Restaurant engagement in St. Louis?

April 23, 2009 9:06 AM

I am proposing to my girlfriend this summer in St. Louis and I know that it will involve a friend of ours coming out on a stage while we are having dinner and playing our favorite song. If it is an appropriate setting, we will dance to it, and after the song is over, I will propose to her. I need your help finding the right location!

So, here are some additional details. My plan is to have a waiter or waitress come to our table and present her with a photo book that I am making her with Blurb. It documents all the years that we have been dating. The last page will be wrapped in wax paper so she cannot see it. When she gets to the last page I will stop her, and tell her to hold on a moment before she looks at the page. At that moment, my friend will come out on stage and play our favorite song. After he is done, I will tell her to look at the page. As she sees the large photo of the ring I brought her, I will drop to one knee and propose.

So, I am trying to find the proper location to pull this off. I thought that I had found the perfect place- a restaurant called Savor that has a small, romantic cabaret theater attached. I was going to ask them if they could just seat us alone in the theater. That would've been perfect, and we could've danced when my friend came out on stage to play the song, because no one would be around. But, I found out that the restaurant is closed.

So I need help! I can see two options:

1. A nice, romantic restaurant that has a cute little stage that we could be seated in front of. I already have one restaurant that has agreed to do this, Morgan Le Fays, but I've never been there and I'm not sure how their layout would work with my idea. So, if you know of any restaurants that fit the bill, that would be great! I'm not necessarily looking for the finest dining, but a romantic and intimate atmosphere is very important.

2. If I could find a small, romantic theater that would let me use it for an hour (early on a saturday evening, which could be a problem) or so, then I could have food catered, and my friends could help out as servers. The only problem that I see with this option is that it would probably cost more, be harder to find, and she would know what was happening as soon as we arrived. The upside is that we would be alone the whole time, and could dance when my friend played the song.

So, if you have any suggestions of great restaurants or cute little theaters in St. Louis that would work for my purposes, I would appreciate it very much!

Thanks!

-Kraig

posted by kraigory to food & drink (4 comments total)

How about a romantic outdoor location? I am thinking the Boathouse at Forest Park.
posted by LarryC at 9:33 AM on April 23

Mangia Italiano on South Grand springs to mind. I haven't been there in over a year, but if memory serves, they have a smallish dining area with a very small "stage" at the end. They often have music, but the "stage" is rarely occupied prior to 9pm. I would consider this romantic and intimate, but not formal.

I haven't been to the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, but it has a few bistros/restaurants/cafes that might be worth a look. I might also scout locations in the Lafayette Square area, such as 1111 Mississippi.

Good luck! I hope you find that perfect place!
posted by everythings_interrelated at 10:14 AM on April 23

I'm seconding Mangia Italiano.
Blueberry Hill also has that 'stage' thing in the corner window with the piano set up in it...but i'm not sure I'd call it romantic.
it's the only place I can think of with an actual stage...a lot of small places that have music don't have an actual stage, they just clear out a corner and have the band set up. Does it have to be an actual stage?
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 4:50 PM on April 23

No, it doesn't have to be an actual stage, but I was wanting to avoid just having my friend walk up to our tableside.
posted by kraigory at 9:27 PM on April 23