Restaurant review | Beso Mexican Grill & Cantina
1130 Washington Ave., St. Louis
314.588.7864, beso-stl.com

I never got a chance to check out Red, the trendy nightspot that occupied the Washington Avenue space before Beso. I heard it had suffered from something of an identity crisis: Its owners couldn't agree on what Red should be.

I did get a chance to check out Beso a few weeks ago, however.

My first impression was a good one. While pieces of the decor clearly were leftovers from the previous venture -- TVs in the booths, for example -- I liked that it didn't look like a traditional Mexican restaurant inside.

Sort of sports-bar-meets-Mexico.

I did find it a bit annoying, though, that the overhead music skipped the whole time I was there. I think it was one song that stopped abruptly and replayed, over and over and over. Employees made a few panicked attempts to fix it, but it was no good.

My party began with house margaritas -- the true test for success. Our consensus: If you like the taste of sweet-and-sour mix, they're great.

I went out on a limb and tried a Blue Lagoon margarita from the vast drink menu. It was delicious and appropriately mixed.

The dining menu has the Mexican staples, but it also offers a few surprises -- like shark. My portabella quesadilla was tasty and arrived in a timely manner.

The owner (one of the co-owners of Red) seated our party, and our server was attentive and pleasant. Overall, my experience was good.

Beso has been getting some negative attention lately in the blogosphere, though. A fellow downtown dweller brought the scandal to my attention last week.

Apparently, someone posted a negative review of Beso on Yelp, a restaurant rating site. Beso's owner then contacted the reviewer and threatened some pretty hateful things if she didn't remove her review.

They say any publicity is good publicity, but this story has spread like wildfire, especially among the downtown community. Word of mouth can make you or break you.

My advice: Give Beso a chance, and check it out for yourself. Downtown needs restaurants that will succeed.

Just review it at your own risk.

Restaurant review | B&T Pizza
1131 Washington Ave., St. Louis
314.621.2400, bntpizza.com

I was so excited when I heard a new pizza joint had opened downtown a few weeks ago. Heck, I'm excited when anything opens downtown. I don't even like or have service from Sprint, but I almost wet myself when I saw them opening a store at Tucker and Washington.

So when my friend Beth came for a lunchtime visit, I knew I had to take her to check it out the pizza.

I hope she can find it in her heart to visit again in spite of that.

Upon my first visit to B&T Pizza, which opened in the heart of the Downtown Loft District recently, I wasn't sure what to make of it. While the exterior is well designed and tidy, it's a bit inconspicuous. Beth drove past the place a couple of times before she realized she had arrived.

The interior looks like an Ikea ad: Everything is gray or metallic, and, on a sunny day, one easily could go blind in there.

B&T specializes in "street slices," originating from the custom of eating a slice of pizza while either standing or walking, the restaurant's menu explains.

A couple of standard varieties -- pepperoni and cheese -- are kept out on the counter. But the menu offers other topping options.

On my first visit, I tried the plain cheese -- hard to screw up, I figured. It was pretty bland, and the crust was a bit hard.

Beth's assessment was that it was "OK." I think she had pepperoni and mushroom.

I decided to give 'em a second shot tonight at dinner.

I settled on the Queens slice: pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, black olives, fresh mushrooms, green peppers and red onions. I also ordered a House salad: Romaine lettuce, mozzarella, tomatoes, green peppers, fresh mushrooms, red onions and the house vinaigrette.

Verdict: The pizza was less than delicious, but the salad was delicious.

My previous experience with pizza has been that the toppings are added in such a way that the cheese and sauce hold them onto the crust. This was not the case at B&T.

The man behind the counter pulled my slice out of the oven looking fully assembled, but when I sat down to eat it, it was a pepperoni-and-cheese slice with the rest of the toppings just piled on top. Many of them fell off when I picked it up.

One of the things I learned by watching "Top Chef" is that food must be easy to eat as well as delicious and attractively presented. This pizza was anything but easy to eat. And it certainly was not delicious.

I will return to B&T. Possibly at night, since they're open late.

But I'm having salad.