap, quick, easy diner in a great location. It is self serve coffee, which is a little odd, but considering the server filled our water glasses once it’s probably better to serve yourself. Like all other reviewers have mentioned, you have to get the pumpkin pancakes with chocolate chips. They were amazing. I also got 2 eggs over hard with the tomato, onion and pepper. It was simple and something easily made at home, but cheap and I didn’t have to do the dishes. My friend got the original pancakes with blueberries, which were also delicious.

I visited this café for breakfast. Upon entering the we were directed to sit anywhere. The place is small and has about 20 – 25 tables inside. The service was one person working the entire floor. Although there were only a few tables being occupied, so perhaps they have more service during high times. I had their pancakes and my friend had the pumpkin pancakes. I found both to be okay, not great just average. The eggs looked pretty good and they were good. Their meat defiantly leaves a lot to be desired. We had sausage and bacon on our table and both were bad. Their sausage is a country fat link, so it would be good if you like that type. The bacon was really over cooked and the turkey sausage was more like a turkey hot dog. They offer maple syrup, which I love but theirs wasn’t good to me, while my friend loves their maple syrup.
Overall, I would go here again. The service was good and our food arrived quickly. It’s great for a quick breakfast at a reasonable price. The food is good.

Ambiance: none
Service: ok
Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes: TOP NOTCH!
It’s the typical hole-​in-​the-​wall, family owned business but the pancakes were amazing.
Ambiance: none
Service: ok
Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes: TOP NOTCH!
It’s the typical hole-​in-​the-​wall, family owned business but the pancakes were amazing.

Pros: quickly served food, tasty, reasonably priced, open early (7am)
Cons: not the most customer service oriented staff I’ve come across, small establishment (because I was alone I was asked to sit at a taller table — after being settled in a regular seat — no one said please or thank you), could stand to be cleaner (splattered food or drink on walls, dusty mirrors/​frames; this to me means the kitchen area may be worse), eggs were supposed to be cooked with onions and peppers but there were two slivers of peppers and one sliver of onion.

If you are looking for décor or ambience, then go somewhere else, this place is a dump. If you are looking to relive the Bohemian experiences of your college days, or to be stacked in like sardines with a Wash U crowd, then you may like this place.
The menu here is mostly French, however, the owner and staff are Nepalese, so be aware that you are starting with somewhat of a cooking contradiction. I ordered the open-​faced brie and my daughter got Nutella crepes with ice cream.
After a long wait our food finally came out. Mine was a single slice of store-​bought wheat bread with a couple of lunch-​meat slices of ham (not ham off the bone), topped with canned pears and with a lump of flavorless brie on top. The only flavor came from the sweetness of the pears and the saltiness of the ham, since the heating process to melt the cheese pulled the water out of the ham and made the bread soggy. For my side I ordered the broccoli-​cauliflower salad, which was fresh, however, once again the little dressing it was mixed with was way too sweet and the few crumblings of glazed nuts merely stuck to the bottom of the plate like rocks in a pond, merely providing a separate taste.
My daughter enjoyed her crepes, however, a two crêpe portion, while being right-​sized for her appetite, was small compared to other restaurants and bistros. The crepes were light and the ice cream gave them the dessert touch she was looking for. Her side order of breakfast potatoes were burned and not edible.

For the price, brunch at Booster’s doesn’t get any better!
Food
Pumpkin pancakes are da bomb dot com. The fragrant pumpkin scent is just the best thing for fall. 3 $ for 2 ginormous pancakes? Yes please!
Breakfast sandwiches are cheap (at 4 $) and oh so tasty! I always get mine on ciabbata, pepperjack, and bacon and all together it makes my mouth so happy.
Coffee is self serve and refillable. And on a lazy Sunday morning 2 or 3 keeps to get the day going is a must!
Ambiance
Quaint and very reflective of the college town atmosphere. Lots of hungover WashU kids hanging out on the weekends. It was pretty packed when we went, but we were still able to get seated immediately. When the weather is nice and you come in a pair, I would recommend sitting outside to do some people watching. Interesting characters on the loop galore + good brunch= a very fitting weekend morning.
Service
Mom-​and-​pop shop. The whole family from dad, son, daughter were up and going at the register, serving, and doing the whole shebang. Come to support a local business!

Forget about the sparse décor. Forget about the fact that it is just a hole-​in-​the-​wall. Forget about fancy.
I’m talking pumpkin pancakes. OMG! Hearty, flavorful, and fabulous.
I ordered pancakes, home fries, and scrambled eggs and got out of this place under $ 10 including tip and taxes. Definitely happy to support this local little dive.

Are you serious with this place? It’s amazing!
We go to breakfast here every couple of weeks, and sometimes more often. Cheap, reliable, delicious, local.
Get:
Breakfast sandwich on ciabbatta (I don’t know how they make the bread taste amazing but it does.
pumpkin pancakes. WOW.

