Sunset 44 Bistro

My family and I ate here to celebrate our Christmas Eve dinner. I was very disappointed to have selected this restaurant given the occasion we were celebrating. Service was very poor. Our server, Gwen, was inattentive and slow. We waited for very long periods for our food and drinks and when we commented about the length of time we had waited for our dinner, Gwen’s comment was «It’s been a rough weekend». She wasn’t apologetic nor did she attempt to increase her attention. After our meal she didn’t bother to offer us dessert, which we had wanted to order initially. We ended up deciding to leave rather than having to ask to be offered dessert and due to the wait time it would’ve taken to get dessert. The only reason this review gets two stars is because the food was actually very good. However, in saying that, I think overall the food was over priced. I will not be returning to this restaurant nor would I recommend it to others.

Five ladies had lunch here this week. Two of us had the quiche, others ordered a burger, an omelet and chicken salad. All were pleased. I thought the quiche was outstanding. Actually, the best I have had. We did wait awhile for the food to come to the table, and the restaurant was not busy. The restaurant has a formal atmosphere –very nice.

Needed a private room for a family gathering. They were easy to work with. Friendly and helpful. The room was comfortable and nicely tucked away. Although I was a little concerned about the food from reading past comments, it was fantastic. The best I can figure is those past reviews are from a time when the cuisine was much different. The quality and variety of their food exceeded our expectations.

Excellent meal excellent end to the day! The October specials are fantastic! Wait staff exemplary. With a party of nine we walked in Saturday night tried, late and disappointed our first pick that eve had turned us away. The staff here more than made up for it! Autumn was friendly fast and handled our rag tag bunch like a true pro. The kitchen produced an excellent meal. I recommend trying out what for me is a new favorite.

We held our family celebration for my father’s 90^th birthday at Sunset 44. The group was 30 adults and 14 kids. The space was perfect. We used the audio visual and had photographs and remembrances displayed. The meal was dinner salad, pork with chutney, with kids having chicken and sweet potato fries. All were served hot and delectable. Service was great. They were there when you needed them but not intrusive. There was a mix up on the cake — we didn’t order one — but the staff pulled off a last minute substitution that saved the day. The space allowed the kids to run around and have fun without making the parents crazy. Over all everyone had a great time!

Bistro is an old stalwart, back in the day when it was in Sunset Hills and now housed in a retirement complex, albeit a classy retirement complex. Unfortunately it has aged like many of its customer base, me included. Priced right but ordinary, it’s the place to go for a decent pour, good service and, with careful consideration, a decent meal. The entrance, with its empty spaces and poorly utilized wine showcase reminded me of a house halfway packed for a move. The bar, one of Bob Mendez’s (sp) signature items, is now kinda shabby. The food was disappointing except for the special, seared Mahi Mahi.

Pretty sure I can’t say one good thing about this place other than its in a good location. It’s super dated, the servers couldn’t be less interested and the food (what I could eat of it) was poor quality. I was really excited to try Sunset 44 as I’ve lived in Kirkwood for several years and never made it into this restaurant. I ordered the fish tacos and requested nothing with mayo be on the plate as I am allergic. It was a huge portion of fish — which was great. It was, however, covered in a mayo based sauce. I politely reminded the server that I asked for no mayo. He sighed and took it away. He then returned 30 seconds later with a soggy piece of breaded fish that had clearly been rinsed off and put back onto my plate. Two thumbs down.

A great surprise! An eclectic, worldly inspired and sophisticated menu. Everything we ordered was perfectly cooked and really tasty: goat cheese fritters salad, potato and leek soup, fried chicken breast (amazing!), clams and mussels in white wine broth, and strawberry sorbet. The service was impeccable as well. We’ll certainly go back!

Recently met with a large group of friends for dinner at Sunset 44 Restaurant and had a wonderful meal of Cedar plank smoked salmon with vanilla sweet potatoes and vegetable medly. Yum! Many appetizers were shared among the group: toasted ravs (better and bigger than most, and very tender & tasty), crab cakes, and chicken bites with sweet chili sauce were my favorites. Other diners at our table ordered entrees of bacon-​wrapped sea scallops (huge!), steaks that looked mouth-​wateringly good, pasta and chicken. Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were served by a wonderful young lady, Crystal who was a very attentive waitress and entertaining, as well. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and were not rushed to vacate the table, as some places do. Would definitely go again.

