The Stable
June 24, 2008 12:20 pm RestaurantsIrene and I made our way down to the newest Amalgamated Brewing venture, The Stable, for Saturday night’s grand opening. I’ve been to a few grand openings as of recent and for the most part they’re usually low-key events. The opening of The Stable was anything but. We walked in and the place was packed, filled to the brim with people either waiting to get a beer or waiting to get a table.
The Stable
1821 Cherokee Street (Map It)
St Louis, MO 63118
(314) 771-8500
Beer
If The Stable doesn’t win some sort of award next year for best beer selection in a restaurant in one of the local magazines, I may just have to give up hope for this town. The devotion to beer that everyone involved with The Stable has is just mindblowing. With over 20 hand-picked draught choices and another 15 in bottles, The Stable proves that having the largest selection doesn’t necessary mean you have the best selection. Two other extremely encouraging tidbits I picked up was that this will be a rotating selection, so that beer you had on your first visit may not be there on the second. Also, they’ve made the promise that you’ll see no beer with the word “Light” in the name.
Food:
Not content with just pizza and beer, The Stable offers a full line of sandwiches and also some interesting starters. I had the steak special and Irene tried the cajun carbonara. While my steak was cooked perfectly to temperature, I found it a bit tough and not very moist. But I was in the mood for beef so it satisfied my craving. Irene’s carbonara was the winning dish between our two. The spiciness of the andouille helped to balance the richness of the cream sauce. The pasta itself was also very well received as it still had a bit of chew to the noodles, almost just shy of al dente.
Intangibles:
This place is pretty gorgeous. If you’ve ever been to the Lemp Mansion you’ll know that it’s almost like stepping back in time to when the mansion was full of Lemps. The Stable does a good job of taking a lot of the feel from the Lemp Mansion and continuing it in this new spot. The updated wood features along with some of the other features keeps you in a very particular mindset. Irene couldn’t stop looking around and saying “wow.” They also feature a “patio” area featuring a second bar which seems less finished and much more sparse. I’ll be interested to see if it gets updated as well.
I’m really excited about the future of The Stable, some time to work out some opening kinks I think it could quickly become the best beer restaurant in St. Louis. Let’s hope that the crowds I saw on opening night think the same as me and keep filling the place up.
Tags: beer list, irene, pizza, restaurant, the stable
scottyp :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 12:54 pm
im pretty sure my sleeve is in one of those pics
the beer blows my mind
my fav is the rogue imp pils
Shep :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
Cheese curds!? Were they real cheese curds?
Annie :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
I’m sure they were real cheese curds…just not fresh from the farm cheese curds. They are frozen and shipped….but that’s still cool. They still taste good. They loose the ’squeak’ when frozen and then thawed. All you Wisconsinites know about the ’squeak’.
Believe me…if you could get fresh cheese curds in St. Louis, Simon would have them at the shop.
scottyp :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
i cant get over this place. the beer selection floored me when i first saw it. im actually overwhelmed right now between this and everything else we are currently getting. i already am planning on visiting various places to get certain beers i am craving. its almost too much.
JD :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
I’m still surprised by Schlafly Schwarzbier’s appearance at The Stable. I’d never seen it outside the Tap Room. Did I miss a release announcement? Have other Tap Room offerings escaped into the wild? Do tell!
Derek Bean :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
Seeing as Paul Jensen is one of the owners and he has worked for Schlafly since before the Tap Room opened; plus, Charlie Brinsa is also one of the owners and he has been a regular at the Tap Room since the day they opened; reportedly Jesse, one of the other owners, worked there as well (although, I’m not exactly sure about this); and, lastly, Mark Naski, slated to be the brewer at The Stable, also has a long relationship with Schlafly; it makes sense that these guys will be able to get beers from Schlafly that aren’t normally available elsewhere.
The place looked great when I checked in on them the week before my wedding. I can’t wait to go hang out there and take it all in! Looks like they’ve done a great job all the way around.
Ericstl6 :
Date: June 24, 2008 @ 10:08 pm
From what I am hearing it does indeed have to do with the relationship Paul has with Schlafly. When I initially saw the Export IPA on the original list I was surprised as I was told there were only two barrels left and they were in KC. That’s why I wasn’t surprised to see the Schwarzbier. I am hearing this arrangement may have came about at The Brewers Heritage Festival. There may be a few more surprises with Schlafly down the road.
Kelly :
Date: June 25, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
Yes, Jesse Jones used to work at The Tap Room.
Derek Bean :
Date: June 25, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
Not to nit-pick, but “(has) to do with the relationship Paul has with Schlafly”? Perhaps I wasn’t clear, Paul Jensen helped build and open the Tap Room. He has tended bar there since day one (and still does). For many people and purposes, Paul Jensen is synonymous with Schlafly. Then, take into consideration that Jesse worked there, Charlie Brinsa has been a regular there since they opened, as has Mark Naski. In fact, Mark Naski taught the Beer Judge Certification Program there in 2000 that I completed, along with the rest of the Schlafly sales and brewing staff at the time.
My point is that these guys are about as connected as one can be with the folks at Schlafly.
SaraJ :
Date: July 3, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
For the record, the cheese curds at The Stable are ‘real’ cheese curds, shipped next day direct from Wisconsin. They are not frozen.
The Calvinator :
Date: July 5, 2008 @ 4:45 am
Food & beer were both great. Atmosphere was great. Service was miserably slow. They need to hire more servers or get some servers that know how to maneuver a crowd. They work on this kink and they’ve got a strong hook to keep people coming back.