St. Louis Has No Shortage of Entertainment Venues and Fun

By Bruce Northam
Senior Writer

“Never-ending scenes of visionary enchantment” —Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) in 1805 describing St. Louis

As a veteran travel writer, I have felt the lungs of the world expand. Lately, my exhale has been getting back to escapade basics in the good ole USA. This quest landed me in Missouri where St. Louis’ brand of blues, roots, rock, soul—and baseball—showcased the Midwestern city’s staggering number of entertainment venues.

The launch site of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the hometown of Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, and Tina Turner is an evolving patchwork of dynamic neighborhoods. St. Louis was founded in 1764, and it was a thriving fur-trading outpost when L&C departed on their nation-changing adventure. It hasn’t stopped thriving.

In this historic trading, manufacturing, and music-industry town, culinary, cultural, and concert hotspots hide in plain sight. My foray there was with two other travel writer pals I’ve known for decades, so I wasn’t alone in recognizing this town’s knack for melding history with hip. Let’s start with a few happening neighborhoods and one of America’s most storied parks, and then head downtown…

Grand Center

Eclectic venues line the streets of the Grand Center Arts District, an arts and cultural crossroads within the larger Midtown neighborhood where you’ll discover galleries, street art, museums, creative cuisine, nifty parks, hip hotels, and shows ranging from Broadway to black-box theater.

Here, just west of downtown, world-class talent shines—from bebop to Beethoven—and aspiring artists hone their craft.

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation is the far-reaching visionary structure and fuel that keeps this neighborhood ticking and evolving.

I met the organization’s executive director, Chris Hansen, who truly understands that the soul of a city is shaped by its artists.

Hansen, who is also a musician, revealed, “Grand Center has long been the epicenter of arts and culture in St. Louis, which has been experiencing immense growth and meeting new and more diverse audiences over the last decade. Our organization has been a collaborator and catalyst to this momentum.”

Beth Hoops, a publicist and co-founder of Mid Coast Media, joined us as we toured the Walls Off Washington mural walk, a dazzling multi-block marvel. We finished that tour with a cocktail at Sophie’s Artists Lounge, a trendy bar on the first floor of Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s 3333 building that also boasts a world-class DJ-in-residence program, a free-to-view ever-rotating art gallery, and a built-in high-definition audiovisual experience.

Hoops added, “Here, we welcome and enjoy all varieties of music. Plus, literary arts, visual arts, theater, comedy…and even an annual circus. There’s always something interesting going on in this neighborhood, from as simple as a Monday night DJ set to as complex as a multi-day music festival.”

I was in town for a prime example of this with-it district’s offerings by attending the Laz Jazz Fest at the Big Top, an intimate top-shelf two-stage music celebration featuring the legendary avant-garde jazz group Sun Ra Arkestra and the Brothers Lazaroff, an extended musical family of some of St. Louis’ top musical artists, including Hansen on drums.

The Big Top is an indoor/outdoor circus-tent-style venue right in the heart of the hood where we danced, enjoyed bites from various food trucks, and soaked in the friendly and funky atmosphere. The festival returns next year, date TBD.

Grand Center shines during Music at the Intersection, which is always the second weekend of September (September 14^th and 15^th in 2024). The festival was created to elevate and celebrate St. Louis’ imprint on the American songbook.

Lineups are deeply rooted in St. Louis’ heritage—and also demonstrate how that heritage is still informing and shaping modern-day hip-hop, R&B, and good ole rock. 2024 welcomes world-class artists like Chaka Khan, Black Pumas, Trombone Shorty, Esperanza Spaulding, Lettuce, and dozens more, in a unique and art-infused block-party atmosphere.

The Grove

The Grove, an up-and-coming neighborhood, is more than drinks and dinner.

Platypus is an edgy multi-space bar with a performance room delivering everything from comedy to heavy metal. Its three large, groovy rooms—including a wraparound bar—are places to relax or rock.

This triplex, if I can say that, is where fancy cocktailers and vegans are both accommodated. Across the street is Urban Chestnut’s Grove Brewery & Bierhall, where you’ll find some of the region’s best craft beers and Euro-inspired cuisine in a massive industrial space that was originally a paper company built in the 1920s. The Gramophone, a casual dining pub, is a local fave for sandwiches and intimate live music.

Central West End

Evangeline’s Bistro & Music House is a welcoming place for live jazz and blues music in another St. Louis-style New Orleans-inspired bar/eatery with Cajun and Creole classics. The bar and the music hall are conveniently adjoined rooms giving you the freedom to chat, listen, or do both.

Up-Down St. Louis features indoor and outdoor bars, classic arcade games, and Skee-Ball alleys—all only a quarter to play. The Central West End also showcases one of the city’s most grand and glitzy neighborhoods; be sure to take a stroll along Hortense Place.