Unremarkable, bland food. Brought a group of 12+ people for special occasion.
Food portions are small, (especially for the price of $ 20+ per dinner entrée). By the time the food came out to the group, half the dinners were cold.
I suppose because they cater to a senior living building above them, they have managed to stay in business.
We have a special event planned for this location in a few weeks for an elderly relative. I already feel sorry for our group. Another round of over priced, dreadfully bland, cold food — coming right up!

There are so many better places to eat in St. Louis to pay high prices for bland food at Sunset 44. Seriously, go somewhere else unless you like nursing home-​like food at a bistro price.
Why? The steak was flavorless and you could probably do just as good at Applebee’s. Their fries come frozen in a bag and you can get better ones at McDonalds. They have butter waiting at your table but have to tell every table that they don’t bring bread out until later. The manager is indifferent to his customers preferences that he never asked why I had my salmon returned twice.
So once again, unless you’re in your twilight or «Sunset» years please try somewhere else.

We went to Sunset 44 for Mother’s Day, we decided to dine very early and arrived while the restaurant was almost empty. The people that were seated were almost all elderly. (We learned later that there is a Nursing Home kind of next door/​above). Things started off well, although we were walked through a maze of tables to eventually get to our booth. The first thing I noticed was that the menu was missing about ¹⁄₃ of the items that had been on the website. I am a vegetarian and I’d sort of mapped out what I thought I wanted to order. Unfortunately neither of the items I wanted were on the menu any longer, (Summer Tomato & Mozzarella and Pasta Verde). Nor was the Zucchini Bite starter that everyone had raved about. We ordered the Lavosh and beer cheese crock. The cheese was a bit like cheez wiz as one reviewer stated, but it wan’t completely horrible. They also brought out rolls which were very good.
I ended up ordering a Wedge Salad without bacon and my Mom ordered the Ceaser. My salad was decent. My mother didn’t remark on it at the time but later in the car she advised that her ceaser was very bland with almost no flavor, she didn’t finish it. There were no vegetarian entreés so I ordered the Wild Mushroom Flat Bread. My mother ordered the Beef Tenderloin Tips. The flat bread was inedible, room temp, cardboard crust, it had an odd smell and the mushrooms seemed to be dried and not all the way re-​hydrated. I ate half of one small section and sent it back. It takes a lot for me to do that, I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years and I am adaptable and will eat pretty much anything that doesn’t have meat.
The server checked with the kitchen and they agreed to make me a pasta dish without meat, which was nice but it didn’t overcome the quality of the flatbread. The pasta they brought out was a huge bowl of linguine with the veg of the day (steamed carrots, zucchini, cauliflower) mixed in and a tomato sauce that tasted like canned stewed tomatoes with no seasoning. After three bites I decided it was something I could take home and add some seasoning to on my own. The biggest disappointment was probably the Beef Tenderloin Tips which were covered in a thick gravy I could smell from across the table. It smelled like cafeteria gravy you’d find on cheap meat. According to my mother that’s the way it tasted as well, she said it seemed like it was out of a bag.
In addition to our meals we got an order of sweet potato fries, they were very good. The best part of the meal by far. Sweet, nicely salted, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle.
We had a gift certificate and were trying to «use it up» so we ordered dessert to go. The Créme Brúlee and Chocolate Glazed Napoleon were both good but nothing spectacular.
If we had actually been paying for the dinner without the certificate I think my mom would have sent back the Beef Tenderloin.
All of the waitstaff was very nice, friendly, they seemed to be especially kind toward the many elderly people. However, their behavior was not the stuff of fine dining. They yelled across the floor, they took plates from a table and scraped the scraps onto one big plate before carrying it into the kitchen, they used a loud swiffer vacuum under one of the tables right next to us while we were eating.
We didn’t need any additional dessert items but the cookies other reviewers have mentioned were never offered. There were also several periods in which we sat for long periods of time waiting. By the time we left the empty restaurant was now filled.
In the car on the way home we discussed the meal and decided the major issue was it didn’t live up to the name or the website. The food wasn’t bistro-​like. It was more reminiscent of cafeteria or hospital food. Bland, canned, over sauced, un-​inventive.
We won’t be going back.

