I’ve been traveling internationally for the past couple of months while Priority Pass was busy adding restaurants to their lounge network, but I finally had a chance to visit one of their new partner restaurants on my way back to Colorado after the holidays! Flights were much cheaper flying through St. Louis than directly from Detroit to Denver, and with a three hour layover, I was pretty confident that I would have enough time to visit The Pasta House and Schlafly Beer at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) even with a winter flight delay.
For those with a Priority Pass card, included with a number of premium credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, a visit to partner lounges is free and restaurants offer up to $56 off your meal and drinks (if you bring a guest; solo travelers only get $28 off).
Since this was my first Priority Pass restaurant visit, I don’t have much to compare it to other than Priority Pass lounges, and let me tell you – I would rather go to a restaurant any day! My boyfriend and I were both able to order off of a fairly large list of food options and he got red wine while I drank a local brew. Between the two of us, we ordered a salad and pasta. Neither were anything to write home about, but were better than most domestic U.S. lounge offerings I’ve seen.
The restaurant was spacious and pretty clean, and overall service was good. The only negative experience I had is that one of the appetizer I had ordered was no longer available, and I wasn’t told until the rest of my food had come. If I had known earlier, there’s a good chance that I would have changed my order to a full sized entree instead of two appetizers.
After we finished eating, our bill was brought over by the waitress so we could “see where we were at.” Since we had a few dollars still available, I decided to order another beer. The meal and drinks came to $56.01, so we owed a full cent plus a tip for our meal.
Overall, it was a great way to spend a layover at the airport. Our layover was during dinnertime, so having Priority Pass access to The Pasta House at STL saved us money we would have otherwise spent on food, and I always love the chance to try out some local beers. Based on this first impression, I’m loving the addition of restaurants to the Priority Pass lounge network. What other Priority Pass restaurants have you visited? Do you have any favorites?
Are you based in Detroit, then? I am a Detroit traveler :) I travel a fair amount for personal and for work.
I’ve never heard of this Priority Pass so I’m off to read Grant’s review on it.
Hey Liz! I used to live in Ann Arbor but I live in Colorado now. My family still lives in Michigan though so I’m back from time to time! You should check out this meetup group if you haven’t already to meet some like minded people!
We’re located in STL and due to having a SW companion pass the past few years we take SW much more often than I’d really like. This terminal hasn’t ever had a lounge of any kind ( though I hear this has just changed!!) and this restaurant has been a terrific addition. We fly out fairly early most times and the $58 bucks has covered bloody Marys and full breakfasts for both of us.
Bill that’s awesome! We have a PP restaurant in Denver too — that’s my home airport — and I’m hoping that it ends up being as solid as The Pasta House was! I have a United Club membership and I used to always stop at the UA Club at Denver’s B gates before heading to C gates (also for Southwest flights because of the companion pass), and the restaurant here is at C gates so it’ll be nice to skip over the extra stop. I’ll be sure to post here when I get a chance to try it out later this month.
will arrive to STL on SW for only 45 min on a connecting flight…do folks think have enough time to grab some to-go food? TIA for info / suggestion
I doubt you will have much free time to get from 1 SWA gate to another, wait for boarding and get on your plane. Not unless they have grab and go food options.
Maybe enough time to shotgun a beer though ;)
thx grant & caroline, wonder if we can call to order for to go? i guess will try that & will post on here any success…or failure next week, lol
Worth a shot. Keep us posted on your order ahead :)
DP- successfully ordered & picked up a to-go food after the plane had just landed; made to a connecting flight with 5 min to spare…spent a total $56.48, paid a .48 difference plus some tip on the CIP card. Thx all for the blog & post
That is great to hear, I’m glad your to-go ordered was ready quickly and you made your flight.