Lona's Lil Eats Takeaway. Big Thai and Chinese flavors come from these lil eats. Out of nowhere, for me, at least, delicious spicy tofu wrap. One of my favorite meals in St. Louis 8.7 / 10 is the combo of spicy tofu wrap and a side of spicy eggplant. We came before a concert at Chaifetz Arena on somewhat whim, and it totally blew us away. The spicy cucumber side was too spicy even for me, but everything else was a perfect 3 out of 5 on the spice scale. The only nitpick is the clear rice wrap can be overly chewy.
And what a fabulous deal. At only $11.25 for the spicy tofu wrap, Lona's is among the best flavor for your buck in all of St. Louis and one of my favorite Asian restaurants.
Like several over Asian restaurants in the area, it's counter service. You order and get a ticket for your food. However, we ordered ahead online and the food was ready right on time. You get to cut the line and pick up your mobile order from a special counter. At 6 pm on a Tuesday, the line was ten people deep. You have to find street parking in Fox Park.
After telling several friends about this great place called Lona's, they all responded the same way - duh. Apparently, I should have been coming here for years.
Lona's Lil Eats Experience Summary
We had made plans to go to the Death Cab For Cutie and Postal Service concert with friends months in advance. But on the day of the concert, a Tornado warning woke St. Louis up at 4 am, and we couldn't get back to sleep. That left one of our friends too tired to make the concert and the rest of us running on fumes.
So, the three of us had to figure out where to get food before the concert on limited brain power.
Our combined interneting led us to find Lona's Lil Eats, only nine minutes away from Chaifetz Arena, with glowing reviews on Yelp. Too tired to put any more thought into finding food, we made the trek into Fox Park for the first time.
My first impression of both Lona's and the neighborhood was impressively artsy. The painted fox on the fire hydrant paired with a hipstery exterior of the restaurant and clientele give off immediately exciting vibes.
I don't really know what I expected from dinner, but we walked into a renovated row house to a long line of eagerly awaiting customers. Lucky for us, we ordered ahead and got to skip up to the mobile order counter. One minute later, we grabbed some water and sat down.
Opening the bag of food, the $10.25 tofu wrap glistened in the split-level lighting of the restaurant house. The clear rice wrapping can be a mixed experience in my opinion, but I was keeping my spirits high in anticipation of the spicy chilis coming my way.
Unwrapped and ready to go, after one bite, I was totally hooked. Too tired to do anything but focus on this wrap, I don't think I talked for the next ten minutes. It took total concentration to make sure I didn't lose any innards of the wrap to my makeshift plate. To be fair, I would have totally just licked those up anyway because this wrap was so damn good.
The spice of the tofu gets mellowed by the rice and vinaigrette but still brings the heat. I still think the rice paper wrap comes across as chewy, but it didn't detract from the package. This top-of-the-line wrap comes in at an 8.5 / 10 for me. Just absolutely fantastic.
But the kicker came in the side packaging. Because my wife knows me better than I know myself, she ordered me the spicy eggplant side for $1 more.
Holy moly.
The spicy eggplant side may have been the best eggplant I've ever had. If not the best, definitely in the top three. Each bite oozed with creamy eggplant doused in spicy chili. It was a solid, solid 9.0 / 10 for me and brought the entire meal up to an 8.7 / 10. And for only $11.25, this meal is the top three best bang for the buck in St. Louis for me along with Blues City and Pizza Head.
The overall spiciness of the meal woke everyone up just in time to enjoy the concert. Thanks, Lona!
The Food At Lona's Lil Eats
Whenever I get spicy chicken from Cate Zone and Chilispot, I always see the people next to me getting spicy tofu. So, at Lona's, I decided to take the plunge and drop my poultry preference for a taste of tofu.
My gosh, did that choice work out for me.
The denizens of Yelp highly recommended the spicy tofu wrap, so I had a fair amount of confidence taking the taste. Lona balances the spicyness of the tofu with mint and rice to calm your taste buds and keep your mouth in check. Coming in at a perfect 3 out of 5 on the spiciness scale, it added heat without ruining the meal.
I was eating the creamy tofu in silence as my wife and buddy chatted up about the concert we were about to go to. But I had to concentrate on the task at hand as the wrap had a tendency to leak deliciousness, and I couldn't risk losing any.
All in all, this wrap came in at 8.5 / 10 for me, just absolutely delicious and a steal at $11.25. They could easily be charging in the $15 range, and it would be totally worth it.
But then I got hit with an even bigger surprise. My wife ordered us a side of spicy eggplant. It's a known fact that every culture's version of eggplant is delicious, but Lona's takes eggplant to another planet. Every bite had an excellent chili spice with a smooth eggplant underneath. It was only a side, but coming in at a 9 / 10, it brought the whole meal up to an 8.7. I would bring my parents here from out of town or dive the 15-20 minutes on a Friday night to pick it up.
Lona's Lil Eats packs a damn big punch.
Lona's Lil Eats Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
Walking into Lona's felt like walking into someone's house that just happens to serve some of the best spicy tofu wraps this side of the Mississippi. I even commented to my buddy while we waited for my wife to grab a drink that I loved how some places in St. Louis converted houses into restaurants.
Well, that's exactly what they did at Lona's, as it's a converted row house.
There's a ton of outdoor seating as well as split-level seating inside. We ate in the upper part of the split level with maybe four other tables. Outdoor seating would have been our first choice, but there wasn't a spare seat to be had out there.
You can order online before you head over either to pick up or just eat there. That lets you cut the line to grab the food. The line was maybe ten people deep when we got there at 6:30 PM on a Tuesday. I'd imagine it's even longer on the weekends.
They had all of our food ready and hot when we got there.
After ordering at the counter, you grab your food and find a spot to eat on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parking At Lona's Lil Eats
You'll need to find street parking. Lona's is located in the Fox Park neighborhood, which has plenty of parking within a five-minute walk. We parked maybe three minutes away down the street.
Lona's Lil Eats Receipt
