Meet me in St. Louis at Padavan’s NY for a legit NY Style pizza and some pinball.
Our family was invited to check out Padavan’s NY and share about the restaurant in exchange for our meal. All opinions are my own.
Padavan’s NY has a down home bar atmosphere that caters to a wide clientele and the décor screams personality.
I really did have plans to meet someone near St. Louis. Padavan’s NY is located in St. Charles, MO, a planned suburban town of St. Louis. Since one of my longtime readers (who knows someone I’ve personally met IRL) lives near St. Louis, we were hoping to meet up. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go the way we want it to and we weren’t able to work it out. However, our family did get to throw St. Louis pizza up against NY pizza. Who won? Just wait and see.
We drove through the picture perfect town, feeling like we had entered a whole new world – from cornfields to quaint yet contemporary town. As we followed GPS to our destination everyone in the car made a comment about something or other in the town – the waterway that looked like a canal, the perfect rows of houses, Main Street. Before we knew it we were parking on a side street right near the restaurant (free parking!)
A trip to Padavan’s NY in summer allowed us to get a taste of what life just outside the purple doors is like. The restaurant is along a square built around a sand volleyball court and the square was bursting with activity – from groups of college age kids playing volleyball to couples and families walking their dogs or enjoying a meal at tables along the sidewalk. It felt a bit like stepping onto the set of Truman Show. I wonder what they do with the square in winter. I’m thinking it’d be perfect for some snowball fights or snowman building competition if they get enough snow.
Everyone was friendly at the restaurant and we asked our server for her favorite recommendations. We ordered a couple appetizers, Bavarian pretzels and Golden-Guinness chicken strips, and pizza.
And now for Padavan’s NY pizza.
We had no idea there was a St. Louis style thin crust pizza, but there is. St. Louis style pizza has a very thin and cracker-like crust and is typically cut into squares. It was flavorful but you need a good judge of St. Louis pizza to give you a true review of this one as we NYers are too biased to be able to give you that.
I’m sorry the whole world doesn’t get to enjoy NY style pizza, but you can at Padavan’s NY. For real and certain, that pizza is authentic. Just the right crust thickness. Just the right chew. Just the right stringiness of the cheese. Just the right amount of sauce. Just the right amount of grease. And the pizza slices fold just right.
And it isn’t just the pizza. The chicken fingers were good too, and the pretzels. But don’t overdo it on the food. We ordered some things to split as a family and had way too much food. Perfect if you’re headed home, but not so great if you’re road tripping it.
Once dinner is over make sure you save some time for pinball. Really, the authentic NY Style pizza was just a bonus. We headed over to the pinball room and had fun watching the kids, okay fine, we all played pinball. Pinball needs to make a comeback and Padavan’s NY is leading the charge. The restaurant is definitely worth a stop if you’re looking for good pizza and a nostalgic game of pinball.
