Restaurant Foods We Love

It can be a chain, a mom and pop, or a local legend-there’s enough variety in restaurant choices to find favorites nearly everywhere! Here’s a quick update of some our recent encounters that we loved enough to recommend. First, if you find yourself …

It can be a chain, a mom and pop, or a local legend–there’s enough variety in restaurant choices to find favorites nearly everywhere! Here’s a quick update of some our recent encounters that we loved enough to recommend.

First, if you find yourself in Galveston, Texas, visit Gaido’s Restaurant along the seawall. We have this restaurant on repeat, and always get some version of their crab-stuffed shrimp.

Indulge in an appetizer from Gaido’s, too, like the breaded onion rings, above.

We mentioned chain restaurants, so First Watch gives you an opportunity to find one of the more than 500 locations across 29 states. We love their seasonal menu items, and this delicious sugar-rimmed drink was from their Fall line-up.

While Gaido’s is a local institution, Mama’s on the Hill, in St. Louis, Missouri, is all that and more to the people of St. Louis. It’s a family-owned restaurant that serves great pasta in an area where great Italian food is supreme. Try their Tortellini a la Pappa, with prosciutto and a creamy garlic Parmesan sauce.

Finally, we come to a homegrown favorite and a twist on avocado toast, found at JW’s Kitchen in Southwest Missouri. It’s in a trendy area called Farmer’s Park, and it lives up to the promise with a fresh version of Neighbor’s Mill bakery’s multi-grain bread, topped with pickled onions, egg, radishes, and lots more. Great for brunch or any time of day, particularly when paired with one of their fresh juices, like the combo of beet, cranberry, and more pictured in the background.

Restaurants are doing one of three things right now: innovating, recovering, or closing. Go support your local favorites and prevent that last from happening!

Golfweek’s Best 2022: Top public and private courses in Missouri

The best public-access courses in Missouri are gathered around Branson, with Big Cedar offering three must-plays.

Want the best public-access golf in Missouri? It’s simple: Head to the Branson area for Big Cedar Lodge and the independent Branson Hills. Each of the top four public-access layouts in the state lies not far from the southern Missouri border with Arkansas.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for Missouri’s private offerings is likewise included below.

(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960
(c): Classic course, built before 1960

Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses. 

* New to or returning to list

Stan Kroenke expected to pay $571M to St. Louis for relocation settlement

NFL owners are expected to approve a plan that sticks Stan Kroenke with a $571M bill for the Rams’ relocation from St. Louis to LA

Stan Kroenke is going to have quite the tab to pay for the Rams’ relocation from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

According to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, NFL owners are expected to approve a plan that sticks Kroenke with the remainder of the bill owed to St. Louis for the relocation settlement. That bill will be for $571 million, which is a substantial portion of the entire $790 million settlement for the city of St. Louis.

NFL teams have already paid $219 million of the $790 million, which leaves Kroenke with the rest of the money owed. Kroenke wanted all 32 teams to pay the full $790 million, but that never came to pass. Other owners wanted Kroenke to pay the entire bill, too.

The city of St. Louis originally sought more than $1 billion in damages in the lawsuit, claiming the Rams’ departure cost the city millions of dollars. The Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016 after the plan was approved by the league in January of that year.

Rams began discussing potential move to LA in 2013

Documents from St. Louis’ lawsuit show that the Rams and NFL lied about the team’s move to Los Angeles

At his Super Bowl press conference in 2014, Roger Goodell told reporters that he had no knowledge of the Rams’ plan to move to Los Angeles. That turned out to be a lie.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch acquired documents from the city’s lawsuit against the Rams and NFL, and it proves Goodell lied when he said he didn’t know about the team’s plans. The Rams began discussing buying land in Los Angeles way back in the summer of 2013, with Kevin Demoff and Stan Kroenke talking about the possibility.

In October of 2013, Kroenke met privately with Goodell to discuss the Rams’ plan to move to L.A. And after the Rams bought the land in Hollywood Park, which is where SoFi Stadium was built, Kroenke told Goodell they were going to keep things under wraps, and the NFL obliged by not making that purchase publicly known.

“We’re going to try very hard to stay under the radar screen and nobody will know we bought it,” Kroenke told Goodell. “We’ll stay hidden, which is what we want, for as long as we can.”

