The Stable

When the Stable closes in the next couple of months, there will be no surprise from anyone who’s been there in the last six months. Stable, WTF did you do to yourselves? Remember the good times? Delicious eats and drinks? Laughing and happiness? Love and joy? I’m ending our relationship.
Their beer selection has been hacked down to very few, their menu has been whittled down to almost nothing, and the service has been absolute shit. I know that’s not a specific situation, but that is a brief summary of my last 4 – 5 visits to the Stable.
Ugh I’m so pissed off about this. YOU HAD SUCH AMAZING POTENTIAL. I know I’m talking to you like you’re a person, and i’m your old grade school teacher who just discovered that you are on crack but really, you’re a mess. Close your doors for a month, rethink your hot mess of a plan, and come crawling back when you’ve been rehabilitated. I will be here for you.

It has a very interesting décor and is a unique building, so this might be a good place to have a drink, but I’m not sure I would return to dine here.
First, let me say that our server was friendly and did his job well. We couldn’t ask for much more.
Drinks: Several beer choices. They distill their own rum, so we tried a Rum-​a-​Rita. It has a unique flavor on the back end, which I can only guess was the rum, and was easy to drink. I would definitely recommend these.
Appetizers: Trying to decide between Billy Goat Chips & Dip, White Bean & Artichoke Brulee, and Bacon Wrapped Dates ($ 6.95, see picture), we asked the server for a recommendation. He answered quickly with the dates, and we were not disappointed. These were a unique blend of salty and sweet that worked and came with a nice dipping sauce.
Plate of Food: I would not get this. My friend ordered the Plate of Food. She received 2 chili dogs (see picture). Nothing else with it, no sides or veggies, just 2 hot dogs in buns covered in chili, cheese, and bacon bits for $ 9.95. Not exactly the type of meal most females want for a Saturday night dinner at 7pm for $ 9.95. Even if they tasted ok, $ 9.95 is pricey for 2 chili dogs. We happened to arrive just after 2 large tables had ordered and figured the kitchen/​chef was so busy with their order, that’s why the Plate of Food at the moment was chili dogs, because it was easy to do.
Cajun Salmon ($ 11.95, see picture): The salmon was very good in a tasty sauce with a tiny bit of heat. I can’t usually handle spicy, but this was pretty good. The red beans and rice, however, was a whole other story. I took one bite and — what I’m guessing was — the cayenne on the rice was all I could taste for ½ the meal. It was soooo spicy hot, I could not touch the rice the rest of the meal. The green beans seemed raw. At first, I thought they were just steamed, but then I tasted the bitterness of the raw bean and noticed they were overly crunchy. I know some people eat green beans raw, but it’s just not what I was expecting to come with the salmon.

Plate of food, how I love thee.
The boyfriend and I have taken to going to the Stable and not even bothering with getting a menu, we just get the plate of food.
It started with him getting it a few weeks ago, and he was presented with an amazing porkchop with a maple bourbon glaze with a great medley of fresh vegetables. I believe there were green beans, wax beans, red and green peppers, asparagus, some onions. Who knows what else, but it was GOOD.
The second time we went, we both got it… and were presented with the hugest portion of baked pasta with three kinds of meat and about a half an inch thick layer of baked crusty amazing looking cheese on top. It had chicken, sausage, and pepperoni in it. I could only eat about a quarter of it, but it was soooo good. I would have preferred a meat and vegetable or something lighter, but it was still good.
I would recommend going on a non-​weekend night, as I’m sure you’re more than likely to get something REALLY awesome when they’re not super busy.
Oh not to mention the ridiculous beer selection. The dollar beer option seems like a really good bet. I was expecting a coors draught or something, but I got a really good IPA! Brand unknown, and don’t ask because they won’t tell you!

The Lemp area is still a fairly unexplored area for me. I had some friends come in from Mizzou to visit and I thought we’d look for something around the brewery since we had planned on going to do a tour in the afternoon.
Hearing good things about The Stable from friends, I figured we give it a try. We decided to sit in the open area since the weather was nice.
We put in our drink order, and the waitress came back after 10 minutes without our beers. «I’m sorry, but we’re out of _​_​_​_​_​. Can I get you something else?» I asked for a similar local beer, and apparently that was out as well. I had two issues with this — the waitresses should know what is unavailable and, for a Saturday afternoon, I would expect your top sellers to be in stock. Regardless, we put in our drink and food orders.
We went to lunch around 1:30pm, so it wasn’t very crowded. We must have waited a good 20 – 30 minutes for our food to arrive. I wasn’t too upset because my friend Erika and I had a lot to catch up on since she moved to Columbia.
I ordered some sort of chicken sandwich, and the portion was fairly small for your typical bar sandwich/​burger. I was still pretty hungry afterwards.
My friends Matt and Erika ordered personal pizzas and the Saturday special on these wasn’t reflected in our receipt. It was a matter of a few dollars — and yet we disputed the charges (which took another 5 – 10 min)
I wasn’t impressed by The Stable, still plenty of places to hit up around that area before I return.

