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its repertoire of outstanding ice cream. The ice cream tastes great, but what’s truly amazing about it is the way it is portioned out at the old-fashioned soda fountain store in the capital city’s downtown. Ask for a cup and you get a pint container nearly full! Never make the mistake of having a banana split in a flimsy low-rimmed boat, from which vast amounts of ice cream and syrup will spill over the edge onto the table of your Formica booth as you spoon into it. Instead, ask for your split or sundae in a quart container. It, too, will brim over the top, but once the first dozen or so spoonfuls are consumed, the quart is a good holding vehicle for the remaining pounds of ice cream and syrup.

Sundaes and splits are the pièces de résistance—especially the behemoth known as the Rock and Roll Sundae, made with four kinds of ice cream and a bunch of toppings, but for those who don’t have time to plow in at a table, it is possible to get a tall triple-dip ice cream cone, then face the challenge of trying to lick enough off the pile of cool, creamy globes before they start to melt down one’s wrist. Ice cream sodas are grand-size, too, and we want to thank Roadfooder Tony Gawienowski, our Central Dairy tipster, for pointing out that the ice water tap serves cold soda water—just what ice cream–sated taste buds require!

Crown Candy Kitchen

1401 St. Louis Ave.

314–621–9650

St. Louis, MO

LD | $

The Crown Candy Kitchen is an old-time sweet shop that makes its own chocolate candy and serves all kinds of malts, shakes, sodas, and sundaes. We are especially fond of the chocolate banana malted and the hot fudge malted, not to mention the excellent house policy of giving five malts free—to anyone who can consume them in thirty minutes.

Other than excellent ice cream treats, Crown has a nice lunch-counter repertoire of sandwiches, chili, and chili mac. Two items of special interest from the kitchen are the BLT, which the menu promises is made with Miracle Whip, and the giant gourmet chili dog. We have yet to see the latter, but intend to give it a whirl next visit.

Goody Goody Diner

5900 Natural Bridge

314–383–3333

St. Louis, MO

BL | $

Breakfast is served all day (until closing mid-afternoon) Wednesday and Friday at Connelly’s Goody Goody diner, and other days only until 11:00 A.M. The menu is vast, ranging from omelets, breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, waffles, and French toast to boneless catfish fillets with eggs and one amazing dish known as the Wilbur. “We’re bringing a popular St. Louis diner breakfast to Goody Goody’s,” the menu notes in its description of the Wilbur. Known in other local diners and chili parlors as a slinger, the Wilbur is an omelet filled with chili, fried potatoes, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. It is a soulful meal, profoundly satisfying…although not necessarily what we crave to eat early in the morning!

The chili that gives the Wilbur its avoirdupois can be ordered as a side dish. It is stout and salty, made with chunks of beef, and it is the fundamental element in a once-popular but now rare Midwestern diner dish, chili mac. Goody Goody’s chili mac is prepared with blunt hash-house style: well-cooked spaghetti noodles are topped with chili and crowned by a mass of shredded Cheddar cheese.

“We’ve changed many items on our menu over the years,” the Goody Goody credo goes. “But the way we prepare our hamburgers will never change. They’re not fancy—they’re just good!” We agree. Regulars and doubles, patty melts and cheeseburgers, slawburgers and barbecue slawburgers are all outstanding, available with sides that include onion rings, French fries, cheese fries, and, of course, chili. Each burger is mashed down hard enough on the grill that it becomes a thin, rugged patty with a lacy-crisp circumference, its rugged nature nicely gentled by the soft yellow bun in which it is served.

Gus’ Pretzel Shop

1820 Arsenal St.

314–664–4010

St. Louis, MO

L | $

St. Louis is a serious pretzel town, and Gus’ has been known for excellent soft pretzels since 1920. Gus’ pretzels are soft,