Forest Park

It’s simple to take a walk on the wild side of St. Louis. The 1,300-acre Forest Park, considered one of the nation’s greatest urban public parks, attracts a whopping 13 million visitors each year.

Beautiful landscapes sprinkled with forests, ecosystems, nature reserves, lakes, and streams thrive side by side with five major cultural institutions including a legendary zoo. The world-class Saint Louis Art Museum merely warms you up with Van Gogh and Picasso.

The museum’s origins date to 1879 and its collection contains more than 34,000 objects, dating from antiquity to the present, divided into nine areas: American; Ancient and Egyptian; Africa-Oceania-Americas; Asian; Decorative Arts and Design; European to 1800; Islamic; Modern and Contemporary; and Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. This destination is a true mind-blower.

Downtown

You can’t avoid the famous Gateway Arch that looms over the river and city—and for good reason, it’s quite an experience. We’ve all seen it, but it’s not until you’ve been inside that you get it. A snug tram ride lifts you 630 feet up to the top of the tallest monument in the United States.

Dedicated to Thomas Jefferson’s quest to expand America’s territory, the views from the apex are grand and include views of rural Illinois across the river. The museum at the base of the Arch traces St. Louis’ history from its founding up until the Arch was built in the 1960s.

It’s a wonderful combo that tells the story of westward expansion from diverse viewpoints. Nearby, a Mississippi riverboat cruise awaits, where a one-hour tour catches stunning views of the Gateway Arch and downtown.

I felt at home at the nicely broken-in Drury Plaza Hotel at the Arch, which includes free daily breakfast and dinner buffets along with a daily 5:30-7 pm “Kickback” happy hour that’s also complimentary.

Its downtown locale at the base of the Arch means great views and mobility in every direction.

Across the street, while taking in some live outdoor music in the square behind The Old Courthouse, site of the pivotal 1847 Dred Scott case, you can’t help but notice the red-brick Wainwright Building.

Built in 1891, it is credited with being the first successful utilization of steel-frame construction. This National Historic Landmark narrowly escaped demolition during urban renewal in the 1960s.

Today, the building is considered by many to be one of the country’s first office towers. Frank Lloyd Wright called it “the very first human expression of a tall steel office building as architecture.”

On the edge of downtown is the Broadway Oyster Bar, an archetypal New Orleans-style throwback, inside and out, with live music daily showcasing local and national touring acts that deliver rock, reggae, bluegrass, blues, funk, R&B, roots, jam, and (drumroll) a variety of New Orleans bands.

It’s also a renowned seafood restaurant touting fresh Gulf and Blue Point oysters, Louisiana crawfish and shrimp (yeah, St. Louis is a Mississippi River town, too), Prince Edward Island mussels, farm-raised catfish and ahi tuna. The Cajun and Creole dishes will not disappoint.

The rousing City Museum, housed in an old shoe factory, is an artist-built playground full of weirdly wonderful spaces to explore. The rooftop kid’s playground view is worth the price of admission alone.

“Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.” –Jimi Hendrix

The National Blues Museum explores the musical history and impact of the blues. This deep dive into one of America’s greatest inventions is also an entertainment and educational resource. Bonus: it’s in the same building as Sugarfire Smoke House, which based on three visits, seems to be the local favorite for barbecue.

Soulard

Soulard, a National Historic District adjacent to downtown, is a down-to-earth entertainment district with bars, restaurants, and coffee shops on every street between 150-year-old houses. Several bars have free shuttles to and from their inspiring sports stadium for baseball, football, hockey, and soccer.

In one of St. Louis’ oldest neighborhoods, the 1860s Saloon is one of the ultimate sports event pre-game experiences. Talk about an ultra-traditional buzz in the air. For 50 years, the St. Louis Cardinals were once the only team west of the Mississippi River! The 1860s Saloon’s free shuttle to the ballpark was driven by an unintentional tourist attraction/commentator who had the passengers rolling with laughter.

In 2006, the Cardinals opened their new downtown ballpark, Busch Stadium. The retro-style stadium has 46,000 seats, and it became a good luck charm for the home team as the Cardinals became the first team in almost 100 years to win the World Series in the inaugural season of the new ballpark.

I got a kick out of the ballgame kiss cam. The stadium is adjacent to Ballpark Village, a mammoth entertainment complex and anchor for the downtown’s buzz. Bally Sports Live is a 20,000-square-foot arena-like party zone with a 65-foot LED video wall. And, this is yet another venue including a stage for live concerts and performances.

PS, check out Confluence Kombucha | The Fox Den, St. Louis’s premiere fermentory and ping-pong club with eight flavors of kombucha on tap and a super-cool owner. This laid-back hangout typifies this city’s tenacity and equanimity.

Step toward your great-American culinary and musical adventure via Explore St. Louis—and don’t forget about the annual star-studded Music at the Intersection festival this September.

*Photos by Bruce Northam. Also courtesy of Explore St. Louis and St. Louis Art Museum