MX Food Truck Picnic
This Wednesday, the folks behind the Mercantile Exchange development are throwing a picnic and you are invited. The Plaza at U.S. Bank will play host to the MX Food Truck Picnic and Pick Your Cause Ping Pong Tournament presented by Sauce Magazine. Eight teams of downtown office workers will compete in a Ping Pong tournament for area charities while several food trucks will be on-hand at 7th and Locust to provide food for the participants and onlookers. Lashly Baer is a supporting sponsor. The team from The Laurel Apartments will be on-site helping run the event.
Bragging rights are not the only thing on the line in this tournament. The teams each picked a charity to represent and, the top three teams will have varying amounts of money donated to their charity in their name from the event sponsors. The top team will also receive two tickets to Friday’s Cardinals game.
With food trucks spending more and more of their time at the big offices away from downtown, make sure you come out on Wednesday. 11:30a-1:30p will be the “Lunch” portion of the event and 5p-7p will be the “Happy Hour” portion of the event.
Here is the lineup
Lunch
Happy Hour
The Embassy Suites will also have a cash bar set up during the Happy Hour portion of the event serving Urban Chestnut beer.
While it’s just the Pi truck that will be at this event, the actual restaurant is slated to open towards the end of May at the corner of 6th and Washington in the MX District. In anticipation, they have donated two gift cards that will be awarded during the event.
Come out Wednesday for some great food with some great people. You may not see any ping pong on the level of this
but hey, the Blues are in the playoffs and the Cardinals’ home opener is Friday. Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
The Laurel Grand Opening
After welcoming our first residents on October 1, we finally got to hold our Grand Opening this week. It wasn’t just any Grand Opening gala either, we had a parade right through the heart of the Mercantile Exchange District.
In the spirit of full disclosure, the parade happened to be the Lumiere Place Light Up the Night Fat Tuesday Parade that concluded the 2012 Mardi Gras season in St. Louis. Also, we must point out that all of the “little things” meaning, everything that goes into setting up a parade through Downtown St. Louis, was done by the fine folks over at Mardi Gras Inc.
Our Grand Opening was held in the just-completed Laurel Gardens. Guests entered through the lobby; where they were greeted by our Concierge and offered wine from Robust Wine Bar, a future neighbor of ours in the Mercantile Exchange District. Several lovely ladies from Contemporary Productions were on hand to assist in the wine-pouring. They were then directed up to the 6th floor where they were proceeded out to the open-air Gardens in the center of the building.
Guests enjoyed beverages and Cajun food provided by our neighbors, the Embassy Suites. While indulging and mingling, guests enjoyed the sounds of Tom Hall, a local Blues musician.
As the start of the parade drew near, guests proceeded towards Washington Avenue. They passed an impressive display involving fire, also provided by Contemporary Productions. An area on Washington Avenue was roped off and carpeted for our guests to enjoy the parade from.
After the parade, guests were given coffee mugs filled with Mardi Gras-colored M&Ms as they waited for the valets to bring their cars around.
Photos from the evening:
Fat Tuesday in St. Louis
Are you ready for more Mardi Gras fun? This year, the Fat Tuesday parade has a new route with a new attitude! The Parade Steps off at 7:00pm at the corner of Washington and Broadway, it will pass by the new Laurel Apartments and Embassy Suites Hotel, and proceeds west to 14th. Make sure to get down there early to take advantage of all the food and drink specials along Washington Avenue before and after the parade – several are listed below. See you there!
Tigin: Regular Happy Hour from 4 – 7 PM Pick 3 for $10 includes beer and appetizers
Embassy Suites: Outdoor Service at 7th & Washington from 5 – 7 PM, Hurricane & beer specials
Over/Under: Outdoor tent with live music from Matt Hill from 5 – 9 PM, $2 off drafts, wine and bottles and $5 hurricanes from 3 – 6:30 PM
Mosaic: Outdoor service with happy hour specials from 4 – 7 PM
Prime 1000: Outdoor service with drink and menu specials from 3 – 8 PM
Dubliner: Live Mardi Gras themed-music, menu and drink specials starting at 4 PM until close
Copia: All day specials, outdoor service including indoor patio with $6 hurricanes and $4 shots and beers.
Hair of the Dog: Best dive bar happy hour with Mardi Gras mystery special from 4 – 7 PM
Rosalita’s: All day outdoor tent with drink and food specials
Lucas Park Grille: Regular happy hour drink and menu specials from 5 – 7 PM
Side Bar: Outdoor service, Hurricane and menu specials from 3 – 7 PM
Flannery’s: All day drink and menu specials and parade watch party (get there early)
Lola: Outdoor tent with Mardi Gras specials inside and out
If all these specials on Washington Avenue aren’t enough, check out the OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY! at the Stadium Sports Bar and Grill in Lumière Place—Mardi Gras Inc’s official Fat Tuesday Post-Parade Mardi Party!
The revelry starts at 8:00 pm and there will be lots of food and beads and a VJ and a whole lotta celebrating!
Lovin the Lou Shirts!
We love our STL-Style Lovin the Lou shirts and couldn’t wait to show them off! So we held our very own shirt photo-shoot…a big THANK YOU to our models who enthusiastically demostrate the amazing nature of these shirts (and let me include the out-takes)! Learn more about the Lovin the Lou contest here!
Here is where you can find us to snag a shirt:
August 19 – Gelato Cart at the corner of Washington Avenue & 7th Street sponsored by The Laurel
August 26 & 27 – Blues Festival on Washington Avenue
August 27 & 28 – LouFest (no shirts, but cool bandanas!) Photo shoot to come!
Check back for updates…
Don’t forget to send in your video! The first 2 videos submitted will receive a fabulous gift!
Here are the selected out-takes (there were a ton) from our very first Lovin the Lou Shirt photo shoot!
St. Louis Magazine A-List Party Photos!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by at the A-List Party! We had a fantastic time! Don’t forget to enter the Lovin the Lou Video Contest for your chance to win FREE Rent for a Year!
Check out the photos below…
Parties on the Plaza!
It’s time for Parties on the Old Post Office Plaza in Downtown St. Louis! Fat Pocket will start off the outdoor concert season tonight, sponsored by the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, starting at 5:00. Lots of music, food and drinks, and fun – and the concert is free!
How to get there (8th & Locust)?
Enjoy!