We’ve been enjoying watching and tasting the evolution at Dressel’s as Ben, son of founder and long-time owner, Jon, has taken the helm, expanding both the premises and the menu. Now the Welsh- and classical music-themed Central West End veteran has begun serving Sunday brunch. And it’s definitely brunch and definitely delicious; the regular menu doesn’t kick in until 3 p.m., so don’t think you can get eggs over easy atop your outstanding chips. However, a hamburger is available. Incidentally, this now makes five brunch spots within a half-block of the Euclid-McPherson intersection.
Even with its relatively small menu, there are different and imaginative selections. Dressel’s is making its own sausage, for instance, and is using a lot of local suppliers, like ham from Reckamp Farm near Wright City.
Plenty of Bloody Marys on tables as we walked through the bar, but we tried a strawberry Bellini. Made with pureed strawberries and sparkling wine (traditionally the Italian prosecco), it was just right, almost no sweetness at all, a little spritz to the wine. And the coffee was better than we usually get in a bar, proof, perhaps, that Dressel’s is turning into something much more than just another watering hole, utilizing also the talents of chef Michael Miller
Corned beef hash utilized sweet potatoes as well as the expected white ones, plus tasty onions. It was served over a slice of rye toast, topped with a fried egg, and then sauced with a tomato Hollandaise, known in French as sauce Choron, and appearing in any color from pale pink to the vivid orange seen here. It’s a first-rate sauce, and we hope it sticks around for a long time. The sweet potato-corned beef combination worked well, that salty-sweet combo a natural.
Ricotta pancakes with pumpkin butter or brioche French toast? Decisions, decisions…but we went with the French toast. As an aside, we’d point out that this is a fine place for brioche—not as a hamburger bun, where it’s far too sweet and almost certainly too fragile. Real maple syrup came alongside, and it was topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, and a few blueberries and strawberries. The dish is served with some of that housemade sausage and breakfast potatoes. The potatoes are irregularly shaped deep-fried chunks, a little greasy but mostly unremarkable. The link sausages, though, are anything but. About the size of a woman’s finger, they’re juicy and very well seasoned, with an earthy spiciness that impresses.
This is not a restaurant where we can go incognito; Jon is a member of a lunch group with Joe, and the gang occasionally partakes at Dressel’s. But any establishment that not only celebrates Beethoven’s birthday (coming up! December 16!) but also makes its own tasty sausage is okay in our book.
Dressel’s
419 N. Euclid Ave.,
314-361-1060
Brunch Sun. 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Dining room door
Smoking: No
Brunch entrees: $6 – $12
