Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The best dishes at Thai Pizza Co are the noodle dishes - one of the few places in STL that can go crazy spicy and still have lots of flavor. For some real STL-style pizza goodness, the conversation begins and ends with Fortel's.

Rumors of Zagat's death are greatly exaggerated. Lots and lots of people buy, use, and obsess over the printed guide. Zagat can make money. And I think it's a great deal - about the price of a few Sunday Times. Most importantly, I find the ratings to be pretty accurate reflections of the experience. Zagat has earned trust.

Yelp is nice for locating eats by location or genre, but no, your clever haiku about the Red Hook Ball Fields is neither helpful nor humorous. Most of the reviewers are insipid hipsters, and the really sharp reviewers often get drowned out in the noise.

I had an MRE a couple years ago - it was filling, satisfactory, and kind of fun. It reminded me of camping meals: not at all gourmet, but completely satisfying. I really liked the mini Tabasco bottle, too. Even when mess halls get built, military chefs lack the luxury of farmers market ingredients and do not cook for an audience whose interests would be served by "small plates."

Everyone involved in the Tribune article understands that this food is made for special conditions, but it doesn't exactly come off as being particularly nice to the soldiers who are eating this. I know if a chef came into my kitchen and made such faces, I would feel a little hurt.

It's no secret that TJs sells private label items made by other companies. They happen to have a high quality standard to match the more reasonable price point. Unlike most shops doing this and placing them alongside brand names, they'll only carry limited varieties of an item. If you want a taste of this on a more budget level, check out ALDI. Yes, the place where you have to pay 25c deposit to use a shopping cart. They're about the most fantastic low end supermarket ever. No frills, mostly private label, and unbeatable prices. Same great satisfaction guarantee as TJs. I miss their $1.69 monster box of Frosted Mini Wheats dearly. And guess what - ALDI owns TJs.

Even nine years in St. Louis didn't turn me into an Imo's convert. The cheese is just too gooey and Velveeta-like. But a few places there know the trick for making STL style delicious - ditch the provel for mozzarella, and drown you in toppings. Best of the bunch is Fortel's, by far.