Eating Out in STL with my Broke Bestie: Year 2

Back again for another year of “Eating Out in STL with my Broke Bestie,”  but now my “broke bestie”? She’s a teenager! Despite all of the changes that come with these new teenage years, she’s still broke and still loves eating out.  Funny how that worked out … 

Anyway, my daughter and I have two main goals when we go out to eat: try new foods and support St. Louis immigrant-owned businesses. Below are two new places we’ve tried out recently that we would definitely go back to.

Mochiatsu

• Located in Manchester, MO
• My daughter and I originally went to check this place out because she had been seeing Korean Hot Dogs all over TikTok and “NEEDED” to try them. We stopped by for lunch one day, and we were surprised by how many options they had. My daughter decided to try the Cheetos Rice Hot Dog and the Potato Whole Mozzarella. I am personally not the biggest fan of hot dogs, so I decided to try the Blueberry Croffle. This was the first time I had ever even heard of a croffle. A croffle is a mix between a croissant and a waffle, and was originally popularized in South Korea. No matter how it came to be, I’m just happy it exists because it was delicious! Crispy, flaky, a hint of sweetness, and fresh blueberries on top … all I’m saying is, you definitely need to try a croffle! They have other flavors too, including: strawberry, Dubai chocolate, Nutella, churro, and strawberry matcha. We also ordered a few mochi donuts to go – taro, Nutella, and ube. We tried them later on at home – I’d never had a mochi donut before but both my daughter and I agreed that we definitely hope to have them again in the future!
• Check them out if you’ve been wanting to try (or already love): Mochi donuts, Korean Hot Dogs, and Boba Tea.

El Rincón de los Helados

• Located in O’Fallon, MO
• I happened to see this place featured in a local Facebook group, and decided my daughter and I should go try it out. We walked in and were really excited to see all of the ice cream and popsicle flavor options – and everything is homemade! There are so many flavors I would have never thought to try – and so many options you can’t find anywhere else nearby. And everything is priced well – seemed to be more affordable than other ice cream/dessert places in the area. In addition to desserts, they also have other authentic and traditional Mexican snacks like elote (corn) and tortas (sandwiches). Throughout the summer, they often had ceviche – which we decided to try since we went right before the start of school. It was so good, and my daughter said that she would eat it everyday if she could. Then we decided to try the Pña Colada flavored popsicles – and we both agreed that they were delicious. We also got some additional popsicles to take home that we really enjoyed, including guava and strawberry. 
• Check them out if you’ve been wanting to try (or already love): Mexican naturally flavored ice cream, homemade “paletas” (Mexican popsicles), Agua Fresca (water flavored with fresh ingredients like fruit), Magonada (mango slushy combining sweet, tangy, spicy, and savory), and other Mexican treats like elote or a torta.