Spare No Rib

Absolutely incredible. I have come here for a large dinner group as well as as on date. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. Try the chips and 3 salsa. The salsas are made fresh daily. My favorite thing on the menu is the Mac and cheese.

I’ve walked past this location several times, and finally stopped in today for lunch, looking for something slightly healthier than a burger. The ambiance is weird (only about 5 tables, with couches and arm chairs by the bar, so many it’s the Bar Italia lounge space at night?) but it has great music (Motown originals and covers) and good A/​C. Only one other table had diners, and service was quick and very courteous.
I ordered the grapes and pearls salad and the carne asada taco. The salad was greens, fingerling potatoes, grape tomatoes, avocado and mozzarella pearls in a-​mostly-​olive-​oil vinaigrette. Delicious! Light, fresh, interesting ingredients, and a decent serving (no skimping on the «toppings») in a deep bowl for $ 4.50. The taco came with a good-​sized lime wedge and was street-​sized: 2 soft corn tortillas, smoky, tender carne that retained some pinkness, chunks of onion (raw, although advertised as grilled) and a tasty salsa (despite the cilantro in it, which has ruined tacos for me in the past — ugh). Very tasty taco, especially for $ 3.
Perfect quick Saturday lunch. I’m leaving feeling refreshed and very happy with a new find. I’ll definitely be back!

I went to this place yesterday, by myself, for lunch on a rainy afternoon. From the moment I walked in everybody was friendly and gracious. Looking over the menu I was tempted by ribs, but it looked like more food than I wanted to eat. The waiter offered up the possibility of ordering just one rib, so I did that, along with a fish taco. I kept thinking about the favorable reviews I’d read about the chips and 3 salsas, so I added that. The chips and salsa arrived quickly — I was served 4 salsas, one tastier than the next. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite. The rest of the food arrived with not one, but two, ribs with a rub and two BBQ sauce choices on the side. They required no sauce at all, they were superb on their own, but I did splash on a bit of sweet sauce. The fish on the taco was also outstanding, three large pieces of fish fried in a beer batter with a delicious sauce, possibly the avocado/​tomatillo sauce I’d been served with the chips.
If this restaurant were in my neighborhood I would quickly become a regular. In any case it’s definitely worth a trip to the CWE.

Great nightlife Thursdays on international night! Great service! Definitely try it if you’ve never been. It’s a big draw for the young people of St. Louis’ diverse international community. Wash U students from abroad will enjoy the top charting music from around the world.

Love this place! Great «street food» indoors in a casual hip friendly little spot. I have always loved Bar Italia next door which is owned by the same folks. The food is fresh and delicious. Prices good. Currently open for lunch only. Great spot for a biz lunch or to duck out of work early

Delicious! The best part is the food, and that’s what matters to me, but the rest needs some work for survival.
Food: The food at Spare No Rib in CWE was very good. I had the fish taco, rib taco, and carne asada taco and I would order them all again. They all had healthy helpings of meat, but more importantly, they were delicious meats that I could eat on their own. The hand cut fries were fresh and the salsas were unique and very good (that’s coming from a recovering Texan) – some of the best in town (one is a smoky bbq salsa that seemed so obviously delicious, but why hasn’t anyone tried this combination before??). Though, they shouldn’t charge for chips and salsa – it’s too good to not have everyone try it!
Everything Else: The ambiance and beer selection. Some of the beer selection is impressive (good to see small Belgian abbeys at a fair price), but there are no beers on tap and a small local selection. If you’re slogan is «BBQ, Beer, Tacos», then you have to bring the goods and you would expect the people working there to know their bbq, beer, and tacos. And if you bring me a can of beer, pour it in a glass. The ambiance also lacks. It’s basically eating lunch at a lounge/​nightclub (the Bar Italia Club to be exact) with odd music that doesn’t match the food or décor. I love Motown, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t match what you got going on. They need to either go all in with their CWE location, or don’t go at all. I took a client there for a casual lunch and was expecting something more presentable, like their other location.
The place probably won’t make it (2 tables on a Friday lunch won’t cut it), but it won’t be because of product, it will be because of execution.