My husband and I dined here for the first time last night to celebrate his birthday. Here’s the breakdown!
Atmosphere–
This restaurant seems to be disjointed. I really liked the ambiance and feel in the bar area and a small seating area connecting to the main dining area. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling it in the main dining area (where we sat). I guess that’s the idea and maybe we should have asked to sit in a different area. Part of it may have to do with the fact that we were the youngest people in the place by about 40 years. We could hear the commotion in the kitchen, which was weird because it didn’t seem like we were that close to it. Next time I would request to be seated elsewhere.
Service–
Our waitress was alright, she just seemed a little out of place. She broke a dish on the floor, and overall was a bit sloppy. She was nice enough though, and checked on us an adequate amount.
Food–
I loved the fact that there was the option to order petite serving, which upon arrival to our table seemed laughable. But once I started eating, it was the perfect amount of food! I ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon and my husband ordered the Crab Cakes. My salmon was delicious and crab cakes decent. However, our sides were just OK. Also my husband’s salad seemed straight out of a bag. We were pleasantly surprised at the end of the meal when our server brought us 2 mini chocolate fudge cookies. Mmmmm! The perfect end to the meal!
I might try this place again for drinks/​appetizers or I could see a mother’s day brunch here, but overall our dining experience wasn’t that memorable. Maybe we will give it another try, because I really want to like this place!

the food here is very good. our server Karen was nice effecient and friendly. Food came out hot and fresh although my rib eye was a little more than well done when I ordered it medium but that being said you could cut it with a butter knife so I did not complain. We have hosted a couple of banquets here in the past and they were always accomodating and friendly. Yes it is a bit pricey but well worth the trip.

Everytime I pass by here, which is practically once a day, I remember the meals we had for dinner. Or, perhaps more accurately, I remember that we didn’t like Sunset 44 precisely because the dinner was so unmemorable— so very, terribly bland. No flavor, no pizzaz, no zing. Absolutely nothing to bring us back.

So, about 20 min before 5 friends and I went to the restaurant to celebrate one of the ladies’ birthday, I called. When we walked in, they had our table for 6 ready for us.
Double Shot Amaretto Sours for drink order and they were great! We were off to a great start.
Appetizers: Zucchini Bites & Toasted Ravs (see pics). Excellent in taste. Really enjoyed the sauces they served with the zucchini. Zucchini portion is enough for a table to share. The Ravs were larger than your normal ravs and packed with flavorful meat. There are only 4 Ravs, so order accordingly.
Entrees: (see pics) Seared Scallops, Cedar Salmon, Crab Cakes & Grilled Chicken Sandwich. OMG, everything tasted exceptional! We truly enjoyed the entrees. What I loved is that each entrée is available in a petit or large portion. The flavors were spot on and well balanced. The sides were very complimentary to the main focus of the plate. I have to say the Sauteed Spinach and the Vanilla Sweet Potatos… oh wow… I could eat a plate of those for dinner several times over.
We didn’t have room for dessert, however, the restaurant was kind enough to provide the BDay girl with a free dessert, which you don’t find too often anymore. They also brought the table 6 mini chocolate chip cookies that were complimentary. they even tasted good.
Picking this restaurant was a last minute rush decision, but we are not disappointed that the evening took us here. Will most definitely be back. Kudos to the chef!

This place is really neat inside, love the beer selection. Prices were a little high maybe but no big deal, it’s the middle of Kirkwood. Unfortunately I have to give two stars because while we were there, one employee that actually seemed like the owner or a manager, was pretty rude to some other customers. And these were customers that were paying for a somewhat large, well behaved group. We were surprised. I don’t know what kind of a business strategy that is, maybe reverse psychology. Anyway, it is a cool place, and one incident doesn’t make a restaurant, but it does make one review and I had to post because of that. Definitely others won’t have the same experience, but we will not be going back. They must not need the business that badly.

Disclaimer: This review is based on having Thanksgiving dinner at this restaurant; I can’t speak to their normal menu.
The atmosphere of the place is friendly, almost clubby. It seemed as though the ‘regulars’ who were there were all older.
I had their turkey entrée, as did everyone else at the table, and had a salad to start. Others at the table had butternut squash soup to start and it looked and smelled pretty good. The salad was unusual; I think it was caesar dressing, but on mixed greens with onions and mushrooms. It was fine but not amazing.
The turkey dinner was pretty good, but not overly flavorful. The mashed potatoes and the green beans were both well cooked but bland. The stuffing was very good, as was the turkey and gravy. The turkey was a touch dry for me, but with the gravy it was hard to notice.
They had a nice selection of wines, both by the glass and by the bottle. The service was tremendously attentive and friendly… water glasses constantly refilled, bread basket replenished, etc.
Good restaurant for family get togethers and other large group occasions.

Had a work dinner at Sunset 44 with 14 people. Overall the food was good, but not great. I had the baked pork chop, which was quite good. The spinach was way too salty for my tastes. The onion soup was good.
We did find some Larkmead «Firebelle» wine, which made the night a success!

I never have a bad meal here. Ask for Meredith. Great service.