Pavilion is a japanese sushi fine-dining restaurant in St. Louis.
Editorially verified May 31, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Tip: Chef-led nights run around $250 and the trained-team nights around $175; book through Sado. Eighteen small courses, so come hungry.
Address: 5201 Shaw Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
James Beard Best Chef Midwest winner Kevin Nashan works a changing chalkboard menu in a century-old Benton Park storefront, the city's special-occasion table.
Tip: The menu is recited tableside from a chalkboard, so ask questions. Reserve on Resy or by phone a week or two ahead.
Nick Bognar's sushi-forward Japanese room on The Hill plates high-grade seafood flown in several times a week. It shares a building with his omakase Pavilion.
Tip: Order broadly off the sushi and sashimi list and let the counter steer. Reserve on Resy a week or two out.
Once members-only, Blood and Sand keeps an intimate downtown room built around culinary cocktails and seasonal tasting menus with a Wine Spectator list.
Tip: Request the 5- or 10-course tasting in your reservation at least 48 hours ahead; the cocktail program is a draw on its own.
Nick Bognar marries Thai family cooking with serious sushi at this Botanical Heights room, the one that made him a James Beard Best Chef Midwest finalist.
Tip: If dinner is booked out, the hand-roll bar and cocktail counter take the overflow. Reserve on Resy ahead.
Zoe Robinson's Clayton steakhouse plates dry-aged beef and polished seasonal cooking in a handsome Wydown room. The western-suburb special-occasion table.
Tip: Reserve on Resy and ask which steak the kitchen is proudest of that week. The bar pours a serious martini.
Chef Lou Rook's Chesterfield mainstay works as both a serious steakhouse and a market-driven kitchen, with a Wine Spectator award-winning cellar for years.
Tip: It is a drive west of the city but worth it for the wine; reserve a window table. The attached Smokehouse Market sells the meats.
