2. The west half of the Loop is in University City and the east is in St. Louis. Everything on the University City side closes at 1 a.m., so if you’re not ready to go home from Cicero’s or Blueberry Hill you can go a couple blocks west to The Pin-Up Bowl or Eclipse Restaurant at the Moonrise Hotel.

3. Cicero’s doesn’t card at the door, so if you’re planning a big get together and don’t want to leave underage friends out, that’s the place to go.

4. Bear Bucks can be used at Blueberry Hill, not just for food but also for drinks.

5. Don’t forget about midnight showings of old classics at the Tivoli Theatre.

6. Forget Schnucks, you can buy tubs of hummus, baba ganoush and tabouleh at Al-Tarboush Deli.

Matt Lanter | Student Life

Cicero’s is a reataurant and bar on the Delmar Loop. An art student was robbed at gunpoint at the parking lot behind Cicero’s at 6:30 Thursday evening.

She was not injured, a police report released by the Washington University Police Department said.

The victim reported being approached by two suspects at around 6:30 p.m. One displayed a handgun and demanded her property. She gave the suspects her wallet, and they fled.

The robbery took place only blocks from the Lewis Center, which is a part of the Sam Fox School that houses graduate studios. In an email sent out to all art students, the school advised students to stay cautious.

“Please be vigilant in coming and going to and from the Lewis Center in pairs and take caution in moving from one side of the facility to the other after dark. Although we have been without incident on the Lewis Center grounds, this recent robbery’s proximity to our facility is a concern. Please exercise care and always have a cell phone at hand with peers names and numbers on speed dial,” the email said.

WUPD Chief of Police Don Strom suggested that students be aware that it gets dark early in winter and that they walk in groups whenever possible.

Police are looking for suspects described as a white male, approximately 17 to 19 years of age and 5’11”, and a black male with a thin mustache, approximately 17 to 19 years of age.

University City Police Captain Michael Ransom encourages students to call the police immediately after any crime is committed. He said that this victim conducted other business before contacting the police.

“If [the victim] called earlier, there’s a chance [the suspects] could have been caught,” Ransom said.

Matt Lee

Cicero’s Italian Restaurant features reasonably priced Italian food, along with over 200 beers and the usual bar fare.

For those of you who can’t make decisions, beware—the menu is unusually long. The servers, however, were calm and polite and gave me more than a few minutes to decide among a wide variety of items, including burgers, salads, wraps or Italian specialties.

The pastas are separated into two categories—those with red sauces and those with cream sauces. I ordered a specialty dish called Shawn’s Favorite, consisting of a pan-seared chicken breast topped with mushrooms, broccoli, ham and cheese on a bed of spaghetti with a white-wine garlic butter sauce. I also ordered the chicken pesto, which included grilled chicken, artichokes, fettuccine noodles and fresh tomatoes in a basil pesto cream sauce with Parmesan cheese. Both pastas came in large portions (think Maggiano’s), and one dish can definitely be shared between two people.

Though Shawn’s Favorite didn’t taste bad, it certainly lacked spark. The large filet of baked chicken was dry and overcooked, adding to its lackluster flavor. The dish was not completely unsuccessful, however, as the mushrooms were well-seasoned and the ham was cut into thin slices and rather tasty. The best part of this dish was definitely the sauce, which gave the spaghetti noodles just a hint of pleasant garlic flavor. It was not creamy but still managed to soak into the spaghetti well.

The chicken pesto, sprinkled with flakes of Parmesan cheese and basil, was significantly better. It consisted of a rich blend of Alfredo and pesto sauce with fettuccine pasta. It’s biggest drawback was that the chicken was cut into small chunks, and the artichokes were very large in size, which made individual pieces a little difficult to eat in one bite. I expected there to be more of the pesto flavor and less of the cream base (since the dish was called “pesto,” after all), but the unique blend of sauce was mouthwatering and enjoyable. I highly recommend this dish—it was hard to stop eating it!

6691 Delmar Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63130
(314) 862-0009

The three-day event may not bring in national acts like LouFest, nor does it book many of the area’s most established acts, a la The Riverfront Times Music Showcase. Instead, the festival gives a lot of up-and-comers a chance to be heard.

The result is instant feedback, and it challenges the musicians to rock out all the harder. Though venues like the Duck Room and Cicero’s hosted acts that fans specifically came to see, most of PLAY:stl’s shows featured lesser-known acts in bars that could be heard from the street or on the street itself. Audiophiles hear a band tearing it up and listen as long as the musicians can hold their attention.

Sometimes the pairings of musicians to crowds didn’t work out, such as when hip-hopper Nato Caliph played Riddles on Thursday night. Off campus, we forget that Thursdrunk, er, Thursday, isn’t officially recognized as part of the weekend, and it showed when Caliph tried in vain to pump up the white-haired bar regulars. It really didn’t matter that he put on a good show; the experience was frustrating on both sides of the stage.

Other times, though, the system worked. Brandt’s booked a lot of loud bands—loud like hear-them-from-a-block-away loud—who probably attracted a lot of listeners just because they were so audible. The Morleys and Red Collar both put on great all-ages shows, with entire families with children rocking out to The Morleys, and an enthusiastic crowd of middle-aged fans cheering on Red Collar. The situation at Riddles improved too, with a more receptive crowd at Nite Owl’s show on Friday.

Meanwhile, Chipotle managed to cram some singer-songwriters in the area between the back door and the trashcan, playing free shows all weekend to enthusiastic (if slightly confused) crowds.

Bands took to the street as well. (the) Fracture Suit kicked off Saturday’s shows at noon in the market area next to Market Pub House, and their pop/rock/jazz (just imagine Incubus circa 1999) drew in listeners who were out shopping or eating lunch.

On the other hand, there were acts that people actually intended to see at Cicero’s and the Duck Room. Thom Donovan might have been the best, his alt/indie/blues rock full of throw-your-head-back-and-rock moments. Tera Melos also put on a great show at Cicero’s, switching between atmospheric melodies and hardcore punk, jarring their listeners but adroitly maneuvering the stylistic changes.

If you want to be able to say you saw them before they got big, make sure to check out the up-and-coming musicians at the fifth annual PLAY:stl festival next year.

Jan. 26 and every Tuesday, at J. Buck’s in Clayton, 101 S. Hanley, 7 p.m.

• Free trivia on Tuesdays with great prizes for the top teams. Students with a Wash. U. ID get the best happy hour prices in Clayton on food and drinks.

Washington Avenue Pub Crawl and Scavenger Hunt

Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.

• An afternoon pub crawl and scavenger hunt to benefit Rainbows for Kids. Register your team by Jan. 25.

Burns’ Night

Jan. 25 at the Schlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

• A night to celebrate poet Robert Burns with Scottish food, music and beer.

Benefit Concert for Haiti

Jan. 31 at Cicero’s, 6691 Delmar Blvd., 6 p.m.

• A concert sponsoring Friends of the World Food Program.