Smiley St. Louis Uber Ridesharing: Destinations, Recommendations and Reviews
Smiley: Review
As everyone is familiar with the five star review styling of ridesharing, here at smiley sharing, we are going to review using a one through five Smiley system.
Hi Point Drive In, St. Louis (3/5) 
Address: 1033 McCausland Ave
St. Louis, MO 63117
Phone: (314) 349-2720 Web: https://www.facebook.com/hipointedrivein/
Hi Point Drive In: Uber Ridesharing Destination
After a wonderful morning at the Missouri Botanical Gardens’ annual orchid show, Michael and Rebecca stopped in for lunch at another Uber ridesharing destination in St. Louis, Hi Point Drive In. If your planning on staging as a driver, or visiting, consider taking an Uber. We found the parking lot was almost completely full, and we snagged the last parking space.
Michael, while smelling the cooking smoke from the restaurant, found it heavenly and compared it to the smell of the first barbecue of the season. An advertisement on the building stated that the Hi Pointe has been an iconic St. Louis destination since it first opened in the 1980s as a drive-in. The Hi Pointe Drive In itself just opened in January 2017, though.
Hi Point Drive In: A St. Louis Ridesharing Destination in Progress
The parking lot should have given us ample warning about the amount of people in the restaurant, because the place was so full that the line began right at the doors! It was also quite noisy, and it was difficult for Rebecca to hear the cook when he asked for their order.
The length of the line also made it difficult for dine-in eaters to get to the soda fountain to refill their drinks. Michael and Rebecca both opted to get soda from the fountain, and they were pleased to see that the sodas being carried were local brands such as Lucky and Sugarfire’s own cherry cola. The cups were small, however, and at $2.50 per drink regardless of whether it was dine-in or carry-out, the soft drinks didn’t seem like a good value for the price.
There wasn’t much seating inside the restaurant (and there were no tables outside of the restaurant), so Michael and Rebecca got their order to go. While they did have some interesting daily specials listed, they decided to order a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich, and an order of Belgian frites (fries). The prices seemed a little steep. The cheeseburger itself was $6, the chicken sandwich was $9, and the order of fries was $2.50. With drinks and tax, it came out to about $24, not including tip. The sandwiches came with the basic toppings (tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, house condiments), but anything beyond that, such as cheese, egg, or extra meat cost more. They had a wonderful selection of cheeses for their sandwiches, though they charged $1 per slice of cheese.
The level of ambient noise was again a problem as we reached the cash register. Michael and Rebecca had to repeat their order to the cashier because there was such a backlog on orders that their food hadn’t reached her yet, and because of the noise, they had to repeat and confirm their order with the cashier, because she was having a hard time hearing them.
The delivery process after placing an order to go was a bit haphazard as well. There was no instruction on whether Michael and Rebecca were to stand at the counter or try and find a place to sit down (good luck with that crowd!) and wait for their order to be called.
Hi Point Drive: The 5 Star Salve of Great Employee Service
After talking with one of the staff members, Michael and Rebecca learned that they are having problems with their breakers getting tripped, cutting off the electricity and slowing down production. It’s a bit puzzling, since it’s a brand-new building, but it at least went some way towards explaining the delay in completing orders.
The staff at Hi Pointe Drive In are very amiable, friendly people, and Michael and Rebecca enjoyed talking to them as they waited for their order to come up. They also learned that Hi Pointe is owned by the same people who brought St. Louis Sugarfire Barbecue, so they are feeling optimistic about the quality of the food.
Once their order came up, Jason, the employee who gave them their order, suggested that they try the house dipping sauce with their fries. Michael and Rebecca picked some up and headed out the door to try their tasty-looking food.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of seating, Michael and Rebecca had quite a time finding a place to eat their meal. They opted to try the fries while they were driving around to find an open picnic table. Rebecca really liked them—she’s definitely a fan of natural-cut, skin-on fries. They were also seasoned with a seasoning salt blend that reminded Rebecca of the homemade french fries her parents made when she was a child.
Hi Point Drive: St. Louis Ridesharing Destination Rank (3/5)
Michael and Rebecca ended up having to go to Forest Park to find a place to sit down and eat outside of the car, and they finally got to try their sandwiches at the Grand Basin. They also got to try out the dipping sauce, and it was creamy with a nice, spicy kick.
Michael wasn’t too impressed with the cheeseburger. He said that it reminded him a bit of the Whattaburger burgers he enjoyed in Texas, but the Whattaburger would have been bigger, and it would have been faster and still hot when he got to eat it, because their restaurants have adequate seating for their customers.
Rebecca did enjoy her chicken sandwich. The sandwich was larger than the grilled chicken sandwiches she normally gets, and the garlic mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickles were all present in amounts that enhanced the sandwich rather than making it soggy or messy. The chicken breasts were thin and flat, but there were two of them, and they were made from real chicken breasts rather than reconstituted bits of chicken breast, and they were cooked to flavorful perfection.
While Michael and Rebecca were enjoying their food, three lovely guests came over and asked for a bit of our food. We had to turn them down, because bread isn’t good for ducks! They were quite entertaining, though.
While Rebecca enjoyed her food, she thought it was a bit overpriced for what she got. She also didn’t like the fact that the restaurant was noisy, crowded, and lacked sufficient space for customers to dine in, though the décor was pleasant and the staff were first-rate and friendly. Michael didn’t enjoy his burger and didn’t feel like it was a good value for the money, but he also appreciated the friendly, helpful staff.
If you don’t mind paying a little extra for food and searching for a parking space, Hi Pointe Drive In is worth visiting, if only because they have a great staff and use locally sourced food and drinks in their menu.
If you would like 🙂 and his team of cohorts to recommend a product or a place, there will be a form available to get in touch with us. You can also get in touch with us through email, Facebook, or Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you!
Enjoying Smiley Sharing?
Click here to consider the ways to Support Smiley!
