Balaban’s

Went here for Mother’s Day Brunch. We waited 25 minutes past our reservation time and they didn’t have a bartender so we couldn’t get a drink at the bar (we just sat there). One of the waitress asked us if we want two bloody mary’s because she had made them and couldn’t find who they were for (I wanted a glass of wine not a bloody mary) but I took them and gave one to my husband and one to my father-​in-​law who was waiting on the other side of the restaurant. When our table was finally available and we got up from the bar to leave, the waitress came over and said excuse me, you owe me $ 16 for the two drinks. When we finally sat down for brunch we were told that everyone got a Bloody Mary or a Mimosa with brunch (this just made me madder when I had just paid for two that we didn’t want). The food was O.K. but not worth the cost. I will not go back! Too long of a wait, service was terrible and food was overpriced!

We like this place, we really do. However, it’s pricey. My date and I each had a pasta special, very simple yet very good and each plate was $ 28. She had a ravioli thing I had a fettuccine with morel mushrooms. We each had 1 glass each of wine and we spent $ 100.00. That is over the edge.
To apply a star rating is very difficult. Five star for food quality and service. Four star for atmosphere and ambiance. One star for value.
So if I add 5+4+1 = 10. And ¹⁰⁄₃ = 3.3 then that’s a 3 star rating.

Excellent Easter brunch with plenty of food & attentive service. Ordered eggs benedict at the omlet station & it was brought too the table hot & delicious.

My husband found this place for our Easter brunch spot. Thank goodness, bc it is sooooo yummy! Small, quaint, upscale casual, and delicious. There is a small wine shop selection with 4 – 5 rows of bottles to select from. Discounted rates when purchased for in restaurant use with an $ 8 corkage fee. The brunch spread is phenomenal! Nothing disappointed and it was a very large range of prime rib, eggs Benedict, to pasta salads and more. Missed Balabans in CWE, but glad I found this location.

My college chum and I started to get lunch at Annie Gunn’s. I got there first and found they’re closed on Monday. It was October 26.
I called her. We redirected to Balaban’s.
Not much goin’ on in there. I got a Reuben. She got another sandwich. I don’t think either one was stellar. Choices on sides were cole slaw, French fries or sweet potato fries.
We weren’t offered options on the sides — just delivered sweet potato fries. I’m not a fan of that concept.
And the sandwich was totally less than mediocre.
For a whole bunch of money. .. naaw, I can let this go.

Oh my goodness. Balaban’s has stolen my heart! On both visits, we had a reservation and we were seated right away. Balaban’s is a wine shop and a restaurant. They have a fantastic selection of wines and even a case with chilled wines. They also have a decent selection of beers to purchase.
For dinner, I chose a red zinfandel and it was perfect. I chose the same wine again on my second visit. I probably should have branched out but it was so good! Others at the table tried a malbec they really liked and my mom had a white sangria that she kept raving about.
The service was really outstanding. Both servers were able to recite the SIX specials that day. The water glasses are small but I never had to wait for a refill. They were both super friendly and just nice to talk to.
Their menu and specials are really inventive and different. Every single item I’ve tried has been fantastic. Over the two visits we’ve tried the appetizers including the anitpasto plate, trout pancake, and housemade lobster ravioli. Each was delicious but the trout pancake was my favorite. Interesting combination but it definitely worked. The smoky, salty trout with a corn pancake… just try it. We’ve tried the hearts of palm salad, beet salad, and kale and candied pecan salad. All delicious! I’m seriously into beet salad right now. For entrees, we’ve tried specials including lamb porterhouse steaks, walleye, and gnocchi, and the grilled pork chop off the regular menu. Not a single bite at Balaban’s has gone wrong. There’s usually a side or something that doesn’t quite work but dang… all delicious!
I just made reservations for Easter brunch and I cannot wait! Almost forgot to mention, they are super gluten free friendly!

I wanted to give them one star, but since I never got a chance to eat, I am going to assume their food is better than the service I received. As for customer service I am giving them 1 star.
I made reservations on OpenTable. This is a platform which gives a restaurant control of every aspect of accepting reservations, including special menus and notes for guests.
My reservation was for Valentines day.
My husband and I arrived precisely at our reservation time, at 8:15 pm. There was a lady waiting who had yet to be helped. We waited a good 5 minutes before an employee would even give us eye contact. Eventually a young girl shouted across the room at us that she would be right with us.
Then after a couple more minutes we are sat. The server brings us their special menu. I asked if the full menu was available… and NOPE it wasn’t. What a disappointment. I would image I would have been made known of this when placing my reservation. The menu didn’t even make sense. (I could be wrong since I didn’t study it, I was quite in shock). It was $ 65 PER PERSON for a choice of salad, choice of a couple entrees and dessert. Who needs a whole desert to themselves? I wanted an appetizer but I had no options. Just a horrible concept and it made feel like they are just gouging guests on a holiday.
Needless to say we left, we just grabbed sushi up the street and I was happy.
It’s a shame because the full menu I read online looked good & the atmosphere was neat with the wine & open kitchen line.

