Venice Cafe is a restaurant in Benton Park, St. Louis.
A Benton Park institution covered floor-to-ceiling in mosaic and folk art, Venice Cafe is the city's most idiosyncratic bar, with a lush patio and live music.
Why locals love it: A Benton Park bar covered floor-to-ceiling in mosaic and folk art, Venice Cafe is a surreal hidden world that few first-time visitors manage to find.
Tip: The art-covered patio is the whole point; come on a warm evening with live music. Cash is handy here.
Address: 1903 Pestalozzi St, St. Louis, MO 63118
Why locals love it: A welcoming, longtime LGBTQ anchor across from Tower Grove Park, Mokabe's serves a rare all-day vegetarian brunch that visitors rarely find on their own.
Tip: The all-day vegan and vegetarian brunch is rare in the city. It fills after the Saturday Tower Grove market.
Why locals love it: In the old Mama Toscano's space with weekend-only hours, STL Toasted is a single-minded toasted-ravioli counter most visitors never time right.
Tip: Open only Friday to Sunday; order the t-ravs by the dozen with marinara. It carries on the Hill's ravioli tradition.
Why locals love it: Tourists rarely venture to Old North, but this 1913 soda fountain is the oldest in the metro, worth the trip for hand-made malts and a towering BLT.
Tip: Take the malt challenge or split the BLT. The neighbourhood is sleepy, so it feels like a discovery despite its age.
Why locals love it: Tucked in an Overland strip mall far from the tourist map, Durango plates a torta ahogada that locals drive across the metro for, under ten dollars.
Tip: Order the chile-drowned torta ahogada. It sits next to a grocery in a plaza most visitors never find.
Why locals love it: A suburban Webster Groves counter rather than a downtown name, Balkan Treat Box bakes wood-fired somun and cevapi worthy of a James Beard nod.
Tip: The wood-fired somun-based plates are the way in; lines build at lunch. A short drive from the city centre.
Why locals love it: A spare, no-frills roastery far from the cafe circuit, Sump roasts some of the most precise light-roast coffee in the country for those who seek it out.
Tip: This is a place to taste, not to camp; try the filter flight. Buy a bag of the single-origin light roasts to take home.
