St. Louis mentality vs. East and WestCoast (Manchester, Sikeston: neighborhood, to buy)

[AJohnston_STL]

Dinsdale - please respond to my post.

[DinsdalePirahna]

you mean this one:

Originally Posted by AJohnston_STL

Has anyone else figured out yet why the people that hate St Louis so bad are here on the edge of their seat every time a new post comes along?

Have you looked on Cherokee Street for a decent Mexican meal?

What was the "best pizza" shop? Obama the Chicagoan just said he had the best pizza he's ever had on the Delmar Loop - "Pi." Have you tried Ferraro's, Maurizio's....anything besides Imo's for that matter?

It seems you have very limited experience yet know enough to talk out of your @ss. That's a really tragic combination.

How did you come to meet all the kids in Clayton? We live in Dogtown so we are close enough that we go to the Demun Park occasionally and have always ran in to friendly people. If you think Clayton is snobby, you'd never survive in Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Ballwin, Manchester, etc...
(do you see the west county trend here?).

I guess what I/we are saying is; don't move 35 miles out of the city and then start telling people about the city, as if you know a damn thing about it; You don't.

Yes, I have looked at Cherokee street. Its OK. But just like I don't expect to find good pizza in CA, Its really hard to find good Mexican outside of the Southwest (one of the best meals mexican meals i ever had was in Roswell, NM, in a little joint of the tourist drag)

Sorry, as long as you keep putting provel Cheese on pizza its not pizza. And I know and have been to places that use real mozzeralla. I think almost every agrees that IMOs is horrible and probably below what you would find at Dominos and Pizza Hut. I've tried Raccanellis, Stephnaninas and Talaynas and a few downtown shops I can't remember. Better than CA, but not anywhere near what you get in Chicago or NY (Hudson River Valley, City, Long Island)

And Speaking of which, why is the "Saint Louis Bread Company" known as "Panera" through the rest of the country?
My guess is that "St. Louis" is perceived as being just another midwestern backwater throughout the rest of the country. You may not agree with it but it is a perception /reality thing. California is not known for Pizza (and it is abysmal) but the California PIzza Kitchen seems to be doing a thriving business. And why (even here) are so many Pizza joints marketing themselves as NY style, Brooklyn Style or Chicago style Pizza? Whuy don't you see saint Louis style Pizza outside of this area?

I have live here for a year. I get into the city 4 times a week and have experienced the nightlife. This is what I know: There is a huge racial divide in the Area. There is an clear (unfounded) superiority attitude here, and it is very difficult for transplants such as myself to find long term work, even though what is passing for style and graphic design is about 3-5 years behind what was already done on the coasts, (and UGGS? the are so 1999).

I've been to clayton many times for business and personal reasons, and there is a severe problem of one-up-man ship there that you don't see in Ballwin, Creve Couer or Chesterfield) on top of that a lot of people dress like the they were called from central casting to play the effete snob. Trust me on this one. I worked on Film sets, and lived in Newport Beach. Clayton is snobby (and why haven't I singled out Ladue or Creve Couer?)

So I bought a house in Lake Saint Louis. Big whoop. I like being outdoors even with the underlying redneck mentality of St. Charles county.
I know there is a certain degree of snobbery between city and burbs (the Bridge and Tunnel people of NY, the Orange Curtain of LA/OC) but the division isn't as nasty, condescending and divisive as I see it here.

As I see it Saint Louis is another small midwestern city.

Sorry if I offended you. If you have read my recent postings, I've been trying to be more positive.

[Eyeam]

Ironically, about the pizza, Pi here in St. Louis which is supposedly some of the best pizza in town (I've never had it) is a San Francisco style pizza. The guy who owns the business is from SF, and if you look at the Pi website, it says it's SF style pizza. The best pizza I personally have ever had was (as funny as this sounds) in Seattle. I've never had real New York pizza though. It was a little joint in Seattle called Zeek's Pizza. I haven't been there in 4 or 5 years, so maybe I'm remembering it better than it really was, but I remember loving it. California Pizza Kitchen has some good pizzas (Hawaiian BBQ Chicken is good). It's nothing special, but I think it's good. Imo's is probably the worst pizza I've ever had, and I'm from this area. I don't care for it all - but they do good business. They do something cool for military people. I'm pretty sure they've shipped their pizza's overseas for the soldiers there. I think you can also order Imo's from anywhere in the country and they'll ship it to you. I think it's cool that they do that even though I'm not a fan of their pizza.

[stlsmoore]

And Speaking of which, why is the "Saint Louis Bread Company" known as "Panera" through the rest of the country?
My guess is that "St. Louis" is perceived as being just another midwestern backwater throughout the rest of the country.

I remember reading a story on this years ago. "Panera" started in St. Louis and was originally known as "St. Louis Bread Company". When the company decided to expand they started by testing the markets and opening a location in Chicago. For whatever reason the people in Chicago i guess didn't understand why it was called St. Louis Bread Company so the weren't getting much business. So they closed that location and reopened it under the name "Panera" and had success ever since.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by stlsmoore

I remember reading a story on this years ago. "Panera" started in St. Louis and was originally known as "St. Louis Bread Company". When the company decided to expand they started by testing the markets and opening a location in Chicago. For whatever reason the people in Chicago i guess didn't understand why it was called St. Louis Bread Company so the weren't getting much business. So they closed that location and reopened it under the name "Panera" and had success ever since.

