After our Emperor's Palace food fest yesterday, it was my pick for lunch today, and to accommodate our vegan and wheat allergic guest I wanted to try someplace completely opposite from the "extremely everything" experience that was Emperor's Palace - Frida's Deli in U City. We checked out their menu before we went and they had numerous items that sounded interesting to me, typical meat infested staples like burgers and burritos - but with no meat! They have been voted the best in St. Louis in just about every category vegetarian or vegan, and I would rarely get the chance to select some place so unusual until we have another dining guest with these types of dietary restrictions.
Located north of Delmar in University City practically next door to Momos Ouazaria (which we visited in January), the restaurant was styled very cleanly and fashionably, and we were seated at a nice marbled table where half the patrons sat on soft cushioned seats and the other half sat on normal chairs. As the "elder" half of the group we were allotted the cushioned side which started the meal on a soft note! They played a variety of music, from weird, older jazzy stuff to Taylor Swift, and you can tell they were trying to appeal to a certain demographic, primarily the upscale vegetarian clientele of St. Louis. That clientele market must be pretty large since the dining area was quite spacious and there was a bit of traffic in and out for lunch. They paid attention to details with drinking water filtered with apples and basil, using biodegradable paper straws instead of plastic straws, menus made of clipboards, and having local "314" St. Louis hot sauce available.
Their menu is pretty extensive for vegetarians and also very well labelled in terms of vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, soy-free etc. I was torn between the Frida burger, black bean burger and beef burrito (with no beef, of course) and finally selected the burrito. My wife selected a plain flatbread, my mother-in-law picked the grilled cheese, my daughter and son both chose the loaded cheese quesadilla, and our dietary restricted guest picked the "turkey" avocado wrap. The service was responsive and our meals all arrived on very cleanly styled attractive white dishes, quite decoratively arranged with three slices of zucchini and hummus (and pico de gallo in some cases.)
My burrito was pretty interesting with the "steak" consisting of seitan which is wheat gluten formed into a meat like substance. With the chipotle sour cream and the other ingredients of the burrito it did in fact taste "meaty" despite having no meat. I found it pretty captivating. Some of the others were not as impressed with their food. My wife found her flatbread to be bland, as did my mother-in-law with her grilled cheese, although she had chosen to remove practically any of the ingredients with any flavor. The quesadillas were reported as okay but not too flavorful (although my son enjoyed adding the 314 and Cholula hot sauces) and our guest's wrap was also reported to be okay, but nothing special. We did all eat our veggie slices with hummus, and we noted that the serving sizes were not as "Americanized" as most places that give you a giant pile of fries. So we thought we needed some dessert!
Therefore we ordered three orders of the avocado chocolate mousse which we would share. They sprinkled organic coconut slices and maple syrup on top, which was decorative but did not add much positive to the eating experience of the mousse. The mousse had a rich chocolaty flavor, but was somewhat watery where we were hoping for a creamier, more solid texture. It was still a very good dessert and a a good ending to the meal.
Our guest checked out the restroom, and there is only a single unisex one person restroom available which she had to wait to use. She reported that is was fine but that the paper towel dispenser was out of paper. All in all it was a very interesting and enjoyable outing to a very unique eatery, but the food was not as exciting as the decor and the hype surrounding the establishment. It is still a very good choice for groups with people on vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free restrictions, with a large, detailed menu that should satisfy most anyone. The dining area is also roomy for larger groups with a nice, unique ambiance. It is a good place to recommend to others looking for an eclectic vegetarian choice, but I would probably not go there again myself.
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