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Sep 1, 2022 · Read on to discover the shape of dining in St. Louis county, and then check out her introduction to the guide as well as her picks for St. Louis city and the metro east. South County Maryland...
- Riverfront Times Staff
- South County
- Maryland Heights
- Ferguson, Florissant, Hazelwood
- Overland / St. Ann
- Maplewood
- Kirkwood / Webster Groves
- Richmond Heights / Brentwood
- Clayton / Ladue
- The Loop / University City / Olivette
- West County
J's Pitaria
Like blintzes made from phyllo, Zamir Jahic's pitas are stuffed, rolled and baked so that the exterior gets golden and flaky while the interior remains gooey and tender. Ordered by the pound rather than by the piece, the pitas come both sweet and savory. The latter include a simple cheese version, which oozes with mild and gooey kajmak, a housemade buttery spread that is like the lovechild of feta and boursin cheese, making for a pillow-soft, cheesy version of a fried spring roll. More tradit...
Liliana's Italian Kitchen
The intoxicating scent of garlic, Parmesan and dough that greets you upon arrival to Liliana's (two locations including 11836 Tesson Ferry Road, 314-729-1800) is a precursor for what's to come, which really ought to begin with an order of cheese garlic bread. At this charming, old-school Italian joint, chef/owner Tim Pieri dips crusty Italian bread into a concoction of melted butter, garlic and Parmesan, then covers it in mozzarella cheese before placing it in the oven. The result is a cheesy...
Nubby's BBQ
What started as an unlikely bastion of barbecue at the All American Sports Mall in south county has become one of the area's most delicious smokehouses. There have been some changes over the past year. Nubby's BBQ(6030 Telegraph Road, 314-293-9686) now boasts a standalone second location on Telegraph and has new owners after founder Matt Hines took over longtime south county institution Roberto's. One thing that hasn't changed, though, is that Nubby's continues to serve up top-tier barbecue a...
DD Mau
The name DD Mau(11982 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights; 314-942-2300) roughly translates to "hurry up" or "let's go." But for all its speed, the counter-service spot takes no shortcuts. Owner Julie Truong's food is both innovative and fiercely authentic, customizable yet appealing to fans of traditional Vietnamese food. A vermicelli bowl features such traditional accouterments as crushed peanuts, cilantro and pickled vegetables, but it can be tossed with a dressing, such as the funky Vietnamese...
El Morelia Supermercado
On the surface, El Morelia Supermercado (12005 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton; 314-209-0014)is an expansive Latin-food grocery store where customers can find anything from crispy bolillos to mortars carved from volcanic stone. But on the weekends, El Morelia Supermercado transforms into a pop-up taqueria. Ricos Tacos stand sets up inside and serves up fare that will spoil all other tacos for you. Protein offerings include steak, marinated pork, carne asada, lengua (cow tongue) and more. Plu...
Serra's Pizzeria
St. Louis-style pizza is one of those polarizing points of discussion — you either love it or you hate it. But at Serra's Pizzeria (12218 McKelvey Road, Maryland Heights; 314-739-0881), you'll love it no matter your stance. Tucked into an unassuming building next to a strip mall off a busy Maryland Heights street, the pizzeria specializes in our beloved thin-crust pie. Each 'za is made with Provel cheese, the St. Louis way, and the list of toppings is neverending. But the menu doesn't begin a...
Cathy's Kitchen
Inspired by her culinary trips around the U.S., Cathy Jenkins opened Cathy's Kitchen (250 South Florissant Road, Ferguson; 314-524-9200) as a way for diners to eat their way around the country without ever leaving north county. Her menu is divided not by starters, entrees or sandwiches but by state, each category filled with the specialties she enjoyed from each place. Look for Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, New Orleans jambalaya and Memphis-style pulled pork on this edible road trip...
