Stepping Out: Guido’s Pizzeria and Tapas
Guido’s Pizzeria and Tapas
5046 Shaw Ave-The Hill
314-752-8272
Price range: $7-15
For our last review, we tried a tapas restaurant. This week, we’re reviewing a tapas joint a second time. But this time we’ll call it a “Remix” and add berry flavor because that’s what those guys over in marketing said the kids would love.
Restaurants are like a box of chocolates – you have to spend money on them if you’re a guy. And you never know what you’re going to get. In addition, each is subdivided into “rooms,” be they for truffles or travelers. They both go well with milk, they’re fun for the whole family and they usually both cost more than you think they should.
In the proverbial chocolatier that is the dining community, Guido’s is Hershey quality at a Russell Stover price, if you get the drift.
Picture your fantasy world – a cozy corner of the Hill, sunset on the horizon, pasta and tapas in your mouth. Wake up. Now it’s the future, where fresh Italian-Spanish hybrid establishments are engineered by European Union super scientists. There’s a revolution against engineered tapas-pasta style cuisine, however, and everything is in chaos. Everything is destroyed, save one family eatery. Guido’s emerges from the rubble, equips itself with a stealth cloak and hides for centuries until time travel is realized.
Which brings us back to the Hill, and to the now. While browsing through the now, one might select a few tasty treats. Perhaps the all-original GeeDoh Masterpiece, flavored chicken strips for antipasta, maybe some Mixta insalata or a nice homemade zuppa. Why waste your time with these mundane foods from the future – go straight for the Primi Piatti Italiani, platos fuertes/calientes, paninis or the pizza specials. You can’t go wrong.
We pondered the origin of the restaurant’s name while eyeing the premium menus. Guido. The name evokes thoughts of mopeds, muscles, hatchbacks in Tuscany, overly tight pants and a man with an accent as slick as his silky black hair. Soon, for us, those images would all change.
There were so many good options that we were soon happier than that one night we all started singing the “Doug” theme song from back in the day – and that was a good night. Guido’s has the knock-you-off-your-feet combo of homemade pizza and delectable tapas, a duo so dynamic that they almost beat out Batman and Robin for “Second Best Dynamic Duo.” As for the best duo, well, we think that’s pretty obvious (coughJakeandChriscough).
You may not like the pizza at Guido’s if you don’t favor the traditional St. Louis style – taking provel, adding some provel and topping it off with roughly six more pounds of provel. While the thin crust and sauce were to die for, the overlaid shrine to provel was a bit over the top. The pizza was affordable and better than Imo’s, but that’s like saying a new beer you tried is better than warm, leftover Natty Light Ice.
The tapas are recommended over the pizza, and there is a wide selection of items that you might not find somewhere else. Cold and hot tapas are both offered, as well as paninis, entrees and a few desserts. Baked goat cheese, saut‚ed shrimp, empanadas and broiled codfish are a few examples of dishes largely unique to Guido’s. We opine that the tapas here do not quite match up to Modesto’s, but they are a little bit less expensive.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fairly laid-back, friendly place with an opportunity for a little culture-mixing, Guido’s might be your spot. Their offerings are more diverse than at a single Italian or Spanish restaurant, and there are certainly a few highlights on the menu worth trying. For a nicer outing, or if you know that you specifically want only Italian or Spanish food, then you can probably find a place more fitting to your tastes.
As a wild card variable, there is an enormous bull head mounted on the wall as you walk in which is definitely worth a look – the picture possibilities are endless.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Related Posts
Print This Post