Eating Out with Children in St. Louis

The Lincoln Park thin crust pizza from Pi Pizza with mozzarella, zucchini, tomato, feta, basil and garlic.

A Number of Good Choices

When my friends Sean and Trista from Kansas City came to town with their two boys, I pondered where to eat lunch, that worked for both adults and kids. I thought of Crown Candy with its tastes of Americana, but it’s closed on Saturdays.

Several other possibilities came to mind. Eating outdoors at The Boathouse in Forest Park is always great fun. You can watch the antics of the ducks and ducklings and take a leisure paddle boat ride on the lake. But it was a bit chilly outdoors—strike that one till another time.

Closer to Home

I ruled out several favorites that are downtown. Fountain on Locust, offers a classic American menu and an old-fashioned ice cream fountain. The retro setting in a century-old car showroom amuses both adults and kids. Pappy’s Smokehouse was a possibility, but sometimes there’s a long line. Baileys’ Range customizes its many burgers and shakes and offers a kids-only menu. But we needed something within a short driving distance.

I join Sean and Trista and their sons, Judah and Abram, for pizza.

Pizza Always a Good Bet

In the nearby Delmar Loop, there’s Fritz’s Soda Bar and Grill with its lively soda factory and kids’ menu. Definitely a strong possibility. But in the end, Pi Pizza checked the most boxes for what we needed at the time: a kid friendly menu with adult options, convenient location, and reasonable price.

We headed for Pi.

The boys had been to the library to meet their favorite author, Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants. It occurred to me that at their age, I was excitedly reading about Uncle Wiggily and the Apple Dumplings.

The kids split a small pepperoni and cheese pizza, while the rest of us shared the Lincoln Park. The fresh veggie toppings bring you the entire food pyramid on a lid of yeasty bread—or so I told myself.

Pizza: A Slice of Life

It’s been said that there’s little in the world that a foot massage and a thin-crust, everything-on-it pizza won’t set right. Lot of wisdom there. I’m thinking that I need more “little visitor,” so I have more frequent reasons to eat pizza.