Diner lovers can rejoice: We recently got a centrally located restaurant dedicated to slingers, sandwiches and blue plate specials. Kingside Diner, which opened in the CWE at 4651 Maryland Ave. across from the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center, offers all-day breakfast starting at 6 a.m. And the diner food comes with diner prices, so you’re looking at sizable portions in the $10 range.
Launched by Aaron Teitelbaum of Herbie’s and the former Monarch, Kingside has made some strong ‘moves’ (note the chess terminology; there is a very tight relationship between the two establishments). It’s serving the usual suspects: pancakes, biscuits, French toast, etc., some with the kind of gourmet twists you’d expect of Teitelbaum, who has worked with the likes of Bobby Flay and Daniel Boulud. For one thing, you don’t find quinoa pancakes at every diner. And the breakfast burritos here include things like arugula and chipotle aioli. The ‘slinger,’ a St. Louis concoction, has pulled pork instead of hamburger.
I highly recommend The Slinger ($10), a delicious layering of thick pieces of pulled pork, crispy oiled hash browns, chorizo chili made with black beans, and fried egg. It comes as a smothered plateful of something you can’t quite make out, but you can tell it’s going to be good. The spicy sausage dominated the flavor, the uber-fine potatoes—more potato straws than hash browns—dominated the texture. And the fried egg oozed golden yellow all over everything else once I dug into it. All around superb.
The flatbreads-omelets-burritos section has six different combinations—you choose which dish you want the ingredients put into. We had the No. 3 as a burrito: romesco sauce, goat cheese, spinach and red onion. The ingredients came stuffed into a soft flour wrap with scrambled eggs, and it was delish, but needed a little hot sauce to make it pop. The romesco contributed its pungent red pepper flavor, and the goat cheese provided the creaminess. Don’t miss the pancakes: You will be nothing short of amazed by their size: three plate-size cakes for $6, and they’re light and buttery.
Alas, our return visit wasn’t as satisfying. The service was spotty, and our blue plate special, Chicken & Dumplings, was missing the dumplings! We told both the waitress and a cook, to no avail. Additionally, the dish was merely shredded chicken in a soupy broth (rather than the usual roux-thickened gravy) served next to a mound of creamy mashed potatoes (good, but not dumplings) and fresh sauteed green beans. Made me wonder: Is someone minding the store?
An order of Grandma Rosie’s Rolled Cabbage ($10) was a nice touch. The classic Jewish dish had small ground beef-and-rice rolls encased in soft cabbage leaves with a tomato-based sauce, quite sweet and filled with golden raisins. It was served over those yummy mashed potatoes—buttery and tasting of cream. On the sandwich side, we sampled the Tuna Salad ($9), a nicely constructed, jumbo tower of food with lettuce, tomato and plenty of tuna. But its wheat bread should have been fresher. The accompanying fries were really good—covered in pepper and some other interesting spices/herbs.
[amuse bouche]
the scene | CWE all-day diner
the chef/owner | Aaron Teitelbaum
the prices | $6-$9 pancakes & omelets, $6-$9 sandwiches, $15 blue plate specials
the favorites | The Slinger, Pancakes
[chef chat] » aaron teitelbaum
What made you open a diner? | The lack of diners in the CWE for many years: We wanted to fill a void.
What is your goal here? | To create a gathering place serving good food and cocktails at a reasonable price
Favorite menu item? | Corned beef and hash
How does your diner partner with the Chess Club? | We do evening chess classes here several times a week, and we’re just part of the chess campus.
4651 maryland ave. | 314.454.3957
photos: bill barrett
