Stop #14: Hammerstone's

Tony's Review: To be I honest I wasn't really sure what to expect from Hammerstone's, the last time I was there it was for a wing eating contest which was one of the grossest nights of my life. A nice bar in a usually avoidable part of Soulard, due to dummies not crime, I figured it would be an a-ok slinger and guess what...I was right!

First the obvious—jalapeños! Somebody call up the Party City, USA guess there's a new mayor in town! Apparently the usual pile of garbage just isn't enough to make you take a fast diarrhea now you add jalapeños to the mix and you're lucky if you leave the bar without do-do pants. Moving past my sore anus—this was a hair above average slinger, the chili held its own, the sausage was pretty ok and the hash browns were fine. The jalapeños were a highlight and keeps Hammerstone's a unique entry in the tour so far.

We're not changing the world with this slinger but we can burn through some toilet paper a lot faster.

Tim's Review:

14 slingers and no signs of slowing down! Hammerstone’s is another first. I’ve actually been there many times before, but until we started the tour, I didn’t even know Hammerstone’s made slingers. I’ve had their breakfast pizza and from what I remember, that was pretty awesome.

 I was also at the wing contest and I would suggest that anyone give it a shot. I think it’s three pounds of wings and a pitcher of beer for ten bucks. I’m not sure what you win, but pride and bragging rights are all that really matter when you’re talking about eating contests. I didn’t win. I did however see the guy across the table from me puke chicken wings about 2 minutes into the competition. Some memories will last forever. I’m pretty sure it’s sometime during mardi gras, so you got plenty of time to practice before next year’s competition.

Anyways, I guess I should talk about the slinger. The slinger was a big plate of just really ok.  Eggs, chili, hash browns…. it all tasted fine, but nothing really great. It came standard with sausage which wasn’t bad. It was a little spicey, but just didn’t add much. I think I’d prefer a burger. The only memorable part of this plate was the jalapeños, and I don't know what Tony's problem was, but they sat just fine with me. I guess this slinger is worth a try, but I can’t say that I’d go out of my way to get it. In fact, the next time I end up hammerstone’s I’d go for the breakfast pizza.  

Stop #13: Clayton Diner

Tim's Review: One of my favorite things about the slinger tour is when we get to go check out a brand new place and get treated to a yummy surprise. My first time to the Clayton diner, and I'd tell anyone looking for a cheap snack, it's worth checking out.  Right up there with the White Knight, Eat Rite, and Big Ed's.

This little spot is the classic diner. A bar going down one side facing the open grill where you can watch your slinger come to life. The chili was great, the hash browns were ok (honestly I don't really remember anything about the hash browns), and the service was some of the best, but my favorite part of this guy would have to be the meat! Just like Big Ed's, the clayton diner throws in two burgers covered in melted cheese and mmmmm MMMMM! I'm going to go ahead and say that these cheese burgers are even better than our buddy Big Ed. What happened to you Big Ed?!? Remember just a few weeks ago when you were the champ?

My only minor complaint is the big fat chunks of raw onion. It didn't ruin the slinger, but if the onions were diced up a little smaller and thrown on the grill for a minute, this may have jumped up a spot or two on the top 10.

After we were done eating our slinger, we chatted up the friendly cook and it eventually came out that we just finished our 13^th slinger in 13 weeks. She was curious, what's good? What sucks?....When I told her who was at the bottom of the list, she responded “oh, no one like Uncle Bill's” hahahha. So true.  She then gave us a tip on one of her favorite chinese spots where she read off her regular order, which was basically one of everything on the menu. Unfortunately, I'll never remember the name of the place. Oh well. Great job Clayton diner! #5 on my list.

Tony's Review: Tim has once again summed this up wonderfully. A hidden gem that I hope all of those accountants in Clayton enjoy on the reg. This place is insanely cheap with a typical diner menu and the service was great. As for the slinger it was a nice surprise especially since some of our early internet reviews of this place were less than stellar. You internet reviewers better check yo self before you reck yo self.

The slinger was a good size, not just a pile of trash but a plate of flavors. The chili was nice and meaty and brought the slinger together nicely. The two cheeseburgers were probably the biggest surprise, nice and small with a great taste, and I think the cheese on there was a 1/2 inch thick. As a lover of onions I enjoy the bite but I will admit there were a little too many and did overwhelm at times. The worst part of the slinger were the hash browns which were left over and reheated on the grill. They had the potential to be good but it was very obvious that these weren't as good as when they were originally cooked.

