Bean's Bites: Soda Fountain Express

Haven't done a food review in awhile on the blog, and on a night with no NBA/NHL playoffs, I can think of no better time. So despite being a little outside St. Charles, I work near Westport, and there's no shortage of good spots. And one of my favorites for something quick, casual, and classic -- is The Soda Fountain Express.

Location

147 West Port Plaza Dr. St. Louis, MO 63146

https://www.sodafountainexpress-stl.com/eats-sweets/

You may be more familiar with the Union Station location downtown -- which I've never actually been to surprisingly, but working so close I've been to the Westport spot many times now. Right on the other side of Trainwreck and across from the new 360 Rooftop Bar and Rawlings HQ.

Grill

Going in order of their menu, the first thing you see is the grill section. Burgers and chicken are the go-to's. One of the first few times we went I got the Cheeseburger and it was solid, but nothing special. Their "Fancy Sauce" was good, but the burger itself was a tiny notch above the A&W's and Dairy Queen's of the world.

Chicken Strips are like Frank Gore. 1st & 10 (lunch), pound it up the gut for 4 yards (mild satisfaction), 25 times a game (year) for 150 yards (15 pounds). Soda Fountain's got a solid 7.5/10 chicken strip, I'm low on their Ranch but high on their buffalo sauce. I haven't tried the chicken sandwiches, but they have Chicken wraps as well, and the grilled chicken wrap was solid -- good chicken and ingredients, mid wrap/tortilla.

The star of this part of the menu -- the BLT. Does my girlfriend make fun of me when I order BLT's at restaurants? Yes. But this is genuinely a top 2-3 BLT. Insane amount of bacon, I'm talking long-term health-risk amounts of bacon. The bread is great, the LT or the BLT is fine, and it's a massive sandwich. No notes.

Hot Dogs

Welcome to Glizzy Corner. 3 options in this section, and while I've tried one, when you've had one you've had them all. We went Chicago Dog -- aka mustard, relish, pickle spear, sport peppers, tomato, onion, celery salt, on a poppyseed bun. I got it w/ no tomatoes because I never like the big wedges on a standard Chi Dog, but these were thin slices I could've dealt with. Great dog, solid build, good snap, and the sport peppers are so god damn good. They also have a plain and chili cheese. I had a corn dog once, and you can absolutely never go wrong, but it's nothing too special.

Sweets

I don't have the biggest sweet tooth in the world, but who doesn't like Ice Cream? One of my favorite variations is a Float -- Root beer, Coke, Diet Coke, or Orange Soda and the DC Float was delicious (not sure why I thought subbing for DC in a ice cream drink made a difference but I did). As far as scoops, I tried the Gooey Butter Cake and, as expected, it fucked. They've got 5 flavors for Shakes, but if you want to get Freaky, you can go the Freak Shake route (yes, actual name). And no Ice Cream spot is complete without a Sundae (5 types). But if you have the stamina for a sundae after one of the entrees, more power to you, because I never have.

All-in-All, this isn't the type of place you're calling for a reservation -- it's the spot you go after for a sweet treat to impress your lady. Or it's a good spot for a lunch that will be incredibly unfriendly to your waistline, but incredibly friendly to your morale. If you're a BLT fan, you don't read the menu and order it immediately. If not, you pick from any of their many options of hard-to-fuck-up meals, or enjoy some great ice cream.

It's also a really cool looking place on the inside -- bright, nostalgic, smells amazing, really friendly workers. My recent trips it has taken a lot longer to get my food than before, but I'm chalking that up to how busy they've been getting. If you got an hour to kill for your lunch break - this is a great option.

Bonus: they got a wall of old school candy like by-the-pound hard candy, Big League Chew, Jelly Beans, Pop Rocks, and any other candy you ate when you were 9 before a sugar-induced shit-show your parents had to deal with.

Restaurant Rating: 6.9/10