Frank W.
Yelp
Glenn's Cafe was a festive place to close out the Christmas season. We had a post-holiday dinner with 14 people, and everyone enjoyed themselves. It suits downtown COMO. I had walked by many times, but I'd never eaten there. My niece who works at the university has dined there often. She recommended it.
My wife's family is from St. Louis. They are close. One by one, they moved to Columbia, or, as I have learned it is called by locals, COMO. They have stragglers still in STL. One grandniece drove more than 90 minutes to join the evening, then went back home. The rest of us were already there, finishing up the celebration on December 27. The group had submitted the NY Times crossword puzzle to the competition just before we headed out for dinner.
Glenn's serves Southern cuisine. Columbia feel to me, having grown up in Detroit and attended college in Baltimore, like a Midwestern version of the South. Glenn's has shrimp and grits and jambalaya and other dishes you would associate with the South. I'd bet, however, to someone from the Deep South, it would not seem especially Southern. That's fine. "Authenticity" is appropriately contested. The real issue is whether the food tastes good. That it did.
With that many people, we had just about every dish that was available. I was eyeing the steak salad and the blackened fish. I decided on the meatloaf, which uses primarily pork, and I worked out a trade with a grandnephew who had the fried chicken and mac and cheese. The meatloaf was moist and flavorful. The mashed potatoes on the side were not as garlicky as I prefer, but my aspiration is to reek from every pore when I have anything that mentions garlic as an ingredient. The swap was a good idea. Another grandnephew had the straight-up fried chicken, and that looked better though less healthy, covered in a thick gravy. We started with the fried pickles, which were chips rather than spears. We also had the deviled eggs. Someone else requested cornbread. For the discerning, which my wife assures me I am not, I would offer this observation: all the dishes were milder or more subtle than they could have been. Whether that is to your taste depends, of course, on your taste. I have had stronger versions of these items. But those could be criticized as too rough. My doctor recently advised me I need to cut out salt or risk a heart attack. So this is my new normal.
The best sign is everyone finished their plate. There was a birthday celebrant. They brought out a gigantic piece of bread pudding, which even this crowd was unable to finish off. The wine was reasonably priced -- our tradition is that a nephew covers the food, and I pick up the tab for the alcohol. The wine list is priced reasonably.
Our server was great. She was efficient and friendly. The food came out fast. We lingered, though, and were there just shy of two hours, which is always a good sign people are enjoying themselves thoroughly. We learned she was headed out on a big vacation the next day. I sometimes regret I didn't tip enough (always at least 20% and in this instance about 21.5% on the net, but it is the holidays after all).
