I’ve managed to black out most of my high school math education. It resides in a cobwebby corner of my brain, along with bad first dates and the time I wore a cool pair of suede shorts only for my biology teacher to tell me I looked like a Von Trapp. High school sucks, and math sucks, but Pi Day—the annual celebration of the mathematical constant π—does not suck. It takes place on March 14 (pi = 3.14, or 3/14), and it’s usually an excuse to eat, well, pie. But 314 also happens to be the St. Louis area code, so one STL taco joint is mixing it up with St. Louis-style toasted ravioli tacos.
On 3/14, Mission Taco Joint will celebrate all things 314 by turning the STL classic into a taco. Popularized in St. Louis, toasted ravioli (that’s t-ravs to you) is exactly what it sounds like: ravioli covered in breadcrumbs and toasted, often dipped in marinara sauce or ranch dressing. Now picture that, but on a taco.
Mission Taco Joint tweeted out the news, writing: “T-RAV TACOS. Yes, you read that right. This Sunday only for 3.14 day, we’ll be offering a special-one-day-only Toasted Ravioli Taco, inspired by the iconic STL dish. Each taco will be $3.14 and available on Sunday, March 14 only in STL stores.”
I don’t know if this sounds good, but it certainly doesn’t sound bad. St. Louis food gets so much hate, but as a born-and-raised Missourian I will defend my home state’s honor until the day I die. (Unless we’re talking about Josh Hawley, who can go straight to hell.) Even if the Mission Taco t-rav stunt rains additional internet scorn upon the St. Louis culinary community, it’s only for a day. As one proud St. Louisan Tweeted,
“St Louis has everything from pizza, the American comfort food the city has perfected, soul food, our own styles of Chinese & Italian food, fine dining like Elaia, a burgeoning Bosnian and halal food scene. We shouldn’t take a backseat to any city in America regarding food.”