Saint Louis Drive-In
In an inconspicuous pink building on Waialae Avenue stands St. Louis Drive-In. There are no signs telling you that you are here, just the window up front where you place your order and the various pieces of paper on the windows announcing specials like Post-It® notes.
Another place from my youth, I'll always remember St. Louis Drive-In for their teriyaki burgers. The teriyaki, which is loaded with ginger-y flavor, is one of the best. Since I've been on a quest for bentos lately, I decided to have the KCCN bento.
Named in honor of one of the local radio stations, KCCN (FM 100.3), the bento has the following (clockwise from top left): luncheon meat, 4 pieces hot fried chicken, 2 pieces fried scallops (with tartar sauce), egg omelet, and teriyaki beef on white rice with furikake and ume.
This bento was just OK. The deep-fried scallops were nice and crunchy on the outside, and tender on the inside. The teriyaki beef had a wonderful flavor full of ginger, which I liked and is something that is not so easy to find these days. The main disappointment for me was the hot fried chicken. The chicken itself seemed undercooked (I would have liked this a bit crunchier) and not hot (spicy) at all. It seems as though the hot sauce (?) was added as an after thought. I could have probably ordered a bento with fried chicken, and loaded up on the hot sauce for a similar, if not spicier, flavor.
Oh well, so much for the bento. Next time I'll just stick to having the teriburger, which is my favorite.
St. Louis Drive-In
3145 Waialae Avenue
Telephone: 808.734.3673
Ah! This posting makes me so homesick. Thanks for the ono-looking photos and the terrific descriptions. I love your site!
Posted by: Dori | August 23, 2004 at 07:44 PM
Hi Dori,
Welcome to the site. I'm glad you enjoy it. I'm hoping it makes all of you in the states think about moving back here. I know I would...just for the food! =) Hope to hear from you again!
Posted by: Reid | August 23, 2004 at 08:34 PM
i used to go there w/ my friends afterschool to check out the st. louis boys...but i won't get into that right now ;)
i really love their sweet potato!! yum
your site always makes me want to drive out into town and find all these hole-in-the-walls i used to frequent in high school!!
Posted by: gracie | August 25, 2004 at 06:53 PM
Hi Gracie,
Nice to see you again. Are you a Sacred Hearts girl? =)
The sweet potato is very nice isn't it?
I like the hole-in-the-wall places too. You never know what you're going to find and where. I'm still glad that many of them are still around!
Posted by: Reid | August 25, 2004 at 11:39 PM
Reid,
Back in the 60's we called St. Louis Drive In "Mama-san's". I used to go there after school before walking home all the way up to 12th Avenue and buying a small dish of gobo for 15 cents. If I had more money. I'd stop off at W&M's and order a bag of fries for 11 cents and load it up with ketchup. Thanks for the nostalgic memories of Saint Louis and also revisiting my old Chaminade days.
Posted by: Clinton | July 07, 2005 at 05:06 AM
Had problems with my proxy server. Sorry for the multiple postings.
Posted by: Clinton | July 07, 2005 at 05:34 AM
Hi Clinton,
Wow! That's so cheap.
Posted by: Reid | July 08, 2005 at 08:13 PM
How's their roast pork plate? Still ono? That's my dad's and my favorite.
Posted by: MBS | September 11, 2005 at 07:10 PM
Hi MBS,
I'm not so sure. I haven't had roast pork in ages. Maybe I need to go check it out.
Posted by: Reid | September 11, 2005 at 07:34 PM