Hendel's Market Café & Piano Bar
The Old Town Florissant digs housing Hendel's (599 Saint Denis Street, Florissant; 314-837-2304)have a colorful past: The century-old storefront used to be a grocer. But there's nothing old-fashioned about the food. Try the German potato soup with its zippy hint of vinegar or the smoked shrimp en croute; there's also a full menu of steaks, chicken, fish and pasta. Other perks include enthusiastic, rosy-cheeked service; a comfy dining room; and outside seating in a serene garden. Kids' menu. $...
Kaslik
Chef and co-owner Wesam Hamed, whose résumé includes such notable spots as Ranoush and Layla, has been cooking his delicious Palestinian fare in north St. Louis County since 2013, first opening Kaslik (7847 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Hazelwood; 314-972-8282)in Florissant before moving to its current home. The place is a charmer, with thoughtful touches throughout and equally good food. Hamed's signature shawarma remains excellent. Likewise, the lamb chops, falafel and hummus are so authentic...
Chuck-A-Burger
The menu atChuck-A-Burger (9025 St. Charles Rock Road, St. John, 314-427-9524) may be filled with delectable American classics like burgers, fries and malts, but the most wonderful thing served at this north county institution is pure nostalgia. For more than 50 years, the restaurant has existed as a living slice of history, maintaining the tradition of the quintessential 1950s soda fountain down to its car hops, old-school jukebox soundtrack and classic car cruise nights. This is the culinar...
El Guanaco Taqueria & Pupuseria
If you're looking for a taste of Central American cuisine, El Guanaco Taqueria & Pupuseria (10633 Page Avenue, 314-274-8022)is a top destination. Serving food from El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, El Guanaco keeps the menu fairly traditional, offering classic versions of empanadas, pupusas and menudo (Mexican tripe soup). If you just want a basic quesadilla or taco, you can get that, too, making the restaurant a great place to try new things while still finding something for your picky child...
Fire Chicken
Located in a shoebox of a building off Page Avenue in Overland, Fire Chicken (10200 Page Avenue, Overland; 314-551-2123)seems unassuming until you taste the food. Based loosely on traditional Korean fried chicken, Fire Chicken is the brainchild of husband and wife Min and Michelle Baik, two industry veterans who, after years of running restaurants focused on Japanese cuisine, are now proudly showing off their Korean culinary heritage. The restaurant's namesake dish, a sticky sweet and searing...
Acero
Long before Maplewood was a dining destination, back when St. Louis' Italian restaurants were mostly limited to "white sauce or red?" there was Acero (7266 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-644-1790). Jim Fiala's flawlessly executed spot served nothing like the city had ever seen. More than a decade in, Acero feels as stylish, and essential, as ever, with menu items that include a seafood crudo and prosciutto-wrapped pastries called gnocco fritto as well as the expected pasta, fish, steak and r...
Asador del Sur
After moving to St. Louis from Miami, Maria Giamportone and Daniel Gonzalez opened Asador del Sur (7322 Manchester Road, Maplewood, 314-802-8587)to be a traditional South American-style grill, a place that honored their respective Ecuadorian and Uruguayan heritages. Both food and setting are luminous, with meat, seafood and wine not typically seen on St. Louis tables. Offerings include a selection of flawlessly grilled skirt steak, terrifically tender langostinos and some of the best empanada...
Benevolent King
From a tiny kitchen on a charming block, restaurateur Ben Poremba is reclaiming his identity as a chef with his most personal concept to date, one that draws its inspiration from his Moroccan-Israeli heritage. The falafel and chicken-filled Moroccan "cigars" are thrilling, while larger plates like the incredible lamb meatballs will blow you away at Benevolent King (7268 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-899-0440). With a creative cocktail list that offers some of the most thoughtful libations i...
Balkan Treat Box
The brick-and-mortar offshoot of a wildly successful food truck, Balkan Treat Box (8103 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-733-5700)offers fast-casual food from not only Bosnia but also its neighbors. Highlights include somun stuffed with Sarajevo-style cevapi, which looks like a breakfast link but tastes more like Middle Eastern kefta. Chef/owner Loryn Nalic cooks the meat over open flames, encrusting it with wood smoke to give it a slightly crisp texture even as it remains so juicy you...
