Long ago, before my wife and I had kids, before we were even married, back when we scarcely had two table settings between our apartments, there was little more satisfying after a long day’s work than meeting up and letting someone else do the cooking while we nursed a beer. One of our frequent haunts was Weber’s Front Row, a textbook example of one of those neighborhood taverns you can always rely on for a cold brew, a juicy burger and the local team on the TV. A little dark, a little smoky, but ultimately comfortable and relaxing.
So it was that on a recent weekend, with out-of-town family passing through and looking for a place we could meet up in the Webster area, Weber’s came to mind. But still … to take the kids there? A smoky bar and grill? With a little trepidation, we gave the relatives directions, buckled our boys in the car and headed down I-44.
Guess what? Sometimes the neighborhood sports bar can be the perfect place to eat with the kids.
Everything we loved at Weber’s was still there – the dark wood, long bar and big TV screens – but we were surprised to see a whole other room on the far side of the bar, brighter, more spacious and extremely kid-friendly. Who knew?
The place was packed – no surprise, since it was a Saturday night – so we had to wait about 10 minutes for a table. Once we got settled, the boys picked out their dinners in no time – a hot dog for Brendan and toasted ravioli for Duncan. Kathy and I each picked a variation on the house specialty, a pork tenderloin sandwich: the Cajun-spiced version for Kathy and the Jamaican jerk version for me.
The food arrived in relatively short order; the boys stayed busy enough talking with their cousins and coloring on their placemats that they never got impatient, usually a frequent problem at restaurants. Brendan’s hot dog was a deep brick red, with serious grill marks; this was no wimpy wiener. As big as it was, though, Brendan polished it off in no time. Duncan’s t-ravs held the heat a bit too long, forcing him to nibble gingerly around the edges when he really wanted to tear into them, a bit frustrating for a 2-year-old. Both boys’ meals came served in a basket-topped Frisbee.
The tenderloin sandwiches were wonderful. The portions were quite large, and the meat – marinated then flame-broiled – was cooked just right. The seasonings were just spicy enough to add big flavor without overpowering the flavor of the pork itself.
When the boys finished eating, they headed to the arcade-style games at the back of the room. A couple of these are “everyone’s a winner” types that always pay out a trinket – great for little kids. Duncan, who was too little to play anything, made a game of running around the room, but the staff didn’t seem to mind at all. Big kids can pass some time playing Golden Tee or pinball.
We left extremely satisfied by the quality of the food, value and kid-friendly atmosphere. Both boys agreed it was a good time, and Brendan wanted to know when we’d be going back.
And so it was, a couple of weeks later, on a lazy Wednesday evening when no one felt like cooking, that we bundled off to Weber’s again. Though not as crowded this time, the restaurant was still doing a good amount of business, particularly with families. We were seated immediately, and this time, the many pieces of sports memorabilia hanging on the walls kept the boys’ attention.
The boys each got a pizza – St. Louis-style, heavy with cheese and generously studded with fresh mushrooms and sausage. They hushed up right away and got busy eating. I got the Murphy Melt, a hefty bacon cheeseburger that deserves a spot among St. Louis’ best burgers. The only disappointment was a side of mixed veggies; they appeared to come from a freezer bag, and were too heavily peppered.
Weber’s Front Row deftly maintains the perfect balance of family-friendly dining with the quintessential neighborhood-tavern atmosphere – something never quite genuinely duplicated by chain eateries trying to capture the same crowd. We give Weber’s two big forks – and two little forks – way up.
This article appears in Jan 1-31, 2008.