Sidney Street Cafe — Restaurant in St. Louis

We made this reservation to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary with another couple. In the past the atmosphere, service and food has been great. We cannot count the number of times we have enjoyed this restaurant as a couple or for corporate dinners over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, this was not our experience on Saturday, September 14, 2024. One of the things we love are the beignets that are served warm and they are absolutely delicious! Since we were hungry we decided on a couple of appetizers which were delicious and enjoyed our salads while enjoying the beignets. While waiting for our food orders, I politely waited for our waitress to return so that we could ask for more beignets, but she didn’t return in a timely fashion. It appeared that they were not very busy at this early dinner hour. When an assistant server came over to our I table my husband asked if we could have more rolls and this young man stated that he would be right back. He returned promptly to say that our waitress states our meals would be arriving soon and that he could not bring any more rolls. If he ha stated there would be a cost I would have said totally ok, just bring the beignets. What? This has never happened in the past on any of our visits. I questioned the waitress at the end of our meal and she stated that she did not tell the assistant to not bring them and stated he must have miss understood her. I watched the communication between them when she spoke to him and I did not believe her. We normally tip our waitress 20-25% when we receive great service and at this meal I actually wanted to leave a penny, but I know that it would have affected others and not just the waitress, so I left 15%. After having a lackluster meal I was angry and very disappointed. The pork loin was dry, tough and too sweet. The ravioli was covered in corn, greasy and not flavorful. I was disappointed and was thankful that my husband and friends ordered a burger. The waitress did bring more take home beignets, but at this point we were all annoyed with the way we were treated. I had no desire to write this review because normally we love the food here, but the waitress ruined our experience for our special occassion and my meal was not what I expected. I am disappointed with our visit. I do want to thank our waitress, Mary, for our wonderful experience last Christmas season. Mary made our visit along with our delicious meal! Thanks Mary and wish you well at SLU which I...

We had not been to Sidney Street in about 8 years and wanted to try it again for my birthday. With all the amazing reviews, we thought it still had it. Unfortunately the dinner fell short of our expectations.

We were sat immediately, a lot of open tables for a Friday night but beautiful building and cool atmosphere. We had our waitress go over the appetizers and drink list with us. The cocktail list was underwhelming, wine list was fairly decent and we opted for a bottle of Pinot noir. We then ordered the lobster turnovers and veal dumplings, both which were favorites of mine years ago. Those both were delicious! Our salads were light and refreshing, my husband got a Caesar and he enjoyed it although said it was almost too rich. The beignets were spot on and delicious as usual.

Now the entrees… two of us ordered ribeyes. They are big steak eaters so when a steak comes out with a gravy sauce on top of it, they were extremely disappointed. The other fact that it’s not listed as being served with gravy sauce on the menu is extremely misleading. They definitely would’ve asked for it dry or picked a different item. The unfortunately both had about 3 bites and were done.

We also got the halibut and beef tenderloin with lobster. Both were well cooked, however the halibut was the tiniest piece of fish I’ve ever seen. I had halibut at another restaurant last week and it was was probably 4 times the size. We also got the rigatoni as a side and it was so Smokey flavored that we could barely eat it. Just pure smoke flavor which we like but it was overpowering. The cauliflower side was inedible to us. It was not cooked enough and the romesco sauce was not great.

I really had high hopes for Sidney street for how it use to be about 10 years ago. Unfortunately our dinner was disappointing and we won’t...

Listen... I'm almost at a loss for words when it comes to leaving this review and I'm only doing it because I'm required to say something and not just make sounds from pure bliss and satisfaction.

This just might be the best meal that I've ever had in my life.

Read that again.

I know that's a very bold claim but there simply was not one thing that was off or mid in this food. From the moment I walked in the restaurant I was greeted personally and with a smile. The ambience is set just right for a nice chill evening.

We had Mary as our server and you can tell that she truly takes pride in what she does because her attention to detail is second to none and the way that she presents every dish is with care and enthusiasm. If it's up to me which I think from what I've seen in this restaurant it will be, I will have her as my server every time.

The food... It was truly an experience and a journey. As I do with all restaurants that I attend for the first time I get the full run of offerings (drinks, appetizer, entree, side(s), dessert). I can't describe to you how everything was prepared to perfection. The Panisse and Crudo really stole the show for me and they were only the starters. I HIGHLY recommend though. They change out their menu from time to time though so it may or may not be available when you go. Just when I didn't think I was able to do anymore along came the dessert...PLEASE get the dessert. It was delightful and... Well I can show you better than I can tell you. Let's just say this dessert single-handedly changed my mind on matcha (see pictures).

Is the place that is great for a night with friends or a nice date. I can't recommend this place enough and I will absolutely be going back.

21/10 highly...