The Cedars at St Raymond’s

Bumping them up quite a bit based on today’s experience. I’m pretty sure that I ordered poorly last time around because I really enjoyed my lunch this time.
I had what can best be described as rice and beans. Not in the Cuban sense or anything remotely similar to a Spanish interpretation. Instead, the rice was a Mediterranean preparation with numerous ingredients including a little bit of vermicelli. Their preparation is slightly sweet. The beans are green beans in a chunky tomato-​based stew that includes small chunks of lamb. Add the two together and it makes one hell of a great bowl of lunch.
I also grabbed one of their meat pies because it seems as though it would be gratuitous to have a serving of those fantastic-​looking dumplings (not sure if they would have served it to me without the chicken) as a side with my bowl of rice. I also had a small side of mixed veggies because they looked good… and they were.

Open almost every Wednesday for lunch… stuffed cabbage and grape leaf rolls are my favorite. Get a salad (several choices) plus hummus and flatbread and you‘ll have plenty to eat. Efficient cafeteria setup with some of the nicest folks in St Louis.

The menu is before you get to the cafeteria line, so you can peruse all you want before you get in line and decide what you want to get.
The server guys are very helpful and friendly to assist and inform/​educate you about the offerings.
I got something not so Lebanese: the special — chicken and pasta for $ 4. It came with a roll, which was a total throw-​away.
Kat V. and Charleen S. got much more adventurous and Lebanese dishes.
I did try a dessert, which are available on a table in the dining area: $ 1 or $ 1.25. What I selected was dry and tasteless.
The venue is quite interesting with the cafeteria line concept, yet you dine in a ballroom replete with massive chandeliers and tables of 8.
Everyone was very friendly and helpful.
I did get a to-​go vessel of my chicken and pasta, and I got Charleen’s green beans, which were great!

How am I just finding out about this place!!! Run, don’t walk to the Wednesday a la carte luncheon!
Met a couple of Unilocal friends here for a ladies lunch. Really didn’t know what to expect but was very pleasantly surprised. Going through the line, I didn’t know what anything was so I just asked the servers what they recommended and went with it. I had a kibbe and a meat pie. I also went for some green beans. They had so many items to choose from — that just means I can have something different the next few times I come here.
The only (very minor) disappointment was dessert — their dessert maker moved to Dearborn Michigan so the desserts are shipped to them. Consequently, not as fresh. I tried a baklava but would probably save the room in my stomach for something homemade next time.
People were very friendly and service was great. They helped me pick out my food, and also cleared the table almost immediately after we ate. And the place is beautiful inside — worth a try if you’ve never had Lebanese food. I will put it on my regular rotation for lunches.

We went for the Lebanese fest Saturday night and I thought the food was great!!! The entertainment was pretty good although we didn’t stay too long. I just wish that there was more stuff.

I just came back from a fun Chicago business trip yesterday and i had kept my Wednesday lunch open, just to make sure I could spend some extra time with my wife. So she picks me up @ my office downtown and takes me to a «surprise location» where she claims I have never been. Being the foodie that i am, especially in the city, i was obviously somewhat skeptical.
So she takes me to St. Raymonds and I really enjoyed my experience at this super ethnic Lebanese… I don’t know… cafeteria I think is the best way to describe this place. What an incredible mix of people. I ran into politicians i knew, Doctors from Wash U I knew, a gangster i know. Construction union guys, families, older couples and friends… It was really a neat experience. No matter what the religion, i think it is wonderful for a community to have a gathering place to spend time with one another on a consistent basis and raise dollars to ensure the longevity of that community. Does that make sense?
So the food was good. It is just very different from food i normally consume. Lots of ground beef stuffed into assorted dough’s, with different mixtures of rice or veggies — or just stuffed squash or green peppers. The pasta dishes looked good, the salads were great and the people serving behind the line — who I am assuming is the heart and soul of this Lebanese community — we’re incredibly sweet.
I will definitely be back and love that places like this still exist, while slightly embarrassed that I driven by this place twice a day at least for 10 years and never knew of its existence.

I didn’t quite know what to expect and was a little surprised that the dining area is a huge banquet hall. As our group stood staring at the large menu outside the kitchen food line, the servers welcomed us into line and told us they’d help us make decisions. They gave us taste-​sized portions to help us make up our minds. I went for a cabbage roll (great alternative to grape leaf roll/​dolmata that’s too vinegary for me), stuffed squash, spinach pie, stuffed pepper, and fried kibbeh. I’d stay away from the spinach pie (too much dough: spinach) and I took the kibbeh home for my husband who said it was dry (I might try it fresh with hummus next time). Probably my FAV part were the four (or five?) varieties of desserts OUTSIDE the line on a table in the banquet hall. I sprung for a couple options (one with cashews, one with pistachios) and will try the others on my next visit. This might become a Wednesday lunch tradition! (Oh, yeah, all that food minus the desserts was $ 10.60!)

5 stars for value and good food. 4 star food easily. Other reviewers got it right. I been going here intermittently over the years. The hardest part is trying to be able to get there for the a la carte Wednesday lunch!
I used to live in Soulard and at the time, finding a variety of nearby good ethnic food less than 10 min was difficult.
Who would have thought this part of downtown would be packed elbow to elbow with people going for Lebanese food at this catholic churce in Lebanese tradition.
I recommend bring alot of friends. Its fun.

The Wednesday Lebanese lunch at the Cedars was my first introduction to middle-​eastern food, and now I rank it right up there with Italian, Chinese and Mexican food, but enough about me.
Read Stephanie E. and Kelly B.‘s reviews for more info about the traditions, but just let me tell you, get a Kibbe ($ 3), a Meat Pie ($ 3) and a few stuffed cabbage rolls ($ 0.65 each) for lunch some day and you will be hooked for less than $ 10. There’s a lot more on the menu, but those are my must-​haves on any given Wednesday from 11am — 2pm
I’ve only had Kibbe this good at one other place, Carmen’s on Gravois, but it closed a couple years ago so this is it as far as I know.

The Cedars banquet hall at St. Raymond’s Cathedral has a Wednesday Lebanese luncheon that you should try! Located off Gravois/​Tucker, just south of Chouteau, St. Raymond’s has been serving cafeteria style Lebanese food in their Church hall for over 70 years.
Prepared from generation to generation by the older ladies in this Maronite church (Lebanese Catholic), they serve over 25 items (including hummus, tabbouli, and baklava) to the public every Wednesday and usually have over 300 people pass through the cafeteria line each week. And, as far as church banquet halls go, this one is pretty nice!
This is home-​style Lebanese food, great portions and everything is under 6 bucks!

You mean you don’t know about this place? Are you kidding me?
Well, I can’t really say much. I just found out a few years ago. But anyone who is anyone in St. Louis politics and the legal world is generally here on Wednesdays, yakking it up and schmoozing over plates of chicken and noodles, football-​shaped kibbee (ground beef, bulgur wheat, onions and spices deep fried) and tabbouli (bulgur wheat, lemon, onion and parsley salad). They’re trying hard to find a way to look professional while carrying a tray full of about ten items.
Everyone here pigs out. Though it’s not a buffet, the prices are unheard of. Everything is a la carte and super cheap. They’ve got stuffed cabbage, stuffed zucchini, lentils and rice and green beans lubi, which are green beans in a sometimes spicy tomato sauce.
You can get baklava for dessert, too.
It’s a real treasure in St. Louis. Now, the middle of the week is more than just a countdown to Friday. It’s St. Raymond’s Day!