Adriana's On The Hill is an italian deli restaurant in The Hill, St. Louis.
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.
Must order: The Sicilian sub and a cup of the day's soup.
Tip: It is lunch only and closes mid-afternoon; the line moves fast. Get the Sicilian sub and split it.
Address: 5101 Shaw Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110
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.
Order: Toasted ravioli, which the restaurant claims to have popularised.
Tip: Reserve for dinner; the dining room fills with regulars and out-of-town pilgrims. Start with the toasted ravioli and a Caesar.
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.
Order: Handmade pasta of the day with a wood-oven pizza.
Tip: It books up at weekends; the bar and the patio take walk-ins. The next-door Pastaria Deli & Wine handles takeaway.
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.
Order: House-made pasta and a glass of an obscure Italian varietal.
Tip: The wine list rewards trusting the staff with a regional pick. Reserve on Resy; the room is small.
This DeMun bistro pairs a fiery pizza oven with a tight Italian menu, and its wood-oven roast chicken is among the best in the metro. A neighbourhood room.
Order: The wood-oven roast chicken and the Ramon gnocco.
Tip: It does not take many reservations, so come early or settle in at the bar. The gnocco fritto is close to mandatory.
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.
Order: Salt-and-pepper calamari, pho, and canh chua sour soup.
Tip: The menu runs to hundreds of items; the salt-and-pepper calamari and the sour soup are the orders to anchor a table around.
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.
Order: The cioppino loaded with mussels, clams, shrimp and squid.
Tip: It is a neighbourhood room that fills with regulars; reserve at weekends and ask the bar what is being shaken that night.
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.
Order: Toasted ravioli, which the restaurant claims to have popularised.
Tip: Reserve for dinner; the dining room fills with regulars and out-of-town pilgrims. Start with the toasted ravioli and a Caesar.
