Toasted Ravioli.
Take meat- or cheese-filled ravioli, bread them, deep-fry them until crispy and golden brown, dust them with Parmesan cheese, and serve with marinara sauce, as above.
This may sound like more than one really needs to do to ravioli, but folks who have tried toasted ravioli tend to disagree.
Toasted Ravioli originated in an Italian neighborhood of St. Louis, called The Hill. As the story goes, someone accidentally dropped ravioli into hot oil instead of hot water. Who that someone was is in dispute, and several restaurants contest for the honor of having created the first toasted ravioli.
The toasted ravioli in the photos was served at Frank Papa’s, an Italian restaurant on Brentwood Boulevard — an excellent place to eat. But even if you can’t get there, eat Italian in St. Louis and order the toasted ravioli to start.
And then, if it’s summer, join the crowds for a St. Louis summer evening treat — a trip to Ted Drewes for frozen custard.
Ted Drewes is considered the originator of the concrete, a milkshake so thick it is handed to the customer upside down, with a spoon already in it.
These photos, taken at 9:30 at night, show what you can expect when you go there, which you certainly should, if you’re in St. Louis in the summer.
Today, Route 50 circles the city of St. Louis through suburbs to the south and west. The pictures show the Ted Drewes on Chippewa Street, which was marked as Route 50 when it was routed through the city in the past.