Went here on vacation because of the good reviews we saw here in Unilocal.However, we were quickly let down.
Décor: The décor is a mis-​mash of African face masks, posters of Nepal and garage sale diner furniture.
Foodwise: I order the eggs with sausage for breakfast. Sounds simple enough, right? eggs, sausage, potatoes… a standard American diner breakfast.
However, here they serve Italian sausage links for breakfast. It would have been good if they were freshly cooked, not cooked 2 hours ago. They were seriously dried out. Also, I don’t eat potatoes and asked to substitute for mushrooms instead. What I got was potatoes and mushrooms.
When I told them I wanted to sub mushrooms for potatoes since they were the same price on the side items menu. He just scoffed at me and said, «You pay for all».
I’m guessing this place only survives because of the local colleges as college age kids tend to eat just about anything.

Cute, no frills café at reasonable prices. I imagine this café on the beach and walking in with no shoes and dusting off sand… Oh wait, it’s Missouri…
My friend got the pumpkin pancakes and left me wishing I had gotten them! The egg sandwich wasn’t too shabby either.

I was neither pleased nor displeased with my experience here. As a breakfast person I could eat it anytime and with a little research on Unilocal I found Booster’s.
First, it’s nothing like I thought. It’s a little place sandwiched between other store front businesses and appears easy to miss if you’re not careful. The inside is very drab with a spattering of culture on the walls but nothing noteworthy. The tables and chairs are made up from a hodge podge of what was likely found in the community and I wouldn’t be surprised if that didn’t include an alley or two. No offense intended, but if they were inside a home I’d think the same thing.
As stated above I wasn’t pleased nor displeased with the service, food or any other part of the meal. I ordered eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and an english muffin and that’s just what I got. The eggs had pepper-​jack cheese and were uneventful, as was every other aspect of the meal. There was nothing at all to complain about, nor brag over. However for less than $ 10 I can’t say it wasn’t worth the money.
This place has perfected bland with a no frills breakfast and so-​so service. I can’t say to go, but can’t say not to. What a help huh?

I’m writing this review, having just returned from my initial visit to Booster’s. Stumbled upon this place due to Unilocal,and I’m glad I did. It’s pretty good, way cheap, and maybe 2 miles from where I’m staying.
Went with the pancakes from scratch…3 pancakes, plus 2 good sized sausage links… and added an order of hashbrowns for good measure. The pancakes were thick, fluffy, golden brown, and just what I needed @ 10am… oh, and they’re served with a mini pitcher of real maple syrup! The hashbrowns were spiced well, but light on salt… not much needed, though. There are great points… namely the pancakes, hashbrowns, attentive service, and prices. However, there are a couple of cons.
My sausage was slightly overcooked, and kind of bland… not a word I’ve ever used to refer to sausage. Wondered to myself mid-​chew if what I was eating was underseasoned pork… or perhaps chicken sausage… but I digress. The service was attentive/efficient…but not really personable. I’m not too broken up over that, it is what it is. However, leaving a chunk of ice protruding from my water glass, big enough to hinder my ability to drink it? That irks me.
All in all, I’m full for $ 8.44…no small feat. Definitely worth a return trip, and I’d grade it at 3.5 stars… but alas, Unilocal doesn’t have ½ star options.

It’s Eat-​Rite Junior! Okay, maybe not, since there’s no counter service and no rugged lady with an apron and cigarette breath. The emotional whallop is the same, though. This place appears to be run by a guy from Nepal or Tibet or something, based on the travel posters, one of which pictures a «base camp» somewhere. Sorry I didn’t write it down.
I had an awful cup of coffee (help yourself at the on the counter) and a breakfast sandwich. I had my heart set on an omelet, but no, not here. For my sandwich I added tomatoes, sweet peppers and onion for 50 cents, mushrooms for another 50. By the time he wrote this down, he forgot the bacon and had to bring it back and add it. The bacon was cooked… dunno, maybe the same day, maybe not.
I hope there was another guy cooking in the kitchen, but I have my doubts. He took my cash and gave me change. I sincerely hope if he was doing the cooking, he washed his hands before touching anyone else’s food. Again, I have my doubts.
Please place my name in the «unimpressed» column if you’re keeping score.

Since reading about the pumpkin pancakes on Unilocal,I really wanted to try it. I love making pancakes at home and I like them barely browned, slightly crispy, and extremely thick and fluffy. The pumpkin pancakes here were a ok. Not amazing, but definitely enjoyable. I didn’t feel like they had much pumpkin flavor though… I guess I was anticipating pumpkin pie spices or something more exciting.
I got a coffee too. It was self-​serve and ok. I add a LOT of milk to my coffee and I was a bit worried I’d polish off the milk supply.
All and all, it was an ok experience.

