PRINTThe Late Show: food after 10 p.m.
These eateries cater to after-hour cravings
March 8, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Addison’s at 10:20 p.m. on a Saturday is what late night eating should be. Diners sample chocolate martinis and munch on pepper jack cheese fries. Trendy women dressed in patent leather headbands and matching pumps sip on oversized glasses of blush wine. Casually dressed guys sit at nearby tables and nurse pints of beer. The buzz of conversation that mixes with Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” and the clinking of glasses, plates and silverware create an upbeat atmosphere that would make anyone want to order a cocktail and settle in.
Columbia is loaded with locales that make it easy to eat when professional dieters such as Oprah suggest closing the pantry door — after dinner and before lights out. So instead of sticking to Addison’s casual American fare, here’s a look at the area’s best, cheapest and greasiest after-hours eateries.
Related ArticlesTony’s Pizza Palace, a Greek restaurant that serves up cheesy pizza pies, rivals Addison’s casual, homey atmosphere. The folding tables and faux wood-paneled walls at Tony’s resemble a cozy basement that just happens to smell like slowly roasted gyro meat and yeasty crust.
At 11:24 p.m., the place is quiet, and only three couples linger in the dining room. It’s a welcome reprieve from more boisterous restaurants with late hours. There’s no music in the background. The chatter of customers is muffled, and the cooks leisurely prepare Greek dishes such as spanikopita and American-style thin-crust pies.
The gyro’s pita is just fluffy enough, and the tzatziki sauce tastes as if a whole cucumber were mixed in. It’s hard to argue with diner Tom Simmons when he says the dish is “to die for.” He should know. He’s a chef at Boone Tavern but has been eating at Tony’s since he was 6.
Two corner vintage arcade games give off the same cozy basement vibe. A kid, who seems to be about 5, wrestles on tiptoe with a joystick. He’s having so much fun bopping to the game’s tinny music that it’s tempting to fish out a quarter for a round of Bust-a-move.
Instead, it’s time for breakfast food at Broadway Diner. It’s about 12:12 a.m., and luckily, the corner booth at the doublewide-size restaurant is open. The waitress approaches, armed with a notepad and pen. She wears a diamond-patterned pink and black sweater with dolman sleeves that matches the magenta table, and she eyes her customers as if to determine their level of intoxication. This is a restaurant that panders to the late-night cravings of the inebriated with its cheap plates of greasy eggs and hash browns.
It’s pretty clear why. The bill, before tax and tip, totals $20.75 for one bacon, egg and cheese sandwich; one order of hash browns; a plate of biscuits and gravy; an order of cheesy hash browns; a sausage, egg and biscuit combo; two cups of coffee; and a special called The Stretch, a plate named for its pants-button-popping combination of hash browns, scrambled eggs, chili, cheese, green peppers and onions.
Away from downtown, Johnny’s Beanery serves up creative appetizers such as breaded pickles and pretzarellas, mozzarella sticks coated with crushed pretzels. Beanery comes from a term used to describe 19th-century British pubs. But in some ways, the restaurant and bar more closely resemble the child of an Italian trattoria and a sports bar with its green and white gingham cafe curtains, maroon leather booths, neon Budweiser signs, blaring TVs and pool tables.
“I used to come here three times a week,” says Frankie Davis, the food and beverage manager of the Country Club of Missouri. “Now it’s more like once a week. But I come here for the atmosphere.”
It’s a convivial atmosphere. A largely coed crowd contentedly drinks, sways and occasionally bursts into song. Davis and his friend leisurely shoot a game of eight ball. The front door swings open as people rush in and out and yell “Goodbye!” and “Hello!” and “See ya later!”
At 1:12 a.m., the downtown Mexican joint El Rancho is mobbed. The smell of alcohol and burritos is as overwhelming as the line of hungry barhoppers that snakes from the cash register to the door. Lusty couples make out in corners. Frenzied busgirls wipe down tables. And somehow, business goes on, as the four cooks behind the counter whip up orders of tacos, rice and nachos.
Most people wait out the winding line, which moves quickly, but MU junior Grant Augenstein stands in line only a few minutes before he helps himself to a half-eaten, abandoned plate of nachos. He pounds his fist on the booth three times and yells, “We need three margaritas!” before his not-as-drunk friend escorts him out. If Addison’s is what late night dining should be, then El Rancho is what post-party noshing actually is.
Twenty-four hour service is the Waffle House’s claim to fame, and that’s why Sheila Stephenson, a Marshall resident, is cutting up a T-bone special at 1:56 a.m. “It’s cleaner than the one near Rangeline,” she says of the location on Providence Road.
Tidy or not, the House attracts a slew of late-night visitors. The small restaurant, with its seven booths, is full of night owls munching on syrup-smothered breakfast pastries and weak coffee. There’s a din of conversation as the platinum-blond waitress shuffles to the tables to fill coffee mugs. People don’t come here to savor the food. It’s a quick stop to refuel and avoid a morning hangover.
Off-the-wall treats for nocturnal noshers
D. Rowe’s: If carbs are too heavy, a low-carb menu might be the best option.
The Forge & Vine: Enjoy a cigar and fried calamari on the terrace.
Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen: Time for some creole and soul.
Moe’s Southwest Grill: A Homewrecker has never tasted so good.
Rack ‘N’ Roll: Throw a dart to burn some of the calories you’re eating.
Show-Me’s: The ultimate sports pub to check out a game or the waitresses in daisy-dukes.
Southside Pizza: Don’t go starved to watch the sunrise — order a pizza until 5 a.m.
Tellers Gallery and Bar: Sit down; eat. Watch the late-night dwellers make their ways home.
T.K. Brothers Grill and Games: Grab a burger, and play some virtual reality games.
More late night eats
IHOP: Serving food 24 hours, every day
Steak ‘n’ Shake: Serving food 24 hours, every day
Gumby’s pizza: Serving food unil 2 a.m. Mon - Wed. and until 3 a.m. Thurs. - Sat.
Nikai Mediterranean Grill: Serving food until 11 p.m. Mon. - Thurs. and until 2 a.m. Thurs. - Sat.
Wise Guy’s Pizza: Serving food until 2 a.m. Sun. - Tues. and until 3 a.m. Wed. - Sat.
Pickleman’s: Serving food until 2 a.m. every night
Taco Bell: Serving food until 2 a.m. Fri. and Sat., drive-thru open until 1 a.m. Sun. - Thurs.
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar: Serving food until 1 a.m. Mon. - Thurs. and 1:30 a.m. Fri. - Sat.
Willie’s: Serving food until 11 p.m. Mon. - Sat.
The Village Wine and Cheese: Serving food until 1 a.m. Mon. - Thurs. and until midnight Fri - Sat.
Legends Sports Bar & Grill: Serving food until 11 p.m. Mon. - Sat.
Shakespeare’s Pizza: Serving food until 11 p.m. Mon. - Thurs. and until midnight Fri. - Sat.
Flat Branch: Serving food until 1 a.m. every day
Grill One 5: Serving food until 11 p.m. Fri. - Sat.