Nice little surprise to find this spot in Chesterfield, right off the main drag, right in the strip mall! Turns out it is a cozy and casual spot that sells wine and has a few tables with great appetizers and food (and wine, of course).
The stuffed mushroom appetizer was like nothing I have seen or tasted before, nice crust on the outside, yes-​fried, and creamy/​cheesy on the inside! For an entrée I had the lamb chops topped with cabernet butter, very nice!

This restaurant was one I loved until the last two visits. Adrian the bar/​server was very unfriendly and not accommodating. Today was the ultimate worse she said her computer would not allow me to have all three cheese offerings on my burger. And I offered to pay an up charge. I am sure in today’s world instead of losing three customers you would find away to ring up the extra cheese!

My husband and I had reservations for Friday, December 4^th. It was not a pleasant experience. The only tables I saw that had reserved signs on them were for parties of four or more. We were seated at a long communal table. There was one server for the area. At the time of our reservation, there were approximately 40 patrons.
My husband ordered bacon wrapped scallops. I had a pear, fig and spicy pecan salad and lamb chops. We each ordered a glass of wine. I asked for mine to be served with my entrée. The salad greens were crisp and fresh. There were several spicy pecans, but only a few figs and some pear slices. I tasted the dressing on only one bite of the salad. The rest of the salad was rather dry. I do not expect the greens to be dripping with the dressing, but I expect to taste the dressing on more than only one bite. My husband’s entrée had 6 small scallops, a scant fourth cup of vegetables and a small portion of rice. My husband remarked that his scallops did not have much flavor. My lamb chops were cooked correctly, but under seasoned and tasteless. My seasonal vegetables consisted of two 4 inch green beans, a mushroom slice, and a few pieces of an unidentified bland white vegetable — perhaps a parsnip. I also had a small portion of mashed potatoes. I did not get my wine until I had finished my meal and had to ask for it twice.
Part of the issue could be that the server had so many tables. The wine was good. However, the meal was not worth the $ 91.00 bill (two glasses of wine, one salad, and two entrees, small portions).
With our first experience, my beef wellington was cooked medium well instead of the medium rare I ordered. We decided to give Balaban’s another try. This time I think I will take the advice from the winery of my Pinot Noir — Nevermore.

Another place for wine that has excellent service and where the staff are very helpful. I was looking for more of our cousin’s Italian winery (Antonutti) wines as my mother was visiting California from England. She grew up living opposite the winery that her cousin Franco Antonutti inherited from his father in Colloredo di Prato, near Udine, Italy. Difficult to get from Italy to England it seems, but Tom had the three other wines I was looking for that he could ship to me in California: Pinot Noir (well, Pinot Nero as it’s Italian), Sauvignon Blanc (my wife’s favorite); and one I hadn’t tried before, NV Antonutti Ribolla Gialla, in stock. Reasonable prices and shipping. Nice people to deal with.

The food was OK. Nothing particularly interesting there. The wine market aspect is weird as it’s central to the whole restaurant and makes you feel like you’re eating in a store rather than the opposite. The service was extremely slow at lunch. There was one waitress for everyone. Yet the bartender had time to sample with vendors the whole time — during the lunch rush! Who the heck lets reps come in during lunch? Then there were the 5 people sitting in the office you can see. I don’t know what their function is but it wasn’t helping customers get food.

Food was very good. I had the fish tacos. However, the service was slow. I think there was one server for the entire dining area.

Had not been to Balaban’s for years, but it was a welcome surprise and I regret that it had been so long since I’d last been there. The fish was prepared perfectly and the waiter helped pick out an excellent wine pairing. Overall it was a great experience and I’ll definitely be visiting Balaban’s again in the future!

If I never have brunch anywhere else, I would be just fine because this place is number one…

The server was great the halibut amazing. In fact, best halibut I’ve had and I’ve been to Alaska! But on our 6 year anniversary my wife got the lamb and it was cooked to hell and back. So for the 10 minutes that we waited for her refire to come back we family styled the halibut. The lamb was OK once it came back. Nothing we would order again! And definitely not worth the price. When I told the manager of the issues we had he apologized and appreciated the input sincerely and took it to heart. I hope he changes the lamb dish to what it should be. He did comp us for the lamb which we did not ask for or expect.
The wine selection is superb. Lots of options! We will visit again and are excited to try the rest of the menu.

