Songbird — Restaurant in St. Louis

I’ve lived in the Grove for about two years, and I’m walking distance from Songbird. This means, most days I’m up at 7 am walking my dog past this place to smell all the smells. Great smells, and all for free. I like to think my dog thinks the same, bc he will usually stop and take extra sniffs by this place. Fantastic place to smell, first and foremost.

Okay, you want to know about the food. Yeah, I’ve gotten take-out from here, PLENTY a times. And it’s always going to be the same effing thing. THE COMBO SANDWICH! Please! Cmon! Insane to the fricken membrane! Never gets old! Perfect sandwich, and please know I come from the land of breakfast sandwiches (new jersey) and this place knows how to do a breakfast fricken sandwich. Freshly toasted sourdough, thick bacon, incredible cheese, and that EGG! 😫 With salt and honey on top, please. 🙏 Any time I get this to-go, it’s always warm, egg perfectly cooked, and so easy to order through their user-friendly website. Shoutout whoever does their web-design BTW - love it.

Okay, now you want to know the dine-in vibes. Such a cozy, lovely, well designed interior. It feels like you’re eating at your down-to-earth rich friend’s house who definitely is a NPR contributing member. So like, good vibes. Love the hand-painted designs all over, and the color scheme is not overwhelming, it aids in your eating experience. One bathroom - small, and does the job well. Great bathroom. Every detail of this place is so well thought out, to the cookbooks on the bar, to the little figurines on the sill of the mirror. Also, always love a purse hook! Which there are a plenty of!

The wait staff here - they are professionals. Like true, real deal professionals. My dad still references this phrase someone used - “How was your first chew?” I mean, how does one even think of such an original sentence? Thank you for inspiring thought and critical thinking.

I’ve sat at the bar and at a table. Both spots had excellent back support, and how enjoyable to place my feet wherever I so choose when we sit. Perhaps I swing them! Love the choice. And the open-kitchen concept for the drink making, love it. How fun to watch espressos and kombuchas and teas and delicious alcoholic morning beverages be made!!

Okay, now you want to know about the dine-in food experience. As much as I love that OG sandwich, I was recently diagnosed with a random autoimmune disease that restricts some foods I can eat, including gluten, so I was so happy to see they have a gluten-free option for their combo sandwich! I’m really not supposed to eat a lot of food, but the thing is the quality of ingredients is so incredible, I never have a poor reaction to their meat, dairy, or butter. I love they have partnerships with lots of local businesses, and you can really taste the quality.

Okay, so I know I raved about the combo sandwich, but their menu is so full of variety and they have the best seasonal specials. My dad loves the Kale Frittata, and I’ve also enjoyed their Sprouted Grain English Muffin, and their grits are so yum! Please try everything once, you won’t regret it. Also always get the combo. lol.

Now - the drinks. You might be saying, why is this tiny little Songbird latte $10? Yeah, I wonder that too. I think it’s because of inflation, and also because the quality of house-made syrup, cruelty-free coffee, and delicious milk varieties are just worth it. But hey, don’t want to spend that much? Get one of their insanely delicious teas, matchas, or juices. But don’t sleep on that kombucha. I won’t lie, it’s a bit of a small amount for the price point, but again, you get what you pay for here. My boyfriend tried their Coffee with a Kick as well, and he got a SUBSTANTIAL amount of liquor in that jawn 🤣. Very pleased.

I know it’s a long review, but I must address one final thing. All of you weirdos are always complaining about the wait, and being “pushed out.” Go work in a restaurant once in your life. Please. Learn patience. It’s...

Editing to add: she must be begging for positive reviews from customers to take attention away from this one. And that does not take away from my experience. I truly had no intentions of leaving a review until I came and read the reviews which definitely confirmed what I experienced today. I actually had been curious about this cute little corner Cafe for a while considering it is around the corner for my daughter's school and they are always really busy. I was hoping to give them a try one day, however my experience as an Uber driver delivering for them was unbelievably embarrassing. When I walked in, the lady with short curly blonde hair that everyone is referring to as potentially being racist, was in the middle of a conversation with customers and did not acknowledge me for quite some time. So I took it up on myself to move towards the bar area to bother an employee who wasn't preoccupied. I was told that it was a large order and would be quite a while. No problem. I stepped back and waited. The space is very tiny, so to avoid being in the way I decided to have a seat at the bar, on the opposite side in the corner out of the way. I went to ask for a cup of water and review the menu however I was unable to. That is when the lady with short curly hair who later identified herself as the manager(I was told she's the owner unfortunately) told me that she had a reservation coming in for the bar area and I would need to move. I asked her were they here now? She stated no but because I am waiting for food I should go wait in my car and they will bring it out to me once the order is ready. I said okay and still asik for my cup of water to go. While I was waiting for the water, I noticed them in the back packing up the order so I headed out to my car. Waited a few minutes and decided to see if they needed some help. As I was walking back in that lady came rushing out to let me know that she just sent the order with one of her employees instead because I didn't do like she asked me to do and leave her bar area. When I attempted to have a conversation with her and asked her for the manager's information she told me she was the manager and she wasn't doing this today. I told her that was unfortunate and unbelievable, could she please have the owner reach out to me? She said she would take down my information and pass it along to the owner. At that point I didn't trust her, so I asked one of the other employees if they knew how I could contact the owner and that is when they told me that unfortunately she is the owner. Not sure what her ego trip was about this morning, but that is one miserable old woman. These reviews regarding how she treats people are definitely true. I wish her much success but her attitude will not last in this community much longer. Welcome to 2024: pull your head out of your butt ma'am and get it...

Our entire experience at Songbird was nothing short of phenomenal. We didn’t have a reservation and we knew there would be a bit of a a wait but the staff was super accommodating and friendly during our wait time and the food was absolutely spectacular. I do highly recommend a reservation which we will do next time. We started with a variety of hot beverages while we waited and I have to say the bone broth cured everything that ailed me after a long Mardi Gras weekend and a Blues game. With farm fresh ingredients sourced from local area vendors, the food was delicious and healthy. We genuinely felt so good after eating and I have to attribute that to the quality of the ingredients and the skilled craftsmanship of the way they were combined. The menu is small and cleverly constructed to utilize many of the same items but still has a variety of options that will leave your entire party satisfied. I enjoyed the sprouted grain English muffin sandwich, the chicken sausage was seasoned to perfection and all the ingredients came together perfectly with the pickled red onion providing a perfect contrast to the richness of the egg and sausage with the brown butter aioli. I also added a side that was on special of the shiitake mushrooms and onions. My friends got the combo sandwich which was great, and the breakfast tamale which had amazing beans and the flavor and freshness of the tamale went great with an egg. We also got to try an olive oil bread starter and split a grass fed patty melt which was perfectly crispy and melty goodness. We had the chance to try the coffee cake and my wife had the farm French toast which was a cornmeal style cake and carrot compote complete with the most delicious creamy butter on top. The cheddar grits also made a fantastic side. We will absolutely return. Thank you again for a wonderful experience to all the staff at Songbird. You deserve every bit of your...