While we’ve been to Championships many times in Atlanta this is our first year qualifying to Championships in St. Louis. As the guy figuring out logistics what recommendations do you have for lunch and dinner near the arena?
In Atlanta there was the ever popular food court which made this stuff easy. Is there anything similar in St. Louis? If not, what good teen-friendly restaurants are within walking distance?
In Atlanta, FIRST made sure there were lots of food carts and such available to teams. Is this true in St. Louis? Do we need to worry about bringing in lunches or ordering box lunches?
Is the downtown core safe enough that I can turn the kids lose with a list of restaurants and, as long as they go in groups of three or more, assume they will be safe enough? We generally just establish a perimeter and a list of approved places for them to eat and not try to keep everyone together in one pod.
Safety: The Landing (straight towards the river) is a “large group after dark” area. Otherwise, groups of 3-4 should be more than enough.
Now, the food: Head towards the park a few blocks straight out the main entrances. Pick a street, you’re bound to find something. I know of a Hardees, a Jimmy John’s, and a TGI Friday’s out that way; there’s an Imo’s Pizza on the other side of that park but I don’t know exactly where. There’s also a grocery store or two and at least one Papa John’s.
I don’t know for sure about food carts, but if they’re out there, I remember them not being your average hot-dog stand. (OK, so I wasn’t there for a Championship…)
Note that I was there in Winter '09 (right after Christmas, to be exact) for a college-age conference, so things might have changed. But I never had any problems even going out as a group of one (other than the long lines…)
We would get stuff for sack lunches (either bring on the bus or get at a local grocery store) and make them in the hotel the night before for lunch. Dinner was usually at the hotel too.
Hard Rock is in Union Station. They have really neat robot hardrock pins every year. We ate there for one meal. If we go this year, we are going to a spaghetti place, but I cannot remember the name and my paperwork is at school. Also, we will be hiring a caterer to do lunches this year, as last year we had mold on the stuff we ordered from the venue. Will never order from that venue unless they have proof that they can safely feed crowds. So, We are getting boxed lunches delivered in. Don’t really think they are much more expensive than the moldy on site. And, when I say moldy, I mean that we had kids get sick and found mold in nearly every wrap we got. So, if you order there, be sure to inspect your food first. Lots of interesting places in St. L to try though … Now all we have to do is qualify!! Here’s hoping we see you in STL!!!
Having been to the Championships in both Atlanta and St. Louis, I’d say the options for reasonably priced food places that took large groups were OK in St. Louis but not quite as good as in Atlanta.
Our best find was Culinaria, a grocery store at 315 North 9th Street (3 blocks south of the Dome) that has a good variety of take-out choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ve attached a photo of our team enjoying dinner there the evening after the finals (we opted out of the finale).
We never found a food court comparable with the CNN Center, but to be fair, we may have missed a good one.
We felt safe in downtown St. Louis, although we found the streets eerily empty for the downtown of a major city, even at 8AM or 9AM on a weekday.
So for those who went to the Championships last year in St. Louis, are there the same kind of food stands set up that they had in Atlanta or do you send someone out on food runs?
There were several food vendors, but many were of the snack variety and not actual food. Corn dogs, funnel cakes, sweets, smoothies, etc. were abundant. Moderately nutritious fare, not so much.
Any more recon for lunch options near the convention center? I just glanced thru the pre-order offer and hate to lock into something… Breakfast and dinner I think we have covered.
But would also like to remain flexible on schedule and not have to spend an hour ‘commuting’.
There’s a subway directly across the street and it was absolutely swamped last year.
According to one of our mentors who picked up sandwiches there, nobody had even told them there was an event going on with 20,000+ people, so they were completely unprepared for the large crowds.
Almost everything near the venue was literally out of food some time through the lunch hour. I recall eating at an Italian restaurant (because we had time for some quick pizzas) on the sidewalk under the tall buildings, and there was an Irish pub that made a wide variety of delicious burgers, and was well-equipped to handle large groups… Alas, I forget the names of both, and neither were “fast food”.
Indeed it was, thank you! They fed 340 and 1551 dinner with not a ton of heads-up, and did so quickly, efficiently, deliciously, and not too expensively. Twice.
We also made sack lunches in our hotel every night (organized and run by parents). The team gathered at a specific spot outside the Dome each day and ate as a group. Much easier and cheaper than buying lunch.
There is a grocery store - the Culinaria? - that the parents used on Wed night to get the supplies, which also has free delivery. (It is within walking distance as well).
They may have box lunches available as well, which are not cheap but are convenient.
Make note: last year come Friday all the restaurants within walking distance (4-5 blocks) I visited were closed because they ran out of food. Hopefully they had a better heads up this year, but I would differently try to make some “out-of-downtown” plans just in case you get stuck without food.
