It’s hard to believe, but we occasionally find folks out there who haven’t heard of Crown Candy Kitchen. Four years short of celebrating its centennial of keeping St. Louis’ sweet tooth soothed, it tootles merrily on, attracting each generation for a dish or cone of dairy dazzles, not to mention the sandwiches that are surprisingly popular for what people used to call a sweet shop or a candy store.
Inside, in many ways, it could be straight out of an Archie comic book with a jukebox, booths, Coca-Cola posters, the chrome arch of soda-water dispensers, a phone booth. Still, there are contemporary notes. The phone booth has no phone, the juke box is full of CDs, and there are no stools at the counter. The space is needed for servers to pick up orders. Still, the immense glass bowl of bananas, its contents shrinking through the day, presides over the action as everyone from neighborhood kids to political candidates and news anchors drop by. Oh, and police. St. Louis cops don’t do doughnuts, they do ice cream. Frequent fill-ups for St. Louis’ finest, definitely.
The favorite sandwich here is the bacon, lettuce and tomato, piled as high as a cardiologist’s eye with bacon that shatters as the sandwich is attacked. Arriving with a handful of potato chips, it’s a salty, crunchy balance to any ice cream dish-and speaking of that, the ice cream is apt to arrive alongside the sandwich unless you specify otherwise. Not so bad if you’ve ordered an ice cream soda, but for spoon-type dishes, doing things sequentially is less frustrating, and less messy, too. Over the years, we occasionally do chili dogs, tamales, tuna or chicken salad (a Tuesday and Thursday special), but it’s the BLT we return to. Even with winter-pale tomatoes, it rocks.
As to the ice cream, this is not a house that serves things like lavender-basil ice cream or Meyer lemon sorbet. This is the world of strawberry, black cherry and chocolate chocolate chip, where caramel is (often) spelled carmel and sports serious notes of butterscotch. The Crown sundae (shown) is a schooner of vanilla ice cream bathed with hot fudge and caramel sauce, topped with butter pecans, and turned into a Newport, if desired, with the addition of whipped cream. We are both lovers of the ice cream soda, an endangered species. For those suddenly have become curious, it starts with a tall glass that is first hit with a blob of the chosen flavor, like chocolate. A little milk is stirred in, and then soda water, the unflavored kind, is added to foam things up. A scoop or two of ice cream is floated in the liquid, whipped cream and a cherry top it off and a straw and long spoon are the necessary tools. The liquid is a nice, barely sweet contrast to the dense sweetness of the ice cream. Joe varies between chocolate sodas with black cherry ice cream and pineapple sodas with chocolate ice cream, and sets Ann to dreaming of chocolate sodas with banana ice cream…or coffee…or black walnut.
Lunchtimes are frequently seriously crowded, but the experienced servers fly, seemingly leaping tall children in a single bound. In the evening, things are less frantic, and the newer help are learning. And don’t forget to check the candy counter, where their house-made chocolates cause long lines at Valentine’s Day and Easter, especially for the figures that come from the Karandzieff family’s antique molds.
Yes, dinner, too. Crown is open until 6 p.m. on Sunday, 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Crown Candy Kitchen
1401 St. Louis Ave.
314-621-9650
Lunch & Dinner nightly (see above)
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Poor
Smoking: No
Sandwiches: $4-$8
Not nearly as old, but with the distinct feeling of a place that’s been around umpty-ump years, is Dr. Jazz Soda Fountain & Grille in Webster Groves, where downtown still feels faintly small-townish. Only the extremely even floors give away the fact that Dr. J opened less than a year ago. Otherwise, the decor harks back to somewhere between 1904 and 1954. Sandwiches here, too, and a few salads, plus a daily special or two, for a crowd that seems mostly quite local–although the doctor would be ideal for a quick early supper before something at Webster, like the Rep, Opera Theatre or the film series. Yes, there are counter seats, so you can watch the ice cream specialties being created, the sort of reality show that even the most jaded can enjoy.
We’re working on one called "Sundae With the Stars!"
We aimed for the simple things, a jumbo Chicago hot dog and a BLT. The dog was okay but not outstanding, pale from, presumably, sitting in the hot water too long, and not enhanced by sport peppers. And for those concerned with such things, the relish was a proper evil green and dill pickles were slices rather than a spear. What the menu calls "special recipe coleslaw" was crunchy although not enough of the flavor of the spicy dressing had permeated the cabbage, but waited in the bottom of the bowl. A little aging and a couple of tosses would take care of that problem.
The bacon, lettuce and tomato had high-quality tomatoes and good smoky bacon, chewy but not shattering. The smokiness gave the sandwich a nice extra dimension. Fries were fresh and skin-on, but lacked crispness, despite their color.
On the other hand, our ice cream sodas were winners, in particular the chocolate with coconut joy ice cream, perked up with bits of almond. The doctor imports his ice cream from Cedar Crest Creamery in Wisconsin. The soda was strong and quite unsweet, the rich chocolate making the liquid of the soda dark and slightly bitter, snuggling up to the coconut and making it glow in the mouth. It made the chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream, the standard version, fade into the shadows, since the vanilla was mild enough to be overwhelmed by the chocolate.
Very kid-friendly, with charming, youthful servers who are patient with the young and with first- timers who ask a large number of questions.
Dr Jazz Soda Fountain & Grille
29 N. Gore Ave., Webster Groves
314-961-JAZZ
http://www.drjazzwebstergroves.com
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Sandwiches: $7-$10
