Pastaria
Order Handmade pasta of the day with a wood-oven pizza.
James Beard winner Gerard Craft's Clayton Italian runs on handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza in a busy room. The most reliable Italian table off The Hill.
The restaurants worth the trip in St. Louis: bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
Our picks in St. Louis
19 places
Acero
Order House-made pasta and a glass of an obscure Italian varietal.
Acero plates handmade pasta and a deep, off-the-beaten-path Italian wine list in Maplewood. It is the quiet, grown-up Italian dinner locals favour.
Book food experiences in St. Louis
Mai Lee
- ★ 4.4
- Vietnamese
- $$
- Brentwood
Order Salt-and-pepper calamari, pho, and canh chua sour soup.
Opened in 1985 and credited as the first Vietnamese restaurant in St. Louis, Mai Lee runs a vast menu of pho, bun and canh chua that sets the local standard.
Frazer's
- ★ 4.2
- American
- $$$
- Benton Park
Order The cioppino loaded with mussels, clams, shrimp and squid.
A Benton Park gathering place for 25 years, Frazer's pairs a globe-trotting comfort menu with one of the better cocktail programmes on the south side.
Charlie Gitto's On The Hill
Order Toasted ravioli, which the restaurant claims to have popularised.
A Hill institution tied to the toasted-ravioli origin story, Charlie Gitto's plates red-sauce Italian classics in a clubby room. The t-ravs draw first-timers.
Zia's On The Hill
Order Toasted ravioli and the chicken spiedini.
A family-run Hill room going since 1985, Zia's plates generous Italian-American spiedini and pasta. The everyday Hill table locals lean on over the big names.
Gian-Tony's Ristorante
Order Veal and pasta plates from chef-owner Tony Catarinicchia.
Open on The Hill since 1989, Gian-Tony's serves Southern Italian veal, chicken and seafood from a chef-owner who still runs the kitchen most nights.
Balkan Treat Box
- ★ 4.5
- Bosnian
- $$
- Webster Groves
Order Wood-fired somun bread with cevapi and a lahmacun flatbread.
Loryn and Edo Nalic bake somun in a wood-fired oven and turn out cevapi and lahmacun, a James Beard-recognised take on Bosnian and Turkish street food.
Pappy's Smokehouse
Order Dry-rubbed ribs smoked over apple and cherry wood.
Pappy's smokes Memphis-style ribs over apple and cherry wood in Midtown and lands on national BBQ lists. The ribs are the order, and they sell out daily.
Where to stay in St. Louis
A sample of St. Louis hotels from our booking partner, who list 31,509 here. Live prices and availability open on their site.
OYO Hotel St. Louis Lambert Airport
Located in St. Louis (Airport Township), OYO Hotel St. Louis Lambert Airport is within a 10-minute drive of...
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Super 8 by Wyndham St. Louis Airport
With a stay at Super 8 by Wyndham St. Louis Airport in St. Louis (Airport Township), you'll be within a 10-...
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Frontdesk - Level on Locust Apts Downtown St. Louis
With a stay at Frontdesk Level on Locust Apts Downtown St. Louis in St. Louis (Downtown St. Louis), you'll...
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Travelodge by Wyndham St. Louis
With a stay at Travelodge by Wyndham St. Louis in St. Louis (Airport Township), you'll be a 4-minute drive ...
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Compare for next weekend: Holidu in St. Louis from USD 106/night · Expedia in St. Louis
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Salt + Smoke
- ★ 4.4
- Bbq
- $$
- Delmar Loop
Order Post-oak brisket with the fried pimento-cheese balls.
Salt + Smoke smokes brisket over post oak for 16 hours in the Delmar Loop and pairs it with a deep bourbon list. The city's leading new-school BBQ name.
Hodak's Restaurant & Bar
- ★ 4.2
- Fried Chicken
- $$
- Benton Park
Order The fried chicken dinner with sides.
Hodak's has won Riverfront Times reader polls for best fried chicken since the 1990s. The family-run Gravois corner room is a no-frills temple to the bird.
Seoul Taco
- ★ 4.0
- Korean-mexican
- $
- The Grove
Order The Seoul taco and the gogi bowl with bulgogi.
David Choi's 2011 food truck grew into a small Korean-Mexican chain built on bulgogi tacos and kimchi-fried-rice bowls. The Chouteau kitchen is the original.
Grace Meat + Three
- ★ 4.4
- Soul food
- $$
- The Grove
Order The fried chicken and a rotating trio of vegetable sides.
Rick and Elisa Lewis run this Grove meat-and-three around some of the best fried chicken in Missouri, ordered at the counter. Rick is a James Beard nominee.
Lu Lu Seafood & Dim Sum
- ★ 4.1
- Cantonese
- $$
- Delmar Loop
Order Cart-rolled dim sum at lunch and the salt-and-pepper shrimp.
Lu Lu has run cart-rolled dim sum and Cantonese seafood on the Olive Boulevard Chinese strip for years. The weekend dim sum draws regulars to University City.
Cafe Natasha
- ★ 4.2
- Persian
- $$
- Tower Grove South
Order Fesenjan and kabobs over saffron rice with eggplant dishes.
The Bahrami family has plated Persian kabobs, fesenjan and herbed stews on South Grand for decades, anchoring the restaurant row of Tower Grove South.
Sameem Afghan Restaurant
Order Aushak leek dumplings, kabuli palaw and sambosas.
Sameem plates Afghan kabuli palaw, aushak dumplings and grilled kabobs in The Grove, an affordable kitchen that has fed the city Afghan classics for years.
STL Toasted
- ★ 3.9
- Italian-american
- $
- The Hill
Order Toasted ravioli, the dish the shop is built around.
STL Toasted took over the old Mama Toscano's space on The Hill and built a counter entirely around toasted ravioli, the breaded-and-fried dish born here.
Adriana's On The Hill
- ★ 4.2
- Italian Deli
- $
- The Hill
Order The Sicilian sub and a cup of the day's soup.
Mama Adriana Fazio opened this Shaw Avenue sandwich shop over 30 years ago, and her daughters still run it. The foot-long subs are a Hill lunch institution.
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