I've visited the Vedanta Society almost every year for the past 20 years. It's a peaceful sanctuary…read moreand a place of belonging for all.

I have visited the Vedanta society of St. Louis on a number of occasions now, and my experiences…read morethere have been nothing but positive. Swami Chetanananda, the head of the center, is an excellent spiritual guide, as well as the two junior Swamis. I did not find any racism or politics here during my visits. In fact, the center attracts a very diverse congregation with people of all backgrounds. Moreover, every time I have visited, I stayed with the Swamis at the center and know firsthand the austere and devoted lives they lead. I feel sorry for the man who has written the previous review, because I believe he is unable to grasp the spiritual value of this place.

I visited St Ferdinand for the first time during a Lenten Friday fish fry. We arrived around 5:30…read morepm and waited about 45 minutes before being able to eat. There's a large parking lot in front of the building, and it looked full but we found a spot in it. Overall summary: The fish is quite good for cafetaria-style serving. It's worth going for the fish. They weren't offering any other main courses, like shrimp or catfish, on the day we visited. Everything is a la carte, i.e., there's no standard, "I'll have a fish dinner" selection. The process to get served is confusing, especially for newbies, and needs some improvement. The fish: tasted fresh, large chunks/fillets, well seasoned, good temperature (warm to hot range), sold by the pound. I came to appreciate the by-the-pound approach, as you are no longer subject to a server giving the person ahead of you large pieces and then you small pieces. The sides: I liked the cole slaw. The meatless spag was ok. Strangely, they didn't offer either french fries or hush puppies in the serving line I was in, although at least one other line did. I did get a sample of the hush puppies and they were good, nice and crispy and hot. Dessert: the pies looked good, but they didn't have a lot out during our visit, plus they were hard to reach from my serving line. Drinks: all drinks are served from a small alcove at the front of the gym. You can buy beer and soda, and get cups of water for free. I didn't really like this set up because the small size of the bar meant that there was a fairly long wait to get a soda. I think it would be better if they sold the beer here and had soda/water elsewhere. If you are buying a beverage, I advise you have a member of your party buy them just before you enter the food service lines, to avoid your food getting cold while you buy drinks. The process: confusing. There are actually two lines to navigate. The first line is the waiting line, and the second is the serving line. The waiting line actually consists of two lines, one that you go in from the main entrance and a second that is somewhere to the right of the main entrance as you look at it. Both of these waiting lines lead you inside a gym where the two lines form into long U-shapes. Your waiting line finally leads you to the serving lines. There are three serving lines. These lines are aligned in a U-shaped pattern on one end of the gym. The dining area is at the other end of the gym. The line I was in, line #3, was along the bottom of the U. For some unknown reason, there were fewer food options in my line that day. For example, they didn't offer fries, hush puppies, or pies. The food is staged to tables in the middle of the U. From there, a line server who runs low will go to the staging area and grab a fresh tray and return to his or her serving station. Staging like this probably is why the fish is delivered fairly hot to your plate. At other places I've been, they put large amounts of fish on the line, and it cools down during the long time it takes to serve a large amount. If you are getting take-out, they give you a take-out container, and if you are eating in, they give you a plate. Once served, you can go sit down at tables at the other end of the gym. I'm not sure I would want to trade food quality for efficiency, but I could see that they had an inefficient process. The two waiting lines were huge, yet the dining area was not close to being full. In other words, they could not serve enough people fast enough to sustain a full dining room. I give them four stars on the strength of the fish (yum!). I won't ding them on the slow service, since, after all, they are a church and everyone is a volunteer. :-)

This place was great and had friendly people with delicious fish…read more I had the Cod and ended up getting a bunch extra and made fish sandwiches all week from it. Shrimp were yummy as well but the highlight was the Hush Puppies. They were soooo good. Also had the Spaghetti and slaw and both were very good as well. Place was clean and everyone friendly. They said they have this food every Friday all year long and I will go back for sure. Give it a try, Fun

Love our church so much so thankful we have finally found our forever church to grow in with our…read morefamily and found friends within the church. We have a nice sized group now and I really enjoy coming every Sunday. My previous church we just felt like guests at never really family or met anyone to create friendships with. Love that they have events for kids like kids crossing. My teenager loves coming

Ever since finding out about this church, I have loved being a member of. I look forward to being a…read morefull time member going forth.

