Mokabe's Coffeehouse is a cafe in Tower Grove South, St. Louis.
A longtime LGBTQ-friendly anchor across from Tower Grove Park, Mokabe's pours coffee and runs an all-day vegetarian-leaning brunch in a welcoming room.
Tip: The vegan and vegetarian brunch runs all day, which is rare in the city. It fills after the Saturday farmers market.
Address: 3606 Arsenal St, St. Louis, MO 63116
A downtown Maplewood cafe with a strong vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free bent, Foundation Grounds pours coffee and serves a wholesome all-day menu.
Signature drink: Coffee and vegetarian-friendly cafe plates
Tip: Most drinks make easily vegan with the soy and almond options. The brunch plates are the reason regulars linger.
Mauhaus pairs La Cosecha coffee and in-house cookies with a lounge of adoptable cats in Maplewood, the metro's cat cafe. The coffee is the side dish.
Signature drink: La Cosecha coffee with adoptable cats
Tip: The cat lounge is timed and ticketed separately from the coffee bar; book ahead at weekends. The cookies are baked in house.
A century-old house turned all-day breakfast cafe, Benton Park Cafe pours coffee and plates hearty brunch in a warren of cosy rooms. A south-side staple.
Signature drink: Coffee and all-day breakfast
Tip: The hash and the breakfast burritos are the orders. Weekend mornings draw a wait, so go early.
Union Loafers bakes naturally leavened bread and runs a lunchtime cafe of sandwiches and pizza in Botanical Heights, a James Beard-nominated bakery.
Signature drink: Espresso, sandwiches and naturally leavened bread
Tip: The bread sells out, so come early for a loaf. The Tuesday-through-Saturday pizza nights are a separate, popular service.
Park Avenue Coffee pairs espresso with more than 70 varieties of gooey butter cake, the St. Louis dessert it is best known for. Visit the Lafayette original.
Signature drink: Coffee and gooey butter cake
Tip: The Mom's Traditional gooey butter cake is the order, named best in town by Food Network. Boxes travel well as gifts.
Mike Randolph's Clayton breakfast room marries a focused coffee programme with made-from-scratch brunch, from blueberry pancakes to the flat-iron hash.
Signature drink: Espresso and made-from-scratch brunch
Tip: Ask for the pancakes cooked in bacon fat, a house move. Weekend waits are long, so put your name down and walk Clayton.