IN SHORT: A great place for breakfast if you’re in the Loop… though probably not worth the trip if you’re not.
DETAILS: After staying in the Moonrise Hotel overnight, we found ourselves wanting breakfast, and I noticed that Booster’s Café had a fairly high score on Unilocal!So, my wife, our baby and a friend of ours made our way down to this little place nestled in a corner stretch between Blueberry Hill and Vintage Vinyl. And I have to say, I was fairly impressed, though I’m not sure I’d make the trip if I weren’t in the Loop.
Most of the reviews mention the fact that Booster’s has pumpkin pancakes ($ 3) with optional chocolate chips ($.50). This is the dish I’d probably recommend, because it’s quite tasty. If you need something else to go with it, they have a meal for around $ 6 that includes breakfast meat, or you can get the «Adi’s Melt» ($ 2.50), which is two English Muffin halves topped with tomato slices and cheese. (They taste even better with some Tabasco sauce and pepper!). There’s also an intriguing Nutella crêpe on the menu for around $ 4.50, which I’ll have to try next time I’m there. They had plenty of other choices as well, including all of the things you’d hope to find at a breakfast place.
We were all happy with our breakfasts, but I probably should mention a couple of downsides about the place. First of all, it’s small, and pretty cramped. We had trouble getting our stroller in the door, and had to move our table to fit it in the back corner. I get the sense that they’re not very busy, and probably can’t handle more than 20 – 30 customers at a time.
The service is polite, but not bubbly. It strikes me as a family business that’s perhaps run by a family of international origin. Still, our water glasses were never empty, and the server did a good job of getting us our orders in a speedy fashion.
Parking in the Loop is always a problem, and you’ll probably have to park on the street (metered) or in one of the free lots off Leland (a couple of blocks away). You also might have trouble spotting Booster’s, because it’s not on Delmar, but rather on the side street of Melville, just around the corner from Smoothie King.
Booster’s does serve breakfast until 3:00, though, so if you’re in the mood for some pumpkin pancakes, they’re worth checking out if you’re in the Loop. I’m not sure that they warrant a special trip, however — the location is far from convenient unless you’re already in or around the Loop.

After hearing so many great things about the pumpkin pancakes, I had to give them a try! They were pretty yummy… It’s funny that Chris Z added chocolate chips to his, ’cause I was thinking the same thing, but ended up just doing the regular pumpkin. Glad I didn’t add the chocolate.
Don’t know if I could eat an entire plate of pumpkin pancakes for my meal — that doesn’t sound so satisfying. I’d recommend getting eggs and bacon with maybe a pancake on the side, like a breakfast dessert.

The pumpkin pancakes are great as many others have already pointed out. I added chocolate chips to them, but I wished I hadn’t. It made them too sweet. The breakfast sandwich was something I could have made at home. Eggs, cheese, bacon on toast. The biscuits and gravy topped with over-​easy eggs were better.
If you love pancakes, go and try theirs. The rest of the items are just average. But they make up for it with good value. Nothing here is too expensive.

A very strong 5 for the pumpkin pancakes; and I probably should mention that for .50 cents more you can have chocolate chips thrown in those flap jacks… num-num-nummy…what is not to love? I didn’t even know I was in the loop til I got home and started Unilocaling about my St. Louis trip… The kids (their 27 so not really kids) walked and got lost, we drove and got lost but finally were able to get back on track with the GPS.
So, there’s lots of construction going on in the block where Booster’s calls home-​but, not to worry. Couldn’t hear a thing once inside. The eggs, better than average, potatoes, frozen so don’t bother ordering them but the hot cakes-​2 DIE FOR-​really! I love cooking and breakfast is one of my favorite meals. Boosters did a fantastic job on the hot cakes. And to boot, they were steaming hot. No accoutrement’s needed, really, I did not use butter or powdered sugar or maple syrup, no need. The cakes spoke for themselves.
Good breakfast-​good service-​good price-​good eats!!!

Visited about noon on a Sunday. Was immediately greeted by the owner? and I entered as there were 3 other tables occupied. With a total of maybe 13 tables, it is not a big place but is one of those places in the Loop I don’t think enough people venture too. I even parked by here once and did not notice it and only went when a friend who lives nearby asked if I had been.
I ordered a scrambled egg sandwhich with provel cheese and bacon on wheat toast and was the best one I think I can remember having (of course I was hungry …). The wheat toast was perfectly toasted, the eggs cooked just right, the bacon just the right amount and crispy enough and not just strips laid on top but in pieces. I may have to order this next time I go instead of trying something new. I also ordered cream cheese blitzes which were very good and topped off with a generous amount of fruit (all berries) and except for the fact it was clear they used frozen fruit, I would have given them a 5 star. If you like these small out of the way type places, it is a must visit. Right next to Blueberry Hill.

As far as I know, this the only REAL breakfasty joint on the Loop. I may even refer to it as a little breakfast nook (love that word).
I don’t know how they do it, but even the most basic stuff like eggs, bacon, and toast always blows away my expectations. Everything is just cooked to perfection. I have never been disappointed in my 6 – 7 visits or so. And how genius is serving pumpkin panckaes year-​round?! Screw waiting until November. The pancakes are simple, delicious and everything you want a pancake to be. I was also fortunate enough to have some veggie lasagna here once and it was fantastic. Not sure if that is always available, though.
As others have mentioned, the owners are the kindest people who do all sorts of international charity work. Maybe they’re able to convert their positivity into yummy food, who knows?
Now this place isn’t all fancy and organic and local and blah blah blah. Most of the ingredients probably came from Sam’s Club. That’s probably how they are able to keep their prices so low. It’s nothing fancy on the inside, perhaps even a bit cramped, but there’s plenty of reading material and the food speaks for itself.
Hooray for Boosters.