One of my dealers in St. Louis was telling me about a place that has a pretty good burger, as well as some very good Greek food - Michael's Bar and Grill. Michael's has been a fixture in the Maplewood neighborhood on Manchester Road for nearly 30 years. For lunch one day on a recent visit to St. Louis, I sought out Michael's.
Michael Malliotakis opened his eponymous bar and grill in 1985 serving a mixture of American and Greek food. It has been a favorite place for diners for both business lunches and casual dinners. There is a basement that can also be used as an overflow room, as it usually is on a Friday or Saturday night.
I pulled up to Michael's Bar and Grill on Manchester (see map) just before the noon hour. I parked my car on the street just a half block up the way, but I found that you can also use the parking lot across the street that is shared by a Dollar General store and an O'Reilly Auto Parts store. I walked into the restaurant (past the deserted outdoor dining area that seems rather close to busy Manchester) and the lunch crowd was just getting going. The bar area had a few tables and some booths along the window. There was a dining area off to the east side of the building that was about 3/4's full. The tables were all excruciatingly close to one another, not the kind of floor plan I like at restaurants when you're literally elbow to elbow with the diners at the table next to you.
I was greeted by a gentleman with a thick accent (possibly Michael himself?) who showed me to a small two-seat table near the fireplace in the bar area. It was cramped and I just felt that other people were literally on top of me. He dropped off a menu for me.
Looking through the menu, it was a mixture of Greek and American classics - gyros, burgers, lamb, steaks, kebobs and seafood. They had a number of appetizers on the menu including the St. Louis-staple toasted ravioli, saganaki (Greek fried cheese), spicy chicken wings and the Greek delicacy taramasalata - salted and cured cod roe mixed with bread crumbs, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and used as a dip.
Michael's also features their house-signature soup - chicken avgolemono, a lemon and egg based soup - and two sizes of their Greek salad. You can also order a Greek salad with either grilled chicken or gyro meat.
Since I'd heard about the burger, I decided to get that. When my server, Sophia, came by to get my order, I went with the Michael burger - a 10 oz. blended-chopped beef burger. She asked me if I wanted any cheese on it and I got mine with pepper jack cheese. I also ordered a small Greek salad to go with the burger.
It wasn't long with Sophia came out with my Greek salad. It was a heaping plate of lettuce greens topped with pepperocini, Greek olives, chopped red onions and copious amounts of feta cheese. The Greek vinaigrette had a nice tart taste to it and it was a very good salad.
The burger came as I was still working on my salad. It was served open faced with a two slices of pepper jack cheese on the top of the huge burger. Steak fries came with the burger along with a tomato and lettuce garnish.
From the first bite, I could tell that it was a good burger. It was cooked medium with a hint of pink in the middle. It had a good juicy consistency to the burger patty, but it didn't fall apart very easily. The bun was lightly toasted and also held together very well with the burger. The only problem is that I couldn't eat the whole thing. After blasting through a good portion of the Greek salad, I was getting stuffed. I could only eat 3/4's of the burger and it was far from an indictment of the overall taste of burger. I was getting full and I had to push away.
Michael's Bar and Grill is one of those nice little neighborhood places that keeps people coming back. About the only thing I had a problem with at Michael's were the close proximity of tables. I just felt a little claustrophobic and somewhat cramped when I was eating. The burger was very good, however. Since I'd heard it was a good burger, I wasn't disappointed in the least. The Greek salad was very good, as well.
Even though it was busy and she was busy waiting on tables, Sophia's service was friendly and personable. The menu was interesting enough to keep Michael's on my "Restaurants to Visit" list when I get back to St. Louis. I'm always up for a good gyro and I'm guessing that Michael's has a pretty good one. I'll have to see on my next visit.
Michael's in one of our favorites. It can get a little crowded but the saganaki and the dolmades are outstanding.
Posted by: St. Louis Steve | December 27, 2013 at 09:56 AM