Stop #58: Alumni

Tony's Review: Well here I was thinking we were done eating all the new slingers St. Louis has to offer and then my buddy Drew mentions this place...I was less than pumped. Then I find out it's a fancier place which I'm not really into and then he tells me they're slinger fries!? Never had those but I'm sure a classy chef can charge me too much for them.

We get to the place and it is fancy, at least for what we've seen on this never ending tour, but then we find out it's not even on the menu anymore cause only one loyal dude was ordering them. A wave of relief washed over me but then this over achieving bartender said she would ask the chef if he would make it for us—she could tell by our vibes that we were VIP. Sure enough that chef said he could make it for us and gave us the heads up that if you ask for it they can always make it, not sure how that is.

So when the classy slinger fries arrive I'm a little surprised at how good they look. The first thing you notice was how perfectly the eggs were cooked, I don't think I've been so excited to eat an egg and they fucking delivered. Now there wasn't a full blown burger patty on the plate cause this is an appetizer, SO SOME CLASS! But to make up for lack of meat the chili was full of bold flavors and chunks of what I can only assume was ground beef from an hormone free, locally raised cow. And the fries themselves were really good which sealed the deal for me—slinger fries are really
good, but they're not top ten good.
Tim's Review: I think I was slightly bummed when I found out there was a new slinger too. But it really had nothing to do with the fact that I had to eat another one. It was the fact that I felt obligated to write this stupid post. I've learned 2 things over the past year: #1 after 58 stops, I STILL enjoy a fresh breakfast plate covered in steaming chili. I bet that even once this ridiculous tour is over, I will order the occasional slinger. Certainly not on a weekly basis, but I'm sure the craving will come. And #2: I HATE writing these blog posts. I'm not anywhere close to creative or intelligent enough to come up with 58 different ways to write about eggs, potatoes, meat and chili.

As far as Alumni is goes, they serve up a very respectable slinger. Top of the line egg with some with great fries and chili. It's not top ten material, but I might snack on this shit again, if only for the fact that I know I can go in and order something that's not on the menu. It'll make me feel important.

Stop #57: The Kitchen Sink

Tony's Review: Warning this is not an official slinger. This just had the heart of one and I was wanted a reason to try The Kitchen Sink out for my first time. This place opened up not that long ago right off of Forest Park near the History Museum entrance and I would describe their menu as officially off the chains. Tons of good choices to make and everything I saw when I was there looked really good.

Now let's talk about "THE SINK" their everything dish that we deemed close enough to a slinger to warrant reviewing it. Two biscuits, two sausage patties, tater tots, two eggs, sausage gravy and topped with jalapeno bacon and cheese all served in a metal bowl. Sounds good enough and when this bowl of shit came out I was very impressed by the appearance of a legitimate bowl of slop. Everything looked fresh and smelled great and the first few bites were legit. Gravy was fresh, tater tots were crispy and the biscuits were soft which are things we haven't been used to on this tour. I thought I had a new Top Ten contender until about a 1/3 of the way through. Something happened as I was eating it, seemed like my tastebuds just flatlined and all of these sweet things in my bowl tray just started tasting the same. And then I hit the chopped up sausage patties which were all grouped together in one section and while sausage is good I don't want to eat what felt like a never ending mound of sausage bits.

Don't get me wrong, this dish was really good and I'm looking forward to going back there and trying something new. I give the Sink a high five for making all or most of their food from scratch because you can taste the difference and while this almost slinger had a strong start but a weaker finish it was only $6 and worth every dollar. I would recommend you guys check this place out and when you leave check out Harrison's Popcorn next door, they serve all types of popcorn and the ones I had were tasty as shit and they DO NOT skimp and that magic popcorn flavoring dust.

Tim's Review: This thing was definitely impressive looking coming out of the gate. The fork sticking up right in the middle, like this was some kind of food challenge. I know Tony doesn't think of this as a “real slinger” and I kind of agree with that, but I'd say it was more slinger than some crap we've eaten in the past. Remember that so called “Irish Slinger” at O'Shay's, that wasn't a real slinger either.  I still get pissed when I think about those damn boxty potatoes. I didn't mention this before, but I actually hate boxty potatoes for 2 reasons: 1. They're too much like mashed potatoes and 2. when I had to look up what boxty was, I found out that there is a catchy little jingle about boxty. Now everytime I think about it, I get that damn song in my head!

Anyways, back to the Kitchen Sink. This thing wasn't too bad, but I was a little disappointed when I saw it had those damn tator tots. Those never seem to work out in my opinion, but they didn't really bother me too much this time. I think I had about 4 tots in there, so I guess I'm cool with that.  Some dude next to us had a real sexy looking burger.  I think it might have had a fried jalapeño on top or something. Not sure. All I know is that it looked better than what I had. Not a bad slinger, and definitely worth the money, but the simple fact that I didn't finish this off and get the clean plate award for this thing says it's no top ten. Next time I go back, I'm getting the burger.