Jeff T. was our waiter today and he totally sold me on making this place a regular. We came after the Cardinal game and it was pretty busy. He was amazing as far as knowledge and extremely helpful.
We ordered the Jerk Chicken pizza. I expected spice but then I remember that hello. I’m in Missouri, not Jamaica. This pizza is however yum but it wasn’t what I really expected. It had chicken, sweet pepper sauce, mozzarella, and bacon. I would order it again. =)
BEER: They have an extensive list. Not as much as the Bridge Tap House but the Stable has their own house brew (bonus points). They were out of the beer that I wanted to order. (Stone Pale Ale) and Jeff T. (the waiter) recommended something that he guaranteed would knock my socks off. It was the Ace Apple Cider. It was pretty fruity, definitely a girly beer (or cider actually.) My husband ended up drinking most of that just because I can’t handle too much fru-​fru. My husband ordered the Gnarlywine (woo that sucker will make you pucker up like you put 15 tear-​jerker candies in your mouth.) Blah… That thing is gross, ah but he seemed to like it. To each their own I guess.
On to the growler: I love growlers. It’s a huge jug you can take home of your favorite draft. It was $ 17 for their Amalgated brewing Marzen (a medium bodied like Oktoberfest style). Well I learned that if you bring your jug back, you get the refill price of $ 12 (that’s the price on the menu). Good to know. I think being able to take growlers home is awesome. Then I can drink at home and not have to drive afterwards, plus cheaper than buying glass after glass, ya know?
The ambiance of this place was a little dark and almost haunted like to me. I loved it.

This is my new favorite place. I love it so much that I’ve already been twice this week! One on Thursday for a happy hour, and then last night (Saturday). Last night was fairly dead. I’m assuming it is b/​c of the holiday weekend. Anyway… here is my 5 star review.
I’m definitely their new ‘local’. I was most impressed with the history, simple played ambiance, beer selection, food selection, serving staff… the list goes on!
On Thursday it was packed because of the happy hour. The servers seemed a bit overwhelmed, but they handled the stress with grace. Especially this one server named ‘Mere’. She was one of the main servers who I had noticed been running all over the place.
As the night died down, patrons began to leave, she remained in full form of doing her job just right. She approached my table where my two friends had just completed a pizza. I pass mention that I was feeling a bit hungry, so she suggested her pizza that only her and the kitchen staff knew of. They call it the «Mere pizza’ she said because she gets it every time she works a shift. The consistency of the pizza (mind you that this is not on the menu… closest thing to is would be the Tracy’s pizza) was shrimp, red sauce, spinach, and mozzarella cheese.
First bite out of it, I was in heaven. The catch is – you have to tell the server what is on it if you do not get Meredith as your server that night. Some kitchen staff might not know, so be sure you write this little heavenly piece down. I would be ever so daring to even say that I think the Stable’s pizza is the best I have had in St. Louis so far. AND guess what! It doesn’t break the bank. Better than Imo’s (no competition), better than Pi (cheaper too), and better than Black Thorn’s (did I really just throw that one in there?) LOOOOOVE IT!
Now on to the beer –
Thursday. I got a beer that I was less than impressed with. It was a light ale that I do not care to remember. I blame myself for ordering it, not the beer being bad. I was trying to get out of my comfort zone and try something different than what I am otherwise normally used to.
One of the servers saw me make that ‘oh my god, I am going to die if I drink this’ look. She wasn’t even the one serving us, and she volunteered to get me something completely different than what I was drinking free of charge! She asked me what type of beer I liked. Once we settled everything, and 5 minutes later I’ve got a delicious vanilla stout in my hand. Drank every last drop.
The Stable has an assortment of beers on tap. They change fairly regularly to keep mixing things up. Schafly is a favorite served here too. Well priced as well.
Saturday’s visit —
My friend Dana was in town visiting for the holiday, and I gushed on how we needed to try the Stable for dinner. we went, ate, and conquered once again.
She ordered the ceasar salad with smoked salmon and craw fish dip with bread.
I ordered the Tracy’s pizza. The difference between that and my wonderful Mere pizza is that — the Tracy comes with all the stuff the Mere does except with olive oil instead of red sauce with bacon. I 86ed the bacon, and honestly enjoyed the olive oil just as much as i enjoyed the red sauce. Did I mention the pizza is only $ 8 for one person? Yes… I think that’s a steal for the quality you get.
The craw fish dip was just as sinful as me gambling at a casino on a Sunday morning before church… no, I haven’t done this… but if I did … well you get it.
Point is … GO HERE! Enjoy the covered court yard, get yourself a beer, pizza, and socialize. You can’t go wrong. Service is just as great as the food.
If I keep going at this rate, I might be the mayor of The Stable on 4square in no time. haha
Toodles! :)

A big group of friends was meeting here before hitting up the Lemp Mansion haunted tour. Normally I avoid The Stable, as every prior experience has been terrible. Like, beyond terrible.
However, tonight I got a beer right away and the gentleman behind the bar did a great job. All of the high tops near the bar area were full and people were drinking heavily and it didn’t seem as if anyone was having problems being served.
I still won’t eat here, but if service was consistently good like last night, I’d be happy to come back for a drink!

