Where St. Louis shops, snacks and lunches: the markets worth your morning.
Food markets, farmers markets and covered halls: where St. Louis shops, snacks and lunches.
Established in 1779, Soulard is the oldest farmers market west of the Mississippi, a covered year-round hall of produce, meat and spice stalls in south city.
Go for: Produce, Meat, Spices
Tip: Go Saturday morning for the fullest stalls and the best haggling. The spice and produce vendors are the heart of it.
A Midtown food hall in a reclaimed foundry, City Foundry gathers about 20 stalls plus a brewery and cinema, the city's biggest food-hall destination.
Go for: Food hall, Tacos, Dumplings
Tip: Graze across several stalls; the dumpling and taco counters are reliable. City Winery and a cinema share the building.
Held in Tower Grove Park for 20 years, this seasonal market gathers regional farms, bakers and prepared-food stalls on Saturday mornings in the park.
Go for: Produce, Prepared food, Bread
Tip: Come early Saturday and bring a bag; the prepared-food stalls make it a breakfast spot. A Tuesday evening edition runs in summer.
Held Wednesday evenings in the Schlafly Bottleworks lot in Maplewood, this market pairs local produce, meat and cheese vendors with beer-garden music.
Go for: Produce, Meat, Cheese
Tip: Shop the stalls, then settle into the Schlafly beer garden for music. Bring cash for the smaller vendors.
A Saturday-morning market in Clayton's Straub's lot, this gathers 25 to 30 Missouri and Illinois growers, bakers and makers, the tidy upscale west-end market.
Go for: Produce, Baked goods, Local makers
Tip: It is smaller and curated; come for high-quality produce and artisan bakers. Parking is in the Straub's lot.
Founded in 2002, this award-winning Saturday market in downtown Ferguson brings produce picked within a day, plus prepared food and crafts to north county.
Go for: Produce, Prepared food, Local crafts
Tip: Produce is picked within 24 hours of market day, so go early for the freshest pick and the breakfast stalls.
St. Louis's premier international grocery, Global Foods in Kirkwood stocks fresh, frozen and packaged products from across the globe in one big store.
Go for: International groceries, Spices, Specialty
Tip: It is a grocery rather than a stall market, but unmatched for global ingredients. Allow time to wander the aisles.
A Hill grocery institution, DiGregorio's stocks imported Italian goods, fresh pasta, cheese and a deli counter, a market that anchors the neighbourhood.
Go for: Italian groceries, Fresh pasta, Deli
Tip: Stock up on fresh pasta and imported cheese for a Hill cook-at-home meal. The deli sandwiches are a lunch bonus.
A century-old salumeria on The Hill, Volpi Foods has cured artisan Italian meats for over 100 years, with a retail shop selling its salami and prosciutto.
Go for: Cured meats, Salami, Italian provisions
Tip: The retail counter sells the salami and prosciutto Volpi is known for nationally. Pair with bread and cheese for a Hill picnic.
A summer Tuesday-evening edition of the Tower Grove market, this leans toward prepared food, crafts and a social after-work crowd in the park's leafy setting.
Go for: Prepared food, Crafts, Produce
Tip: It is more night-market than grocery run, so come hungry for the food stalls. Runs early May through September.
A small Wednesday-evening market in downtown Maplewood, SOL Food gathers local produce, meat, eggs and baked goods from area growers after work.
Go for: Produce, Local meat, Eggs
Tip: Pair a stop with dinner on Maplewood's Sutton strip. It is compact, so come for quality over quantity.