Chiang Mai
Chef Su Hill started Chiang Mai (8158 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves) as a homage to her late mother, a revered home cook who'd meticulously instructed Hill on preparing traditional Thai cuisine. The result is a menu that's full of revelatory delights that comfort and light up the palate. A small plate of house-made sausages are stuffed full of rustic cuts of pork mixed with fresh herbs and spices. Tender baby back ribs called gra dook moo are roasted with a sweet and earthy glaze, while...
Frisco Barroom
Frisco Barroom (8110 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-455-1090)is a modern American tavern that is nice enough for date night but not so nice that you have to call a sitter. The restaurant is positively handsome, outfitted in exposed brick, black slate paint, wrought-iron chandeliers and a black tin ceiling. The menu, which includes boards, sandwiches and a few well-thought-out entrees, is interesting without ever venturing from being accessible. $$-$$$. Rooftop dining and a back patio...
Farotto's
An OG St. Louis-style pizzeria, Farotto's (9525 Manchester Road, 314-962-0048)has been serving square-cut slices since 1956, eight years before Imo's. Anchored by its pizza, red sauce and signature salad dressing, Farotto's has helped to define the St. Louis Italian subgenre for generations of diners. Appetizers include stuffed risotto cakes, bruschetta and, for true St. Louisans, Provel sticks. It also offers lunch combos, sandwiches, burgers and pasta. Other than pizza, the dinner menu incl...
Frank Papa's Ristorante
Frank Papa's Ristorante (2241 South Brentwood Boulevard, Brentwood; 314-961-3344)is so welcoming and serene you'd never know that it was located just south of the fourth circle of hell (the Brentwood Promenade parking lot). The cozy restaurant is an oasis of good Italian food and service. It's white-tablecloth dining but without pretense. The restaurant is known for giving you a family-style welcome and for serving a pasta dish with sauce so spicy that it's been rumored to induce labor in peo...
Katie's Pizza and Pasta Osteria
The first location of Katie's Pizza and Pasta Osteria (multiple locations including 9568 Manchester Road, Rock Hill, 314-942-6555) is a stunner, embodying eponymous owner Katie Lee Collier's keen eye for design. But Katie's has substance, not just style, serving thoughtful, approachable food with near-flawless execution. Katie's Famous Fried Artichokes dazzle, while brussels sprouts are perfectly charred and glazed in an Italian sweet-and-sour sauce balanced with salty pancetta. While the piz...
Almonds
For 25 years,Almonds (8127 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-1019)has continued to thrive because of its dedication to customers. Tony and Kelli Almond have built relationships with their patrons since Almonds first opened its doors in 1997. Maybe it's the Southern hospitality. The Almonds have roots in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. Their upbringings are reflected not only in their personal warmth but also in their food. On the menu, find sauteed crawfish tails salad, chicken and sausage gum...
Akar
Bernie Lee's intimate Akar (7641 Wydown Blvd, Clayton, 314-553-9914)is a deeply personal restaurant — one that explores the chef's roots going all the way back to his childhood in Malaysia. With a stunning interior space that seats only 14 (there's room for more on the lovely patio as weather permits), Lee is able to treat Akar like a dinner party in his own home, which means he can do what he wants just because he wants to do it. That means true fusion, with offerings such oolong tea-brined...
Casa Don Alfonso
You don't have to leave St. Louis to be whisked to the Amalfi Coast. With its gleaming marble table tops, lemon trees, hand-painted tile walls and blown-glass wisteria leaf decor, Casa Don Alfonso (100 Carondelet Plaza, inside the Ritz Carlton, Clayton; 314-719-1496) evokes the sort of ease you'd feel sipping aperitivo on an outdoor terrace in Sant'Agata. And the authentic food will truly transport. This is a "franchise," so to speak, of Don Alfonso 1890, a 100-year-old restaurant on Italy's...