The ambiance in this place is pretty awesome, it almost seems like you walk back in time to the olden days of taverns and beer wenches. That being said… the con’s outweigh the pro’s…
Their side dish options are slim to none. Hopefully you like chips and greek salad with everything… if not, you’re leaving hungry.
They also have no dressings or sauces that go on meat. Ordered a marinated chicken sandwich and asked for some extra sauce for dipping and they said they could only provide salad dressing. No thanks.
Our server also forgot to put in my order, everyone else ordered and then he came back twenty minutes later to refill our drinks and goes «Oh wait, you had a grilled chicken sandwich didn’t you???» Needless to say, everyone else got their food 15 minutes later, mine took almost 30 addl. minutes.
Bummer #1: For being a block from Anheuser Busch plant, they don’t carry AB products. I don’t care how many AWESOME imported beers you have, I love imported beers, but sometimes, I just want a bud light and two blocks from the AB plant, I expect to get it. When I asked if they carried it, the server’s helper had to look it up. «Whats it called?» she asked. «Uhh… Bud Light.» was my response… as she feverishly flipped through the list attached to a clipboard.
If I wasn’t having such a good time there with my co-​workers, I probably would have complained. The grilled chicken was overcooked, tough to chew and the marinade??? Where?
Next time, I’ll stick to something you can’t screw up… like pasta? deli meat turkey sandwich? Eh… Seemed like at my table the only thing everyone was a fan of were the grinders.
Sorry I couldn’t give you some amazing big-​bang review… I was unimpressed.

This was a try on a suggestion from a business contact and I enjoyed it more than I expected after walking in. On a Tuesday night there was only one other table with a good size group also around the bar area. It may also have been the company but the food and service (Heather was the waitress) stood on its own. As always when I dine at a near empty place, the service can be good but I expect that with little other to pay attention to.
I did enjoy the interior space, very unique and the location at night is always interesting. Plus on this night there was a very cool motorcycle parked out front (vintage or custom, not sure). While the evening started out with drinks and excellent timing by the waitress, it progressed onto an appetizer, salads and sandwhiches.
The appetizer was a very unique dish of bacon wrapped dates, an excellent choice. The salads tried were the side house salad (good) and the tomato salad (very good). Also ordered was the steak grinder sandwhich with chips (very good) and the plate of food. What is the plate of food you ask? You have to order it to find out, as only the chef knows. This night it was a pulled pork sandwhich with some white bean chili soup … but what curious person can pass up ordering something they have no idea what they will get …
I’d go back if in the area.

Medieval feel & food (some foods– discover the spice trade!)
18 ft (?) ceilings, 12 ft 4 carved column oak fireplace, 8 person plank tables, 30+ beers on tap (none «massed produced») and a covered patio with large wrought iron decorated windows (pic) all are positive deliberate attempts at creating a earthy old world feel. I really liked the built in jet on the bar to rinse out the glass before pouring a draught. The other very cool touch was the square pleather sectional on the patio with matching ottoman (for a large group– this would be cool).
I did not read the reviews of the food so when I looked @ the menu I was very intrigued. The appetizers were not all normal like pâté, basket of bacon, dates and mussels. The entrees read beautifully. The pizzas sounded good except the tator tot pizza with ketchup for sauce (?).
What we ordered & ate
Fava Bean & Artichoke Burlee– good portions of little flavor
Pub Style Party Ryes– is that nacho cheese?
Plate of Food ($ 9 pot luck) — they gave me a Hawaiian pizza and it was good flavored 12″ thin crust
Pork Osco Buco ($ 17) — Pork was ok, the steamed broccoli & mashed potatoes… $ 17?
In the end we spent $ 70+ w/​tip (including 3 $ 5 beers) and walked away thinking that was not worth it. Other than the pizza and pork itself, the food was nothing to order again.
They do have industry night after 8 on Sundays (pic) so find a friend in the industry and check the place out. I think the beer selection (I saw a $ 25 bottle of beer & one that was 11% alcohol) and atmosphere is worth that.

My B. F and I went there today (Saturday 11:30am-ish) and we ABSOLUTELY loved this place! There are so many choices (SERIOUSLY!) of Beer! Many of them are brewed locally.
Pub Flat Bread is super cheesey and has spinach inside… SO DELICIOUS!
The interior of the place is very cool and the ceiling is SO high. Love the space!
We felt very comfortable there and enjoyed our brunch really well! A++