All in all it was a sweet treat eating the slinger from Clayton Diner and we had some bonus buds, Pookie and Denny, along for the ride. And as any good dude knows when you can get some buds eating garbage together its always a good day. 

Stop #12: The Sidebar

Tim's Review:

The Sidebar has been the biggest surprise of the tour so far. Before the latest slinger outing, I have been there exactly one time. And if it weren't for their slinger, I probably would not have gone back. I don't really have anything against the place, it's just that I don't normally care about watching ESPN on the big screen. But now that I have tasted their slinger, I don't give a shit about anything else going in that place, because I would gladly go back for another serving.

This slinger is the new number 1! Every part of this dish was top notch. The chili was great, the hash browns great, the texas toast was a nice touch, and the size was perfect. The burger was easily the best. That's right, better than big ed's cheese burgers, way better than Chris', better than any other place whether they had a frozen patty or not. This is a burger that I would actually put on bun and eat as a burger. I also love that there was nothing fancy about it. The small details setting this guy apart from all the classic diner slingers was just a little seasoning and a little chopped up green onion. 

You want to know what the only bad thing about the slinger at the sidebar was? We still have over 30 slingers to eat, and now I'm afraid nothing will be as good. The Sidebar is the new slinger to beat!

Tony's Review:
Move over slinger world there is a new Big Dog® on the block! Tim pretty much summed this one up perfectly—we were expecting an average pile of trash but instead we received a world class spa treatment on a plate. I will admit that I'm a little bummed that this bar on Washington Ave. has taken out most of the classic St. Louis diners but that is why I wake up in the morning—to provide you with cutting edge slinger info.

Again, everything one this work of art tasted great, especially the burger. The Texas toast was a nice surprise and the hash browns were actually seasoned well and nicely crispy complemented with some top notch chili. If I had any extremely minor complaint its that there simply wasn't enough chili, I just demand as many bold flavors as possible.

Congratulations St. Louis Slinger Tour 2012, you have surprised the pants off of this guy.

Stop #11: Chris' Pancake House

Tony's Review:
Both Tim and myself had enjoyed Chris' slinger before and we both remembered it as being one of the best. Now that some time has passed and we're becoming a little more versed in the subject of slingers it was time to revisit an old friend.

For starters we easily had the creepiest waiter in the world, one of those guys that gets close on the table, doesn't write anything down and just stares at you when you order. But this isn't a waiter review blog! On to the slinger!

The plate that was set before us got me super pumped, big chunky raw onions, super meaty chili and you know under that heaven is a secret burger treat but the more I ate the less pumped I was. When we ordered creep guy asked us how we wanted our burger cooked (a first) but once I got going on the burger I wasn't as into it. Though it was a tasty burger patty it just doesn't have the simplicity and blend-ability that your normal piece of trash, paper thin frozen patty does. A true revelation. Anyways, the chili turned out to be the star of the show, meat all over the place and just a great flavor, really tops.


While we were slightly crushed that Chris' didn't live up to our potentially unrealistic expectations it still was a good slinger and when you're there on a weekend morning with your parents after church don't be a baby and order an egg white omelet! Prove to your Dad that you're a man dammit!

Tim's Review:

This week marks an important milestone on the slinger tour. The 11^th week, which means we've eaten 11 slingers, which means...... so long Uncle Bill's !!! You never deserved to be in top ten to begin with! And unless every other eatery serving up slingers burns to ground, you will never be in the top ten again. No wait. Even if they did burn down, they still had a better slinger, so the list would carry on in honor of those burned to the ground.

Now on to this weeks chili loaded treat, Chris' Pancake house.  Like Tony, I had great memories of eating this slinger before and was really expecting it to be a top contender. Turns out we may have overhyped this one a bit. Definitely not a bad slinger, but not at the top of the list. There were a couple really nice surprises though, aside the waiter asking how I wanted my burger cooked, I was also blown away when he asked “toast or pancakes?” what ?!? A slinger with a side of pancakes! If I hadn't eaten a BBQ feast earlier in the day I definitely would have gone with the pancakes. Next time. The slinger came out and my excitement gradually faded. Nothing was really bad, but nothing was really worth getting excited about. I would say it just turned out a little better than average. Tony was spot-on about the burger, seemed like it was going to be huge success, but it was too much. Thanks to the good chili I would still order this slinger again.

So overall, while Chris' didn't deliver a new champion, still a great effort. Say hello to the new top ten.  And don't get too comfortable City diner, I expect you'll be joining your friend Uncle Bill next week.