Food & Drink in Granite City

When it comes to fun at Bowlmor Lanes, folks aren't locked into just bowling, though there's plenty of that. Glow-in-the-dark lanes and banquette seating beckon players to try their hand at bowling or chill out and order drinks and snacks from lane-side servers. But for the pin-weary, there are other forms of entertainment including billiards, air hockey, and ping pong for purchase. These myriad amenities make Bowlmor Lanes a destination for group get-togethers such as birthdays and "No-Kevins-Allowed" club meetings.

Founded in 1954 by James McLamore and David Edgerton, Burger King rapidly expanded from humble beginnings as a lone burger joint to more than 12,400 locations across 79 countries today, making it the second-largest fast-food-hamburger chain in the world. Its signature burger?the Whopper sandwich?consists of flame-broiled, quarter-pound beef patties crowned with a miniature fedora and a fully customizable array of toppings such as tomatoes, onions, and dill pickles. Focused on continual improvement, the chain recently reinvented the fries that accompany each value meal, outfitting the spud slices with a thicker cut of potato for a fluffier texture on the inside and crispier golden-brown exterior. A spread of decadent desserts including dutch apple pie and Hershey pie keeps sweet teeth from elongating into fangs, and made-to-order breakfast sandwiches clasp eggs, american cheese, and bacon, sausage, or ham between two halves of a flaky croissant to round out the speedy menu.

Property Location
A stay at The Cheshire places you in the heart of Richmond Heights, convenient to St. Louis Art Museum and St. Louis Zoo. This 4-star hotel is within close proximity of Washington University and Missouri History Museum.

Rooms
Make yourself at home in one of the 108 individually decorated guestrooms, featuring iPod docking stations and flat-screen televisions. Your pillowtop bed comes with triple sheeting and Egyptian cotton sheets. 37-inch high-definition televisions with cable programming provide entertainment, while complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected. Bathrooms have designer toiletries and hair dryers.

Rec, Spa, Premium Amenities
Pamper yourself with onsite massages, body treatments, and facials. You can take advantage of recreational amenities such as a 24-hour fitness facility, a seasonal outdoor pool, and bicycles to rent. Additional amenities include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services, and gift shops/newsstands.

Dining
Satisfy your appetite at the hotel's restaurant, where you can enjoy drinks at a bar, take in a pool view, and even dine alfresco (weather permitting). Dining is also available at a coffee shop/café. Relax with your favorite drink at a bar/lounge or a poolside bar. A complimentary English breakfast is served daily.

Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a 24-hour business center, limo/town car service, and an Internet point. Planning an event in Richmond Heights? This hotel has 1200 square feet (111 square meters) of space consisting of exhibit space and a meeting/conference room. Extended parking is available onsite.

Paul McCartney. Luciano Pavarotti. Ronald Reagan. Besides being household names, these icons all have something else in common??they've all had the honor of dining on Chef Giovanni Gabriele's authentic, award-winning cuisine. While his passion for cooking was born in his native Sicily, it was Giovanni's other great love??his wife, Fina??that eventually led him to St. Louis, where he opened his restaurant in 1973. Just six years later, he found himself cooking for President Reagan at Reagan?s inaugural dinner, and the dish he made??a creamy bow-tie pasta topped with salmon and parmigiano??was renamed farfalline del Presidente Reagan in the commander in chief's honor. Today, it remains one of the most popular items on Giovanni's menu, alongside a host of other Italian pastas named for the celebrities who supped upon them.

But you don't have to be a celebrity or a politician to get the star treatment at Giovanni's. The restaurant has earned an AAA Four Diamond Award for 27 years running, and a 4-Star Mobil Travel Guide Award every year since 1983, in part due to the careful attention lavished upon each and every guest. Today, nearly 42 years after its inception, Giovanni's son Frank runs the kitchen, blending its iconic sauces and forming the housemade crepes, but Giovanni still commands the show, supervising in the kitchen, greeting patrons tableside, and mining the pepper and salt from nearby mountains himself.

According to many members of the close-knit Italian community on The Hill, it was at a restaurant called Oldani's in the early 1940s that a clumsy chef dropped a piece of pasta in frying oil and created the first toasted ravioli. That dish went on to become a Saint Louis specialty, and Oldani's went on to become Mama's on the Hill, rechristened by matron Mama Campisi, who took it over in 1982. When Mama's sons, John and Frank, had to give up the restaurant in 2005, Lance and Andrea Ervin jumped at the chance to take over the culinary landmark. They reopened it in 2006, retaining many of Mama's original recipes as well as the crisp signature pasta. Ivory and black stripes upholster padded chairs in the understated dining room, where a set of glowing candles are ensconced in a stone fireplace. Here, Mama's special recipes still serve as blueprints for many of the house sauces, including the marinara and parmesan cream. Salmon entrees are drizzled with her chianti-balsamic glaze, and deep-fried shrimp do cannonballs into her cocktail sauce.

Mama's famous fare also lures avid diners to enroll in culinary classes taught by kitchen staff. In the currently running sauces class, up to 20 students set pots a-simmer in groups of five, fueled by appetizers, snacks, and pep talks given by freshly cracked bottles of wine.

Gazing at the Tuscan-inspired murals in La Gra Italian Tapas & Wine Bar's dining room as the aroma of Italian tapas wafts through the air, guests might think they've been transported to the old country. However, while guests haven’t been secretly teleported to a Florentine trattoria, you can hardly blame them for making the mistake. Small plates of tomato-, caper-, and garlic-topped bruschetta or flash-fried Sicilian olives stuffed with gorgonzola cheese map out bite-sized guides to Italy’s native tastes. Fresh Mediterranean-inspired ingredients also populate larger entrees such as four-cheese veal parmesan and pizzas topped with provel cheese, yellow squash, and spicy garlic cream sauce.

Pours of domestic or imported red and white wine add Euro-style complements to meals occasionally accompanied by the strains of live music. More than 20 martinis also showcase the resident mixologists’ creativity, with the Cosmic Sorbet boasting citrus vodka and cranberry juice supplied by the astronauts who lead each year’s fruit harvest on Venus. While dinner is served and drinks flow seven nights a week, guests can also rent the dining room, bar, café, or entire restaurant for private parties that accommodate up to 100 attendees.