Knowing about our love for natural foods, a friend of ours introduced us to Prasinos after a positive dining experience there with her family. It was my last weekend home for the summer and we decided to stop there for lunch on our last girls day together. We spent time exploring downtown St. Charles and enjoyed a wonderful lunch.
Overall Rating ★★★★
Food ★★★★★
We were pleasantly surprised by their variety of food options and ordered from the breakfast, lunch, and dessert menus.
We got the appetizer hummus, Prasino salad, Veg out omelet with fruit and gluten free toast, pesto salmon, watermelon sorbet, and flourless chocolate cake.
Everything tasted very fresh and the salmon was seasoned very nicely. The sorbet used minimal sugar which gave it a very natural taste and the chocolate cake had a very rich taste and texture. The desserts are all hand made on premise and their menus all had a variety of options for dietary needs. I ordered an organic iced tea and was thrilled that they had all natural Stevia instead of just Splenda and sugar sweeteners.
I revisited this restaurant for dinner and found the menu to be creative and the food to be delicious. We ordered salmon with kale, mushroom soup, and the pepper hummus with veggies, while our friends ordered pork steak, mushroom soup and vegetarian shrimp pasta. My girlfriend and I splurged and split the mouth watering, house made gluten free molten chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. This was my 2nd time enjoying this decadent, delicious dessert!
Tried and True Favorites:
- Hippie Omelet
- Roasted Beet Salad
- Wood Fire Grilled Salmon
- Hummus (veggies instead of pita)
- Molten Chocolate Cake
- Seasonal Sorbet
Quality ★★★
Prasinos values high quality foods and uses natural products whenever possible, more than most restaurants in St. Louis. They use Egg-lands Best eggs which are not free range, but are organic. Their meat is from Niman Ranch which feeds their hormone and antibiotic free animals a vegetarian diet and they are either pastured or raised in deeply bedded pens. This is much better than the meat you find at most restaurants. Their produce comes from local farms around Illinois which is not all organic, but still fairly high quality. Their website gives more detail on the farms that their Illinois restaurant purchases from. The farmers are either certified organic or utilize eco-friendly practices in their farming.
It is difficult to find restaurants which use healthy, traditional nutrient dense oils for cooking, including butter, coconut and olive oil. When we asked about the oil used for cooking we were told that they use canola oil, which is commonly used in many restaurants. Most canola oils are GMO and all canola oils are highly refined and inflammatory. Canola oil is not healthy contrary to popular belief. We are beginning to be more assertive and request foods be cooked with our preferred oils whenever possible, but did not do so during this dining experience.
Their website details the water filtration system used to ensure a good quality water for their patrons, served in recyclable water containers on the table.
We failed to ask whether the salmon was wild or farm raised, and if farm raised sustainable or not, but their website states that they are dedicated to using sustainable fish.
Atmosphere ★★★★
Prasino’s interior has a very earthy feel, made of untreated wood with complementary modern furnishings and decorations. There is a bar in the front and seating in the back with separate rooms for parties.
Service ★★★
The service was good. The food was delivered as we requested and in a timely manner. We really enjoyed the experience both times at this restaurant.
Price $$$
The entrees range between 10 and 15 dollars for lunch and 10 to 30 dollars for dinner. The serving sizes for the main dishes were decently priced for the food quality and size. However, we thought the desserts were a bit overpriced for the small portions given. However, we really enjoyed the presentation and quality of the desserts.
Location
Prasinos is located right outside downtown St. Charles. It is located in a small complex next to Bar Louie and Tuscano’s Brazilian Grill. This is where we have dined. Prasino has another location in La Grange, Illinois.
Address: 1520 S 5th St #110, St Charles, MO 63303
For more information and photos you can visit their website at Prasino