The Rams eventually moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and played four years at the Coliseum before SoFi Stadium opened in 2020. The move has obviously been very profitable for the Rams, becoming the fourth-most valuable team in the NFL at $4.8 billion, as of 2021.

But the City of St. Louis was hurt badly by the team leaving, and was understandably furious by the development. The uncovering of the Rams’ (and NFL’s lies) won’t make things any better, either.

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NFL, Rams reach $790M settlement with St. Louis in relocation suit

St. Louis, the NFL and the Rams have reached an agreement on the city’s relocation suit

The four-year drama between St. Louis, the Rams, and the NFL has come to a conclusion.

Stltoday.com reported Wednesday the parties have agreed to a $790M settlement in the case sparked by the team’s move from St. Lous to Los Angeles.

Per the report:

The settlement does not include an expansion football team for St. Louis, a source said. It was not immediately clear how much of the settlement would be paid by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who moved the Rams from St. Louis in 2016, and how much would be paid by the NFL.

The city, county and dome authority filed the civil suit against Kroenke, the Rams, the league and its owners in 2017, alleging the league broke its own relocation rules that were established decades ago to avoid antitrust liability.

Rams, NFL and St. Louis reach $790M settlement in relocation lawsuit

The Rams, NFL and St. Louis have reached a settlement of $790 million in the relocation lawsuit, but it doesn’t include an expansion team

The four-year lawsuit against the Rams and NFL for the team’s relocation to Los Angeles is coming to an end. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a settlement with the city of St. Louis has been reached.

It’s for $790 million and an official announcement is expected to be made on Wednesday morning after lawyers notify the 32 NFL owners first.

The Post-Dispatch reports the settlement does not include an expansion team for St. Louis, which was something the city was hoping for after the Rams left to move to Los Angeles.

It’s also unclear how much of the $790 million will be paid by Rams owner Stan Kroenke, though he was previously expected to pay tens of millions of dollars in this suit.

The lawsuit was filed against Kroenke, the Rams and the NFL in 2017 after the Rams moved to Los Angeles, arguing that they breached their agreement and were misleading throughout the decision to relocate the franchise.

It’s somewhat surprising to see St. Louis settle before going to trial, which was set for Jan. 10 – especially considering the agreement doesn’t include an expansion team for the franchise.

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Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis will host the 2030 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup is bound for the Midwest once again in 2030.

On Wednesday the PGA Tour announced that Bellerive Country Club would host the 2030 Presidents Cup.

Located just outside of St. Louis, Bellerive previously hosted the 1965 U.S. Open, the 1992 and 2018 PGA Championships as well as the 1981 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2004 U.S. Senior Open, the 2008 BMW Championship and the 2013 Senior PGA Championship. Established in 1897 and designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., the club will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year. Renovations in 2005, 2013 and 2019 were all led by Jones’ son, Rees Jones.

“St. Louis is a passionate and iconic sports town and one which embraces teams and events such as the Presidents Cup with tremendous enthusiasm. The combination of St. Louis and Bellerive Country Club will make for a memorable experience for fans onsite and those watching around the world,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan via a release.

The United States has dominated its International counterparts in the biennial event held opposite the Ryder Cup. Over the 13 matches, the Americans are 11-1-1. Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina will host next year’s event, Sept. 19-25, followed by: Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada (2024), Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois (2026). The 2028 site has yet to be announced.

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At the Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, golf therapy has the power to heal

There’s a saying at Ranken Jordan Hospital that it’s the job of big hospitals to save kids’ lives, but their job to give their lives back.

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Tom and Pam Reynoso first met their adopted daughter May in a Guatemalan courthouse. They’d been told one leg was longer than the other when, in fact, 3 1/2-year-old May, later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, required immediate and extensive medical treatment. A teary-eyed physician called the Reynosos angels as they scooped up 22-pound May and took her back home to Missouri.

The Reynosos had three biological children of their own, boys who ranged in age from 8 to 16. Adopting a fourth child was a family decision, with the Reynosos asking their sons if they wanted a built-in swimming pool or a sister. The boys didn’t hesitate.

Almost immediately after May arrived at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in St. Louis, a nurse said she’d like to take a bed-bound May out to play golf with hospital volunteer Kevin Corn. She’d just had surgery to remove a bone from her leg.

“I’m looking at them like they are nuts,” recalled Pam. “How in the heck is she going to play golf? Here she has this fixator on her leg.”

