Gioia's Deli is a bakery in The Hill, St. Louis.
A James Beard America's Classics winner on The Hill, Gioia's slices its house Hot Salami onto fresh-baked bread, a sandwich St. Louis treats as a rite.
Tip: The Original Hot Salami is the order, made from Gioia's own fresh sausage. The line moves fast at lunch.
Address: 1934 Macklind Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
A small Italian bakery on The Hill, Marconi turns out cannoli, cookies and crusty Italian bread to a neighbourhood crowd, a no-frills Hill morning stop.
Tip: It opens early and closes by early afternoon; the bread and cannoli go first. Cash-friendly and unpretentious.
Worth the queue: Cannoli, cookies and Italian bread
A South County mainstay since 1956, McArthur's is a classic full-service bakery known for celebration cakes and a deep case of St. Louis bakery staples.
Tip: It is the go-to for custom and celebration cakes. The gooey butter cake and the donuts hold up the everyday case.
Worth the queue: Custom cakes and gooey butter cake
World's Fair Donuts has fried hand-made yeast and cake doughnuts from a small Vandeventer shop for almost 90 years, the city's classic doughnut counter.
Tip: It is cash-only and gone by lunch most days; arrive early for the apple fritter and the red velvet cake doughnut.
Worth the queue: Apple fritter and red velvet cake doughnut
Strange Donuts makes inventive, often over-the-top doughnuts and rotating collaboration flavours from a Maplewood shop, a playful local doughnut institution.
Tip: The wild rotating specials change weekly; the standards are reliable too. They sell out on busy mornings.
Worth the queue: Rotating collaboration doughnuts
Reine Bayoc's SweetArt bakes plant-based cakes, cupcakes and savoury plates with strong vegan and gluten-free options, a longtime favourite now in Midtown.
Tip: It is the city's go-to for vegan celebration cakes. The savoury cafe menu is a bonus alongside the case.
Worth the queue: Vegan cakes and cupcakes
A family German-American bakery in old-town Florissant, Helfer's makes strudel, stollen and bakery-case classics, a long-running north-county favourite.
Tip: The German pastries and the seasonal stollen are the draws. Pair a visit with old-town Florissant's historic streets.
Worth the queue: Strudel, stollen and cakes
A small Italian bakery on The Hill, Marconi turns out cannoli, cookies and crusty Italian bread to a neighbourhood crowd, a no-frills Hill morning stop.
Tip: It opens early and closes by early afternoon; the bread and cannoli go first. Cash-friendly and unpretentious.
Worth the queue: Cannoli, cookies and Italian bread
