Tony's on Main Street
By Marie Ethen
Special to the Post-Dispatch
12/29/2004

Carryout meals are everywhere. Look beyond fast food to supermarkets, delis, sit-down restaurants

and other sources, and you'll find plenty of places

to purchase dinner.

During a weekend filled with holiday preparations, I decided to reward our efforts and avoid cooking by ordering takeout from Tony's on Main Street. We've enjoyed Sunday brunch at the St. Charles

restaurant on a couple of occasions, and we

looked forward to trying some entrees.

Tony's Chicken Modiga was a highlight of brunch in past visits, so we started our order with a dinner portion of it. The entree ($13.99) came with soup or salad and baked potato, au gratin potatoes or a vegetable. I selected the salad and au gratin potatoes. I also asked for a large order of Linguine Salsiccia ($9.99), adding a side salad and an order

of garlic cheese bread ($2.99 for both).

My food was ready in the promised 25 minutes, and

it was securely packaged for the ride home. Salads were kept cool in one bag, and the hot items were stored in another bag. We noticed that no napkins

or plastic cutlery were provided.

The salad dressing was packed in two small Styrofoam containers with lids, so we didn't have to worry about soggy, drenched salad. The salads - made of romaine and iceberg lettuce, a tomato wedge, onion and provel - were crisp, cool and fresh. We enjoyed the sweet Italian dressing, which came from Zia's on the Hill.

The Chicken Modiga featured a 7-ounce chicken breast that was lightly breaded, grilled, then topped with provel and served in a white-wine sauce with fresh mushrooms and prosciutto. The tangy, deep flavor of the sauce and saltiness of the prosciutto dressed up the chicken and mushrooms, delivering

an excellent flavor combination. The accompanying au gratin potatoes, however, were just average. The combination of sliced red potatoes, butter and shredded Cheddar could have used some kick.

Our order of linguine was enough for two people.

The pasta was cooked perfectly; the spicy, savory tomato sauce boasted chunks of meat, onions and

a delicious herb blend. The Italian sausage that topped off the entree tasted fresh and added to the spice. The only disappointment was that I wanted even more of the sauce.

We found that Tony's Garlic Cheese Bread is not for the faint-hearted. When I bit in, the garlic bit back. The browned Parmesan, the only cheese appearing on the bread, lent to the bite. The sharp flavor of the bread was a nice departure from the typical cheese bread made with mozzarella or provel.

Tony's on Main Street offers a variety of entrees, pastas, pizza and sandwiches. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Takeout is not available on Friday or Saturday evenings.

Republished with the permission of
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Copyrighted (2004) St. Louis
Post-Dispatch.

My husband & I ate here New Years Eve. We have been to eat here several times & I believe each time the food gets better. We had the Tenderloin and my husband thinks it might be the best steak he has ever had. The meat was cooked perfect & melted in your mouth.

We have been coming to your place for a few years now & we only ran across it because it was in the Entertainment Book we had purchased. I consider it to be my favorite place to eat & we will continue to come. We are thinking of bringing our children & their girlfriends down for their Birthdays in February.

I again want to commend you on your food & service you give your customers. We will see you again soon.

Wayne & Cheryl

Rhonda,

Thanks so much for the wonderful food and hospitality last night. Our Boeing group was in town for some meetings, and they loved the food and the restaurant. Normally we take the team downtown or to Clayton when they are here, so I'm glad they were able to experience the great food Tony's on Main is known for.

Sincerely,
Julie Bond

My husband and I were just in St. Louis this past weekend. A St. Charles fireman that was recently in Peoria to do some safety training at our local utility company (which is where my husband works) suggested we check out your restaurant if we were ever in the area. So, lucky for us, we had dinner there Saturday night. There are simply no words to describe how much we enjoyed our food (if I had died then I would have been very happy!!!), the atmosphere, and your staff. I can honestly say I have never had a steak as good as the one I had, and I thought I had had some pretty good ones! We were both so impressed that we had dinner there again on Sunday night!!

Just wanted you to know what an awesome experience we had-we've told all our friends and co-workers that we couldn't think of a better place to spend an evening. So many times restaurant owners only get to hear the complaints so I just wanted to take a minute to let you know what a wonderful time we had.

Can't wait to come back!!!!!

Sincerely,
Bob and Paula Barlow

great food, great service,100% perfect!

Steve Oaks

We have been to your Restaurant once and were blown away. We have been raving to our friends about it and they can't wait to join us Saturday night.

Thanks!
Stefanie

Have a comment about your experience at Tony's?  E-mail us at awalterstonys@yahoo.com