And so it began, May’s love affair with the game started from a strip of artificial turf on the side of her bed, and 15 surgeries later, 18-year-old May hits full shots on regulation courses with the use of a walker and a golf bag that bears her name.

Wednesdays are for golf at Ranken Jordan. For nearly 10 years now Corn, head pro at Innsbrook Resort, has been finding creative ways with the staff to make golf therapy part of the recovery process for any kid who shows an interest at the St. Louis hospital.

Kevin Corn with May Reynoso
Kevin Corn with May Reynoso (Photo courtesy of Kevin Corn)

An accidental gunshot wound left Chenelle “CC White paralyzed from the waist down, and she came to Corn’s golf session during her first week at Ranken.

“I think the smack-talk started before she ever picked up a club,” said Corn, with a laugh. “You’d have thought it was Jordan and Barkley at times with all the trash talk going back and forth.”

The focus of Ranken Jordan is transitional care with an emphasis on movement and play, whether it’s nurses pushing hospital beds around a baseball diamond, rock-wall climbing or indoor pool therapy.

The average stay at Ranken Jordan is 42 days and two-thirds of all patients require some form of breathing support. As advanced medicine keeps more kids alive after horrific car accidents, for example, there’s a growing need for longer-term care facilities like Ranken, of which there are less than 10 in the nation.

Kids shed hospital gowns for regular clothes at Ranken and spend much of the day outside their rooms. There’s also an emphasis placed on educating families and building confidence in at-home care.

“The saying at Ranken,” said Corn, “is that it’s the job of the big hospitals to save these kids’ lives, it’s our job to give their lives back.”

Ranken Jordan putting green
On the putting greens outside at Ranken Jordan. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Corn)

A PGA Magazine article on a similar program at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas is what got Corn originally thinking about starting something similar in St. Louis. He asked around about the five pediatric hospitals in the area and ultimately ended up in a meeting with an executive at Ranken Jordan. Two minutes into the conversation, Corn said, it went from presentation to figuring out how to execute.

The hospital hasn’t spent any money on the golf program. The Gateway Section PGA helps to fund what Corn needs along with the help of U.S. Kids Golf and area pros who open up their courses and ranges to provide a real-world transition experience. Corn will never forget the lightbulb moment one patient had after driving a solo golf cart – donated by the St. Louis Cardinals ushers – that he could set a goal of one day driving a car.

Community integration at Ranken Jordan can mean learning how to do everyday things like open doors and order food at a restaurant or get in and out of a car to tour Christmas lights. Or head to a local driving range.

“We have to be the only hospital in the country with our own golf pro,” said Brett Moorehouse, Ranken Jordan President and CEO.

Last year a local TV station, KMOV of St. Louis, and Scott Credit Union donated a full-swing simulator to the hospital.

Jeremiah Moore, lying face-down while strapped in a bed and clutching a U.S. Kids driver with his right hand, rolled a bright yellow Almost nerf ball up on a plastic tee. With a swift one-handed pop, Moore sent the ball hurling toward the simulator. Corn caught the action on his phone.

Golf at Ranken isn’t limited to Wednesdays. It’s not even limited to one floor. They’ve been known to make up their own putt-putt course from time to time, mixing active therapy with imaginative fun.

When the PGA Tour tees it up at Kapalua next month, the kids at Ranken Jordan can play right along with them on the simulator while watching the broadcast from Hawaii in primetime.

Kevin Corn with Cooper Burks
Kevin Corn with Cooper Burks (Photo courtesy Kevin Corn)

Cooper Burks was born with neurogenic arthrogryposis, a deficiency of the joints that has led to dozens of lower-body surgeries for the joy-filled, sports-crazed 17-year-old, known for his ability to light up a room.

A nine-year-old Cooper decided he’d stay on at Ranken after he was promised chocolate ice cream for breakfast, but things really got good when he met Corn and hit his first golf shot from the side of his bed.

“Ranken can make any kid happy,” Cooper declared.

Kellye Burks says her son’s multiple stays at Ranken have lasted as long as three months at a time. The nurses there always knew when Cooper was coming because he’d be singing down the hallways.

“He knew the people in the kitchen,” said Kellye, “the people who cleaned. He was kind of the mayor of Ranken Jordan when he left.”