One of our favorite stops… great wine selection, interesting menu, friendly staff. Kale salad and the halibut are two favorites of mine. My only complaints are uncomfortable bar stools/​chairs and temperature of the restaurant is kept way too cold year round.
Sunday brunch is very very good, but a little pricey. You get what you pay for. Be sure to come hungry.

This is very good food. Nice atmosphere also. If you like wine with dinner, you can choose your bottle from the large selection at the store before you sit down to eat. They also have a great Sunday brunch.

The winery we were at just before Balaban’s refused to serve us food since electricity was out and thus we found Balabans. We were some ravenous folks looking for some good food served quick and that’s exactly what we got.
We entered just after the lunch hour so we were pretty much the only table. Service was quick and efficient, the food was pretty delicious (everything tastes great when you’re starving but I think the food really was good.) The décor of the place is really neat, I think we’d definitely come back with a more concrete plan to eat here.

It was fantastic! Excellent dinner and experience. Ordered the calamari appetizer– they did it right; perfectly seasoned and cooked correctly. Awesome! Beer and wine selections are plentiful. Wife had Beef Wellington and is the best I’ve tasted thus far in St Louis. I ordered a new dish I had never heard of that came with four prawns. It was excellent. The service was spot on. Can’t complain about this place at all.

This restaurant is kind of blah. My sister and I came here for lunch this past Friday. This place seems like a wine store with wine tasting that also serves food, more so than a restaurant that also sells wine. The dining area was small and cramped. There was no music playing. Almost all of the tables were occupied, yet everyone there was quiet and were looking around at everyone else, BORED. There was only one waitress working the entire place and she was very nice and friendly, but she admitted that the kitchen was backed up. So there was a quiet room full of hungry diners, all close to each other, and all waiting for their food at the same time. It was awkward. The food was nothing to write home about either. I had the Cuban sandwich, which was very bland. My sister had the turkey panini and she hated it, to the point where she only ate ¹⁄₃ of it and didn’t take the rest home. I will say that the fries were good. I won’t be back.

Lunch, great food, out door optional seating, and most important: great food! I know I said that twice, but when the burger is great and the fries are perfect w a side of garlic aioli– it’s worth stating twice. If available Greg the lobster ravioli and ask for fresh warm bread which they have, but Ya Gotta ask.
Dessert options looked fabulous, but we were full and would definitely like to come back to sample their nice wine collection.

We made the trip to St. Louis from Paragould Arkansas. After a long week at work we decided to take off and enjoy mom and dad time without kids. We googled places to eat in St. Louis and viewed the «Best of St. Louis» where Balaban’s was recognized in 2014. Oh my yummy good. The best experience ever. I tried the salmon Jason tried the lamb we had stuffed mushrooms and oysters for appetizers. The champagne sauce for oysters were so good the owner gave us the recipe which the waitress said never happens around there. The food was good, the wine amazing, the staff impressive. We can’t wait to try it again it’s a St. Louis must try if you are visiting.

If this place had nothing but their cucumber bisque, I would still be their customer.

What a great experience we had at this place! Way better than I expected, based on the reviews.
I was not too hungry, so I went for the hearts of palm salad half and the lobster ravioli. Both were designed to be starter portions but they worked well together as a small meal. The salad was delicious — I love hearts of palm and everything else in it. The best part was that there were enough hearts of palm for me to have one in every bite — nice! The lobster ravioli is made in house, and it shows. The pasta was fresh and tender, the lobster plentiful and who doesn’t love a good beurre blanc?!
I had a slice of carrot cake for dessert (I know I said I wasn’t hungry, but don’t judge me) and it was raisin-​free, which is the number one quality I look for in a carrot cake. The cake was moist, carroty, and slathered with cream cheese frosting.
The bartender waited on us, which can be a problem, but it was not. Her name is Adrian and she did an amazing job of taking care of us.
She told us about happy hour and also their Saturday afternoon offering for after grocery shopping. We’ll be back!

Kids are both out of town this week so we are having the Ben S. and Charleen S. restaurant week! Monday evening was Balaban’s. I’ve been wanting to try this place virtually since the day we moved to the area. There has always been some reason that we haven’t made it but that all changed during our kid-​free restaurant week.
Our server was the bartender also. This is something that generally makes me nervous but it worked out just fine this time. Adrian was great!
I opted for the 3-​course menu that they offer on Mondays. First up was a cucumber bisque — served cold and absolutely refreshing! Big cucumber taste with a drizzle of crème fraîche. This soup reminded me of some of the summer soups that my grandmother used to make.
Next up was our server’s recommendation of the crab stuffed flounder — another hit! The fish was perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned and paired really well with the crab stuffing. Had they presented it just like that on a plate this would have been a 4-​star review. Set it on top of some savory Israeli cous-​cous, drizzle a white wine butter sauce on it and then hit it with a shot of basil-​infused olive oil and you have a dish that solidified this as a 5-​star review. There were also some veges on the plate which were really good in their own right but the cous-​cous with the fresh basil taste put this dish over the top.
I opted for the chocolate cake for dessert. It was a very good chocolate cake and the kids would crave it if I ever brought them to this place… but that’s not very likely.
The wife had an equally impressive meal but that’s her story to tell…

