The Fatted Calf

they specialize in a local farmer’s meat to bring you a high quality burger.
great old st. louis staple in the heart of clayton
must mix the two specialty sauces — yellow spicy mustard and the red stuff together to get a great dip for thickly cut steak fries and burger dipping. Ohhh and MUST get their chedder cheese. Basically a scoop of cheddar cheese (like ice cream) slapped on the burger that melts in your mouth. amazingggg

I’ve been here twice and both times i’ve enjoyed it thoroughly (both times were also for lunch). I can’t remember what i got the first time, but i did enjoy the food enough to come back. yay!
The service is friendly and when i asked if they could grill my onions, they were happy to oblige. I ordered the calf burger with cheddar cheese and bacon. I also ordered onion rings.
Pros:
they have dijon mustard at the table as well as plain mustard
my burger was loaded with pickles
there is a station with extra pickles
the space is really nifty and kinda dark — what i would imagine a tavern to look like
the doors are cool
they give you a fairly large foam cup of water when you tell them you don’t want soda instead of tiny cups that other places give
cons:
they don’t have an easy way to move things from the extra pickle station
i felt weird if i wanted to ask for a knife or a fork (but i’m a bit of an awkward penguin… so it could just be me)
all in all, i’ll be back here when i want a tasty tasty burger.
also, they have a kids menu and sweet potato fries. while i didn’t get any of that stuff, i like how they have it.

Finally, on my last full day as a resident of the Lou (I’ll be back as a frequent visitor, believe that :-) I made it over to the Fatted Calf.
Reminding me, via its simple menu, of a more upscale, sit-​down version of California’s Inn-​N-​Out, I leaned over the counter and said, «Kobe beef, rare, please.» The owner smiled and said, «that’s pink with a cool center.»
Um, no, I said (grateful she had clarified). Let’s make that a medium rare. Plus sauteed mushrooms, bacon, and pickles. It’s the kind of burger that’s so good that you don’t need the ketchup to help coax it along.
They also had some onion rings and a great bottled Oregon craft brew to go along with my burger. Fast friendly service.
My only quibble is that the décor and setup is mainly for lunch service, with a lot of high top tables, but this place could do a great dinner service too. Perhaps being in Clayton is part of the drive to keep it more of a lunch place, but I don’t care as much for this type of restaurant, because you’re not going to be in there very long. The food’s too good to take your time. :-)

They may have the best burgers in all creation but I will never know. Went on a non busy Monday evening, walked up to the counter, reviewed the menu board and was ready to order. I smiled, made eye contact, stood and waited and waited and waited… Was totally ignored. No «be right with you» no, «hi, how are you tonight». Zippo!
Finally gave up, walked out and ate at the sushi bar, Tani, next door.