I was here on a Sunday afternoon, not for a traditional service. The parking lot is large, with…read morelots of handicapped spaces. It is also well lit. The Sanctuary isnt far from the entrance. The lobby is spacious. There were many staff members walking around to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be. The Pastor was friendly and welcoming. Zion seems to be a popular church for good reason!

Come for coffee then stay for a time of praise & worship. Twin Rivers has 2 services 9:00 & 11:00…read moreHoly Grounds is open for both services.

I went to this church for many, many years. It has become a breeding ground for hate and…read moreintolerance in a way that is extremely un-Christlike. I am blown away by what I've seen from its members in the last decade or so. This year alone, I have been mercilessly harassed by MULTIPLE (4) members of this congregation. I am a public middle school teacher who gave my students book trailers for 65 books in our (board-approved) school library. Because 4 of those books had queer characters, rather than addressing concerns to the actual school board that had approved the books, or talking to me personally, 4 members of this church went INSANE in spreading hate and harassment about me online. The posts and comments made by members of this church were chilling. A friend in the community is the one who finally realized that Grace Church was the common denominator in all of the hate-filled rhetoric. Obviously, there are different interpretations of the Bible -- there are mainline denominations and more conservative ones like Grace, that teach a literal interpretation of certain Bible passages. That's not the issue... the issue is that this seems to have become a breeding ground for contempt in a way that is antithetical to the gospel. I had some great memories of this place as a kid at church camp, but as an adult, I found the teachings to increasingly focus on creating an extreme Us/Them dichotomy that enflames people already leaning towards racism, homophobia, and othering on their own. It has broken my heart to watch this and to experience it firsthand.

This church is a diamond in the rough. Those who have been misled to believe religion and politics…read moreshould be "separate" have completely misunderstood the entire point of religious culture. Religion and politics can never be separated. We must fight to preserve our culture and traditions in the face of them being threatened with extermination. It is churches like Grace that will fight for and protect our rights as Christian American citizens. This church has a backbone. The courage is admirable and I'm extremely proud to be a part of this congregation. I finally feel like there is a Godly community where we can band together to fight for what is right and Holy during this spiritual warfare. God bless this church. It is a powerhouse that God is working through.

Nice place, here for another funeral. The pastor is nice, they have a kitchen, my aunt and uncle…read moreattended this church.

The food is fantastic, I made it to 5 of the 6 fish fry's this year…read more Adult dinners run $15, desert is included. My favorite items on the menu are the fried cod, fries and Mac & cheese. The staff were great, I will be back next year!

I'm highly amused that St Gerard Majella's fish fry, which only happens once a year for like 5…read moreweeks during Lent, has a Yelp site. But I'm also thankful that someone created one. I'm not a St. Louis native and don't understand all the hype surrounding fish fries. Well, now I know. I came here last Friday at 5:10pm (they opened their doors at 4:30), the first week of their fish fry, with the naïve thought that I was "early". I fully intended to use their order-online-and-pick-up-curbside but 30 minutes after they opened, their website shut down/broke and it said they weren't taking any more orders. I told my husband I would be home in 20 minutes. 1 HOUR LATER, I finally left with my carryout food and wondered if the food would be worth this crazy long drive-through wait. The church staff told me that the line would likely be shorter after 6:30pm...but when I left, the line of cars waiting on Dougherty Ferry Road was the same length as it was at 5:10pm. When you arrive in your car, you enter the drive through line from Dougherty Ferry Road, and exit on Ballas. Apparently people started lining up at 4:00pm. I asked if parking and walking in to do carry-out was faster, but the lines were apparently also long inside. They take cash and credit card. As you inch along the drive through, they also sell Ted Drewes ($3 each, about 1 cup size), drinks/beer, give you free tartar sauce or cocktail sauce, then give you a number to place on your dashboard so they can direct you into 2 lanes, then merge you into 1 lane, and then you order your food, pay, and pick up the food. I tried the fried cod adult dinner, which comes with 2 pieces of fried cod, hush puppies (or a roll), 2 sides, and a packaged cookie or brownie. The cole slaw was my favorite side--fresh, vinegar-y, and a nice contrast to the fried seafood. I also tried the fried shrimp, French fries, and mac and cheese. The fried cod was my favorite--nicely breaded, not overly greasy, well-seasoned, and nice and hot even after I took it home to eat. Hush puppies left something to be desired---the cornbread inside was dry and the exterior breading too hard/crunchy. But still, tasty. So my first fish fry experience was delicious, but I don't think I will be waiting an hour again in the drive thru line again just to get the fried fish.