Balaban’s was not quite what I expected. I have been to wine shops with a tasting bar, but there was something very disconnected about the layout of the bar/​wine shop/​restaurant. The bar itself is a long open bar with old country style wood and high, uncomfortable metal bar stools. They need to lose those bar stools pronto or no one will stay seated at the bar for long.
The restaurant area is open to the shop/​bar area. The restaurant tables and chairs look like they belong at a country pancake house. The lighting is contemporary-​ish but doesn’t fit with the restaurant/​bar style at all. Overall, I was not feeling the atmosphere. It’s disconnected and impersonal and I felt like leaving before I ever sat down. Once seated in the restaurant, the host sat another couple next to us (right on top of us) even though the place was empty. So, after feeling as though the other party of two had enjoyed much of our private conversation, we moved to the bar. ugh.
I had the bacon and bleu cheese pizza appetizer that was on the happy hour menu. It was priced right, but it was oily and had WAY TOO MUCH bleu cheese on it. Balaban’s used to be a good CWE hangout in it’s former life, and I get that this is a different concept, but it’s a pass for me.
If I lived nearby, I would probably be back for the happy hour because the drink and app prices were pretty sweet, but the menu was a little pricey and if I’m going to spend over 20 bucks for a plate for food, I would like to dine in a restaurant with more ambiance.

Not sure how much I really like this place…
Sean and I decided to try it a few nights ago. He actually used to valet for them when they were still in the CWE. He never tried their food, though, till now.
The employees were all very nice, btw, (saved this review from being 2-​stars instead of 3) so I feel bad for knocking them but my experience just wasn’t so hot. The guy at the front was cool and made some small conversation with us prior to seating us. But he seated us at this really awkward little tiny table near the bar. There was a wall on my right side which I kept bumping into by accident with my elbow. My left elbow kept nearly bumping the servers as they walked by… and the food I ordered BARELY all fit on the table. I had to rush to finish one plate just so I could stack the others on top of it due to lack of room. There were tons of other open seats (it was a Thursday night…) so why on earth did he put us there? :(
The waitress we had was also very nice but It also took her forever to re-​fill our water. I almost had to get up and ask because I was feeling dehydrated and their food was SO salty… When I asked her to explain the portion sizes, she had a difficult time and was trying to motion with her hands to show me. I ended up ordering one thing from the tapas menu (shrimp) and two from the appetizer menu (trout pancake and lobster ravioli.)
I also ordered the pinot noir wine flight which was really overpriced IMHO ($ 14-​$ 16 range) and I didn’t like any of the three wines it came with…
The trout pancake arrived first. It was pretty good! I think I liked it the best. But sadly it was HUGE. She was correct in describing the size of the pancake, but in terms of how tall the trout was stacked… it was way too much food. And it was $ 14ish I think.
The shrimp dish had a good flavor but was insanely salty and really rich, creamy, and oily. It was described on the menu as coming with a broth around the gritcake but the «broth» was actually more of a thick «sauce» everywhere. Needless to say, I couldn’t finish it either. I ate less than half.
The lobster ravioli also had a good flavor… I enjoyed the crushed pistachios on top. But it too suffered from being extraordinarily oily and nasty. It was practically drowning in oil. They put a little mini-​salad thing on top which made the dish look pretty but the ravioli were SO hot when they came out that the salad was warm by the time I ate it. Ew. Salad is not supposed to be warm, but rather cool and refreshing. Bummer. At least there were real chunks of lobster in the ravioli.
Like I said, I feel bad for bashing them but I was really NOT impressed with my overall experience. And the real kicker? Our total came out to be around $ 73 BEFORE TIP. I took more than half of my food home and it did not re-​heat very well. I should have just ordered the trout pancake and called it a day. Everything there is so overpriced and oily… not worth the money, sadly. Sean H. did say his pizza was pretty damn good (he had one of their flat breads with just pepperoni and peppers on it) but agreed that everything else seemed overpriced. I’d sooner go to Robust for a nice wine-​bar experience.
Also I know they can’t really help it too much but the location was also a huge buzz-​kill for me. Shopping plaza across from a Dierberg’s…not really so great for a romantic evening out but I guess they moved out to Chesterfield because the leases in the CWE must be astronomical…
PS: The curtains remind me of décor one might see in a Winnebago from the ‘60s. Just sayin’…you might find that dope in an ironic hipster kinda way but I was just like… wut?