Cate Zone Chinese Cafe
The Hot Crisp Fish at Cate Zone (8148 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-738-9923) is one of those dishes that makes you fall in love with a restaurant. Whole peppers accompany hunks of panko-breaded whitefish, staining the breadcrumbs bright orange. Sichuan peppercorns — all five types — speckle the vibrant red chiles coating your mouth with a menthol-esque tingle. It's just one of the show-stopping offerings at this modern Chinese restaurant. The cumin lamb is dazzling; the Honey Crisp S...
ChiliSpot
A relative newcomer to U. City, ChiliSpot(7930 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-925-8711)is a worthy addition to the phenomenal Asian cuisine options along Olive Boulevard. The comprehensive menu makes this the ideal place to come with a group of friends and sample several entrees and even more sides. For the spice lovers, the Chongqing spicy popcorn chicken is a modern twist on a classic, and the Szechuan spicy wonton is a classic dish done to perfection. But don't worry, there are also...
Corner 17
Corner 17 (6623 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-727-2402)is a U. City staple. Bubble tea and freshly made noodles are served at this beloved spot, as well as plump baos and satisfying soups. Immigrant owned and run, Corner 17 puts its chefs front and center, literally. The focal point of the dining room is a window into the noodle-making station. Watch cooks stretch and slice the dough as you settle into the space. You might want to be prepared to wait, though. Lines to get in snaked d...
Annie Gunn's
More pub than club, Annie Gunn's(16806 Chesterfield Airport Road, Chesterfield; 636-532-7684)is not the kind of place you get dressed up for. Still, the food is as good as it gets, with an on-site SmokeHouse Market, where meats are cured, dry-aged and hand-cut. If you don't have a reservation, securing a table might take as long as three hours. But when you sink your teeth into Chef Lou Rook III's grilled-to-order ribeye and get your mitts around a glass of red from the 700-bottle list, you'l...
China Bistro at Pan-Asia Supermarket
Tucked next to an Academy Sports in an unassuming Ballwin strip mall sits Pan-Asia Supermarket — one of the area's largest Asian grocery stores. Yet even more deceivingly low-key is a tiny Chinese eatery located off to the side of the supermarket's sprawling aisles of every imaginable Asian product. China Bistro (14246 Manchester Road, Ballwin; 636-220-9999) will serve you some of the most authentic, delicious Chinese food in St. Louis. Our favorites include the Singapore sweet rice noodles,...
Curry Club
Indian restaurants are a frequent lunch favorite, but it's hard to say who does midday better than Curry Club(1635 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield; 636-778-7777), which bills itself as a fast-food takeout place for Indian food lovers. The lunch special (vegetarian or not) contains two curries of choice plus rice and naan. Its popularity is only rivaled by the restaurant's extensive dosa selection, all of which are grilled behind the counter in view of customers — a sight that makes the savory cre...
- Riverfront Times
Jun 23, 2023 · Dig into this collection of hip foodie restaurants located in St. Louis County. From Maplewood to Clayton to St. Charles (yes, we included St. Charles, too) there are plenty of spots to sample ...
May 1, 2023 · St. Louis Magazine's dining guide is an essential compendium of restaurants recommendations across the St. Louis metro area. See our dining team's recommendations in South County.
Dec 2, 2022 · (636) 220-9999. Visit Website. Chow fun. Holly Fann. El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery. St. Louis is home to a multitude of stellar Mexican restaurants serving tacos and freshly fried...
Best Dining in Saint Louis, Missouri: See 101,892 Tripadvisor traveler reviews of 3,190 Saint Louis restaurants and search by cuisine, price, location, and more.
May 14, 2024 · The dining team at St. Louis Magazine scoured the area to identify the top 100-plus restaurants across metro St. Louis, including our pick for the Restaurant of the Year.