Last year, Cooper was back home in Athens, Georgia, playing 18 holes from a cart with his brother Will. Golf has given Cooper the ability to compete alongside his brother for the first time. The winner posts his score on the fridge to rub it in.

Cooper went to North Oconee High School full-time last year without the use of a walker. In August of 2020, however, he had his right foot rebuilt to correct a blood-flow issue and is now re-learning how to walk. In time, he’ll need work done on his knees and ankles.

Cooper counts Bubba Watson as his favorite golfer because watching the 2012 Masters at Ranken was his introduction to professional golf. One day he’d like to get out to East Lake to watch the PGA Tour pros he follows on TV up-close. Augusta National, of course, would be the dream.

Moorehouse would like to see therapy programs like the ones at Ranken spread to more hospitals around the country – and not just for kids. Prolonged isolation in hospital rooms, he said, leads to prolonged disorientation as well as added stress, depression and anxiety.

“If a golf program can work at Ranken Jordan,” said Corn, “it can work anywhere.”

Improvements in medical devices and therapy tools give even the most severely injured children the chance to play. Corn recalled one boy who’d been burned so badly that he lost all his fingers, and his hands were fully bandaged. The physical therapists at Ranken still found a way to fasten the club securely to the boy’s hands so that he could swing the club without pain.

Many children, like Cooper and May, want to continue with the game when they return home. Corn works to help find a place to play and local pros often pitch in with clubs.

Corn recalled the time one mom in particular asked where she could buy the clubs her son was using at therapy. Corn suggested Golf Galaxy or the U.S. Kids Golf website.

“No,” she said, “the ones my son is using. They are special clubs, right?”

No ma’am, Corn told her.

“My son,” the woman replied through tears, “has never used anything normal in his life.”

Longhorns Profile Snapshot: No. 40 Ayodele Adeoye

LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster. Today, we will be looking at RS soph LB Ayodele Adeoye.

Going into the 2020 football season, LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster.

Over the summer, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Tom Herman this season.

Today, we will be looking at redshirt sophomore linebacker Ayodele Adeoye.

Ayodele Adeoye, Linebacker

Height: 6-1 / Weight: 245

Class: Redshirt Sophomore

Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.

High School: IMG Academy [Fla.]

HS ranking (247Sports): Four-star / No. 104 overall / No. 6 position / No. 16 in-state

HS ranking (Rivals): Four-star / No. 12 position / No. 46 in-state

Analysis: Going into his third year in the Longhorns’ program, Ayodele Adeoye is slowly emerging as an important player for the defense. After picking up a season-ending injury in 2018 and taking a redshirt, Ayodele had a solid 2019.

However, once again, Ayodele is dealing with an injury. Back in January, the linebacker sustained a foot injury and opted for surgery. This kept Adeoye out of spring practice. He was expected to return to summer workouts before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Adeoye appeared in all 13 games last season while earning a start in 10 of them. He had 45 tackles (fifth on the team), 2.5 sacks, and an interception. The inside linebacker position has talent for the Longhorns but it needs to come through with results. Adeoye can be that man going into his redshirt sophomore season.

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Longhorns Profile Snapshot: No. 36 Jacoby Jones

LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster. Today, we will be looking at senior DE Jacoby Jones.

Going into the 2020 football season, LonghornsWire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Texas roster.

Over the summer, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Tom Herman this season.

Today, we will be looking at senior defensive lineman Jacoby Jones.

Jacoby Jones, Defensive line

Height: 6-4 / Weight: 265

Class: Senior

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

High School: McCluer North

JUCO ranking (247Sports): Three-star / No. 32 overall / No. 2 position / No. 6 in-state

JUCO ranking (Rivals): Four-star / No. 16 overall

Analysis: A junior college transfer, Jacoby Jones came from Butler Community College in Kansas. Choosing Texas over Oklahoma, the Longhorns have gotten a good rotational piece out of Jones.

In his one season for Tom Herman, the 6-4 265 pound defensive end produced 14 tackles and one forced fumble in 11 games. His best game of the season came in the opener against Louisiana Tech, forcing the fumble and logging four tackles.

With players such as Ta’Quon Graham and Marquez Bimage ahead of him, Jones Jones is expected to play the same role. The Longhorns are moving to a four man front, so his playing time could see an increase in playing time. A position which needs to improve, Jones will provide great depth for Chris Ash.

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