Here in South St. Louis (“The Lou” as the kids call it) we have many smallish places to have a nosh or get together.  Urban Eats Cafe is one of them at the corner of Virginia and Meramec, just a healthy jog from the Mississippi and a 10 minute bicycle ride from my house.  I’m here meeting a colleague from Twitter, from Concierge Services of St. Louis County.  We are meeting in part to check out a unique offering from Urban Eats Cafe – Meeting Rooms.

A couple months ago, I was invited to Ruth’s Chris steak house for a product presentation and a wonderful steak dinner.  Some day I hope to generate enough revenue where such an expense isn’t irresponsible, but that is still a bit down the road. The meeting rooms are cozy and certainly could accommodate a half-dozen people at a time, even if everyone is having lunch.  From what I understand, all you need to do is reserve the room in advance, there is no extra charge.  Additionally, Urban Eats will stay open past their relatively early closing time if you have a group that needs to meet that is larger than that which can be held in their conference room.  The owner does int in anticipation of people enjoying the coffee, snacks and light meals offered.

I’m sitting outside enjoying an unusual warm and sunny day having scoped out the cafe itself.  The offer free Wi-Fi.  I can vouch for the Highlander Grog coffee, a mellow brew with a hint of maple. The owner enthusiastically boasts that the coffee is roasted just a bit up the street at Chauvin Coffee.   For lunch I had a toasted pannini with salmon and mozzarella cheese.  It as a little moist, and I ended up eating it with a fork, but it was very tasty and modestly priced.  Bruce had a chicken rice bowl with ginger-sesame sauce and noted that it was very good.

All in all, I look forward to visiting Urban Eats again and having lunch and hanging out.  The fact that I can invite business guests and have a light, tasty meal and give a presentation or have a meeting is a welcome addition to our business toolbox.