Like I said its a perception thing. Most People don't know Saint Louis for jack.

Saint Louis does not have the best reputation outside of this region.

For right or wrong, many (i said many, not most) perceive STL as a cultural backwater, populated mostly by with rednecks and scary, angry black people. (just like LA has the perception of being glamourous, plastic and phony)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is how a good chunk of America views your fine city.

[arch_genesis]

^ I don't know why, but I have a sneaky suspicion that you perpetuate how the rest of America views our fine city.

[BoomBoxing]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Like I said its a perception thing. Most People don't know Saint Louis for jack.

Saint Louis does not have the best reputation outside of this region.

For right or wrong, many (i said many, not most) perceive STL as a cultural backwater, populated mostly by with rednecks and scary, angry black people. (just like LA has the perception of being glamourous, plastic and phony)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is how a good chunk of America views your fine city.

Wow that's a stretch...or perhaps maybe they didn't understand why St. Louis Bread Co. was in Chicago. I think every city in the world has a negative perception one way or another. Even those considered the best. Anyone who goes somewhere, or especially moves somewhere with that stereotype in their head is only going to see things that reinforce that stereotype and ignore things against it as a "fluke". For such a sophisticated, cultured coastal type I would expect you to know that.

Then again you did move to St. Charles county, pretty much the antithesis of what your personality type is, so what do you expect?

[AJohnston_STL]

First of all, the history of Panera Bread

Corporate history

In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co. purchased the Saint Louis Bread Company, which was founded by Ken Rosenthal. At the same time, the St. Louis Bread Company was renovating its 20 bakery-cafés in the St. Louis area.[2]
In May 1999, to expand Panera Bread into a national restaurant, Au Bon Pain Co. sold its other chains, including Au Bon Pain, which is now owned by Compass Group North America.[3] Au Bon Pain Co. then renamed itself Panera Bread. The company operates or franchises 1,272 Panera Bread bakery-cafés in 40 states[2] and 17 facilities that deliver fresh dough to the bakery-cafés every day. Panera Bread's CEO is Ron Shaich.
In its headquarters city of St. Louis, Panera Bread still operates under the name St. Louis Bread Company. The St. Louis metropolitan area has over 50 locations.

(From Wikipedia)


Second, my 2 favorite pizza places in the city are Maurizio's and Ferraro's - neither of which use provel to my knowledge. Obama's fav and a new fav in the metro, Pi, I don't believe uses it either.


You're right about "St. Louis style pizza" (thin crust). It's St Louis style because it's what St Louisans like. If you don't like it, well, that's totally cool with us. Imo's does indeed put provel on their pizza.


Because St Louis style is thin crust, I don't like it. I'll eat it, but it's certainly not in my top 5 types of crust. Why are we arguing about pizza again??? Oh yeah, because you are for some reason under the impression that every pizza place in the metro puts provel on their pizza.


And no, I don't understand why California Pizza Kitchen is popular. I ate there in Vegas and in San Francisco because they were close, and neither of them impressed me. And a decent sized meal with a drink costs $20 there for one person.

Originally Posted by DinsdalePiranha

For right or wrong, many (i said many, not most) perceive STL as a cultural backwater, populated mostly by with rednecks and scary, angry black people. (just like LA has the perception of being glamourous, plastic and phony)

#1. Who cares? People move here from all over...some like it, some love it, some hate it. If you don't like us, leave. Nobody is going to beg you to stay here. What have you done for St Louis? Actually, I can answer that...nothing. You do realize that people from California get a reputation as being elitist uber-leftist *******s, right? And you also realize that you are a living stereotype, right?



Actually, I think point #1 takes care of it.

[DinsdalePirahna]

All I said is Saint Louis is PERCEIVED as a cultural backwater by the rest of the country. It doesn't matter if its true or not. I doesn't matter if I hate it here or not (but I really do like Lake Saint Louis)

And I don't care if I'm a California Stereotype because I really don't want to be a Missouri stereotype.

But take a look at Austin, Texas, which is PERCEIVED as being hip, cool and desirable. What does Austin bring to the Table that Saint Louis doesn't. Both cities are not that attractive, both cities have horrible summers. Austin has no major league sports. Yet it is PERCEIVED as being a trendier, hipper city than STL.

nd if CA is so horrible to you why do so many kids around here try to emulate the the Cast from "the OC", "The Hills" or the "Real Orange County". I see more kids wearing AF and Hollister brands here than I did in CA.

And regarding california being uber-leftist (again its a perception thing since) Orange and San Diego counties are both very conservative and right wing. John Wayne, Duke Cunningham, Ronald Reagan, Chris Cox, Robert Dornan, Rick Warren and Robert Schuller. Then there is the wack-job rightwing element with the Reverend Wiley and Racist Tom Metzger. So much for leftists.

to a lot of people perception is their reality.

[AJohnston_STL]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

nd if CA is so horrible to you why do so many kids around here try to emulate the the Cast from "the OC", "The Hills" or the "Real Orange County". I see more kids wearing AF and Hollister brands here than I did in CA.

I never said St Louis doesn't have it's share of douchebags.