The St Paul: An Egg Foo Young Sandwich with the Geographically Ambiguous Name

Mail Lee, Brentwood Missouri

When I decided to take a jaunt to St Louis for some much-needed Midwest food content, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I chose The Lou with purpose because of the large number of foodigenous it has. That's my invented term for “indigenous foods”. But to be honest, it kinda felt like I was about to spend a weekend at my nephew’s dorm eating “college” food. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited to sample the unique style of cracker crust pizza made with a processed Provel cheese, sometimes referred to as a giant nacho by outsiders. And the idea of going off diet to eat the ubiquitous T-ravs, short for toasted ravioli and the twice fried chicken known as trashed wings, was very appealing. But what I discovered during my trip, was a visually appealing Midwest city with a vibrant food culture that’s much more than pizza and fried apps and I want to give some proper shine starting with the St Paul Sandwich, an uber local Chinese takeout food.

The City or the Apostle?

Despite St Louis's 19th Century Old Cathedral on the banks of the Mississippi and the towering Cathedral Basilica, there's no religious connection to this crispy egg foo young sandwich. The Chinese omelet is stuffed between two ordinary slices of white bread and topped with lettuce, pickle, a slather of mayo and depending on where you get it, a combination of white onion, tomato, sprouts and protein. Many articles have given credit to Steven Yeun the owner of Park Chop Suey who named the creation after his hometown, St Paul Minnesota in the 1940’s.

Kansas City Star -March 1904

It should be noted however that there are several mentions of a St Paul Sandwich in print as far back as 1904. Others have suggested that Steven Yeun introduced a variation of the pre-existing Denver/Western sandwich which itself was a dish introduced by Chinese chefs who worked the 19th century railroad camps. Whether he invented or not, I think we can agree that he is responsible for its introduction to St Louis Culture.

Although I only had a chance to sample two St Paul Sandwiches during my short visit, I was told by a very amicable couple on staycation at my hotel, that these can vary significantly by location at "Chop Suey" joints and Chinese takeouts throughout the metropolitan area. If I lived in town, I'd make it a point to trek to different neighborhoods in search of a favorite. I also have no idea why this hasn't caught on in other cities, it's good stuff.