World's Fair Donuts is a bakery in Shaw, St. Louis.
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.
Address: 1904 S Vandeventer Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
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
Comet's serious in-house micro-bakery turns out kouign-amann and seasonal galettes alongside the espresso, a pastry program that rivals the coffee here.
Tip: The kouign-amann and galettes sell out by midday, so come early. There are two locations, on Shaw and Oakland.
Worth the queue: Kouign-amann and galettes
STL Toasted took over the old Mama Toscano's space on The Hill and built a counter around toasted ravioli, the breaded-and-fried St. Louis dish born here.
Tip: Open only Friday to Sunday; order the t-ravs by the dozen with marinara. It carries on the Hill's ravioli tradition.
Worth the queue: Breaded, fried toasted ravioli
