May 18, 2019

Crown Candy Kitchen

By roads-rus

Our trip to St Louis this time was nostalgia time.  We went to Soulard Market, Tower Grove Park, and other landmark (as in very old) places.  One of the places we had never visited other than a drive-by, Crown Candy Kitchen, became a lunch stop.  A genuine landmark, Crown Candy Kitchen has been “A St Louis Tradition Since 1913”.

Harry Karandzieff from Greece and his best friend Pete opened Crown Candy Kitchen 106 years ago with the dream of creating an environment to enjoy their not-so-slenderizing creations.  It probably still looks very much like it did way back then, but the individual juke boxes at each table haven’t worked since the 1990s according to our waitress, uh, waitperson.  The service and the food were impeccable, and the 4th generation following Harry is now involved in this operation.

Crown Candy Kitchen still makes its own chocolate candy and ice cream.  Since we visited the week before Easter, chocolate rabbits were hot items.  I asked our server about their best selling candy, and she said without hesitation, “Heavenly Hash.   We can never make enough of it.”  Ruth immediately bought some to take to a graduation the following weekend.  It didn’t last long.  “Favorite ice cream?” I inquired.  Ozark Black Walnut was the unexpected reply.  “Most popular order?”  “BLT”, she said with confidence.  I asked her to pose for a photo and the result is below.   She didn’t tell me that the menu calls it the “Heart-Stopping BLT” with thick-sliced bacon.   Ruth had the Reuben and I had the Turkey Sandwich instead.    Both were noteworthy.  Prepare for Crown Candy Kitchen (CCK) to be packed.

CCK is a step-back-in-time kind of place with lots of antique signs.  North of downtown, it’s in a neighborhood that has seen worse times but is recovering.  “Think you can drink 5 malts in 30 minutes???  Our policy since 1913:  anyone who can drink 5 (five) malts in ½ (one-half) hour gets them Free!!! (not available when busy),” Crown Candy Kitchen’s menu challenges.   I didn’t even try….because the place was so busy.

Hank

PS The Blox candy above sells for $8 a pound.

About roads-rus

Since the beginning, I've had to avoid writing about the downside of travel in order to sell more than 100 articles. Just because something negative happened doesn't mean your trip was ruined. But tell that to publishers who are into 5-star cruise and tropical beach fantasies. I want to tell what happened on my way to the beach, and it may not have been all that pleasant. My number one rule of the road is...today's disaster is tomorrow's great story. My travel experiences have appeared in about twenty magazines and newspapers. I've been in all 50 states more than once and more than 50 countries. Ruth and I love to travel internationally--Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, etc. Within the next 2 years we will have visited all of the European countries. But our favorite destination is Australia. Ruth and I have been there 9 times. I've written a book about Australia's Outback, ALONE NEAR ALICE, which is available through both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My first fictional work, MOVING FORWARD, GETTING NOWHERE, has recently been posted on Amazon. It's a contemporary, hopefully funny re-telling of The Odyssey. View all posts by roads-rus
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 18th, 2019 at 10:01 pm and posted in Must See Attraction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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