Food Friday: St. Louis Slinger
Welcome to another post in my St. Louis Food series in which I highlight some of my hometown’s famous foods.
Today’s post is about the St. Louis Slinger. This is not one of my personal favorites, but seeing as it has St. Louis right in the name, it certainly deserves a post in this series!
The St. Louis Slinger is an iconic diner food. The typical ingredients include: two eggs, hash browns, and a hamburger patty all smothered in chili and topped with cheese and onions. You know, pretty simple! Variations will substitute other types of meat for the hamburger patty, such as sausage, ham, or even an entire t-bone steak.
Gooey, fatty mess of St. Louis goodness.
The Ultimate Drunk Diner Food
Obviously, this is quite a loaded dish. It was created to be a late-night diner food, aka, drunk food. Every late-night diner in St. Louis has their very own version of a slinger on their menu. The eggs can be served any style, so if you want your slinger extra messy you can get your eggs over easy. Most people I know just go for scrambled eggs. The dish is already so sloppy that it is generally served in a bowl instead of on a plate. Honestly, it’s not a very pretty sight. It’s a mini-mountain of eggs, meat, beans, and cheese. It’s the kind of food that is almost exclusively ordered by inebriated patrons. Like I said, it is not one of my favorite dishes, but many St. Louisians swear by the slinger as their go-to late night food. The salty, greasy, cheesy mess seems to tame drunk bellies quite well.
Where to get it
The City Diner – This diner is the classiest of the diners in St. Louis, which also makes it the priciest. It’s not too steep though, and your slinger will look a lot more appetizing when it arrives to your table than it will at many of the cheaper diners.
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House (3427 S Kingshighway Blvd, Saint Louis MO 63139) – Uncle Bill’s is a true St. Louis tradition. Ask any college student and they are sure to have some wild stories that end at Uncle Bill’s around 4 in the morning.
So next time you enjoy a night of debauchery in St. Louis, consider wrapping up the night with a famous St. Louis Slinger.
