Food & Drink >>

• Best Fast Food
  Nachomama's
  "All men should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why." James Thurber, who emitted that bon mot, preferred the Algonquin to Nachomama's. Of course, Thurber didn't live in St. Louis, and he shuffled off this mortal coil more than 30 years before John and Nancy... More >>
• Best Microbrewed Beer
  Schlafly Pale Ale
  What is it with beer labels these days? Say what you will about Budweiser, but the damn beer's got a helluva label. Ditto Miller, Schlitz and some of them old-school foreign imports like Heineken and Bass. But these micro-beermakers -- honest to Pete, you can't swing a dead cat in a grocery... More >>
• Best Burger
  Seamus McDaniel's
  In the old days, poets penned odes to ravishing women and urns. Today there is the Seamus burger, which has been wrongly shunted to the back corners of best-burger conversations around these parts for far too long. This ten-ounce hunka-hunka burnin' love bests all comers thanks to -- from the... More >>
• Best Burger (Non-Beef Division)
  Roasted Portobello Mushroom and Provolone
  Consider for a moment just what makes a burger a burger. We all know that modern times no longer mandate meat in the middle, but what else? Must it come on a bun? Is a palate-pleasing pairing with ketchup required? Or is a burger more than the sum of its edible parts? Is it, really, the aura... More >>
• Best French Fries
  Del Taco
  Thank you, Del Taco, for putting salt on our fries for us. Thank you, Del Taco, for crinkle-cutting our fries. If only everybody realized how simply spuds can be elevated to heavenly, unforgettable status: a few mere shakes of sodium chloride, a perfect-every-time browning technique (something... More >>
• Best Snow Cone (1 Comment)
  Tropical Moose
  Forget the plastic spoon they give you and just dive in. Taking your first gulp of a Tropical Moose snow cone is the next best thing to rubbing your face in the fresh snow of a peak in the Alps. That's because at Tropical Moose they don't crush their ice; they shave it. Each cone (served in a... More >>
• Best Ice Cream Parlor
  Frozen Assets
  There's Chocolate Ice Cream, and then there's Really Good Chocolate Ice Cream, and then there's Serious Chocolate Ice Cream. The capitalizations here are not just for emphasis; those are the proper names of three actual flavors of frozen goodness at Frozen Assets. As impressive as that reads on... More >>
• Best Milkshake
  Crown Candy Kitchen
  A milkshake at Crown Candy Kitchen is so mighty, it determines the course of the rest of your day: which movie you go see later (better make it the frenetic, fast-paced action pic), what you have for dinner (water is a wise choice) and whether you take an afternoon nap (duh). Built on a... More >>
• Best Concrete
  The Cardinal Sin
  Sinful, indeed. As in, lust for just a lick propels you down to south city, envy wracks your wayward soul as those in line before you turn away from the old-school custard hut with concretes in hand, gluttony and greed double-whammy you upside the head once that paper chalice of vanilla custard,... More >>
• Best Smoothie
  Kaldi's Coffeehouse & Market Bakery
  Really, all you do to make a smoothie is dump some fruit and some juice into a blender, then press the magic button. It's not that hard and takes maybe five minutes tops. But then, there's the flavor-combination factor -- and this is where Kaldi's reigns supreme: They know what fruit works with... More >>
• Best Hot Dog
  Woofies Hotdogs
  Historians trace the sausage's beginnings to ancient Mesopotamia -- modern Iraq -- where the ancients first learned to stuff animal intestines with meat. Three millennia would pass before the concept was refined: In the 1850s, a butchers' guild in Frankfurt-am-Main unveiled a smoked, spicy... More >>
• Best Roast Beef Sandwich
  O'Connell's Pub
  Lion's Choice is a fine local chain, but it is, after all, merely a chain. The sandwich at O'Connell's, meanwhile, is one of a kind. When was the last time you ordered a roast beef sandwich and were asked how you like your roast beef cooked? Or the last time you were summarily presented with a... More >>
• Best Fried Chicken
  Hodak's Restaurant
  When you're famished and have less than $10 in your pocket, Hodak's is the place to head. For $6.40 you get a fried half-a-chicken that's the next best thing to Mom's (and maybe better, depending on the mom). Portions are nothing short of huge. The coleslaw and crinkle-cut fries that accompany... More >>
• Best Taco
  El Gallo Jiros
  Figuring out what doesn't belong in a taco is easier than listing what should be there. No lettuce. No cheese. No tomatoes. No crunchy shells. Instead, fried flour tortillas, the small size, doubled up so the filling doesn't soak through. Onion. Cilantro. Meat of your choice. Green and red sauce... More >>
• Best Chicken Wings
  J & A's Bar & Grill
  At some point after 1964 -- when (as legend has it) a bar owner in Buffalo slathered deep-fried chicken wings with her own hot-sauce concoction -- ordering wings and a beer became part of this nation's food culture. We don't like the way things have been trending, however: baked wings to reduce... More >>
• Best Use of the Worst Cheese
  The Famous Gerber
  Sometimes two wrongs make a right. Sometimes three wrongs do. The latter is the case with the Famous Gerber. Wrong No. 1: Its main ingredient is Provel "cheese." Wrong No. 2: Served on French bread and topped with a melted portion of said "cheese" (the ham hides underneath), it's got this... More >>
• Best Barbecue
  Smokin Al's
  We know how people react to barbecue. We've seen 'cue lovers go to the mat over sauce vs. dry, beef vs. pork, vinegar sauce vs. ketchup-based sauce, hickory vs. all other wood. To our taste buds, the worst barbecue in town is still good, because there's nothing better than gnawing on a smoky,... More >>
• Best Charity Barbecue
  Webster Lions Club
  The Webster Lions Club's barbecue concession at the Sappington Farmers' Market is a polished operation. From the custom-built twenty-foot grill-on-wheels to the picnic tables under a tent right down to the mustard self-serve station, this operation radiates professional barbecue-tending. But... More >>
• Best Farmers' Market
  Soulard Market
  There aren't too many places left in the world where one can buy an eggplant, a bag of mini-doughnuts, 80 square feet of carpet, a live chicken, six pairs of tube socks, cut flowers, a loaf of sorghum bread and a pair of hog's balls all in one swipe. We're tremendously lucky in St. Louis to have... More >>
• Best Indian Market
  Peacock Market and Café
  The Peacock South Asian Market and Café is a family-owned and -operated business that offers home-cooked vegetarian meals on its restaurant side and, on its market side, all of your Indian shopping needs: food, music, natural healing products and a remarkably extensive Indian DVD and... More >>
• Best Asian Market
  The Asian Farmer's Market
  When you get down to it, most Asian markets are pretty much the same: They all have that intriguing, odd smell; they all carry the same selection of sauces and condiments; and every one of them sells weird candies that you never see anywhere else. There's nothing wrong with sameness, of course.... More >>
• Best Mexican Market
  Carnicería Latino Americana
  In searching for Mexican market perfection, one of the most important attributes is product density. But it's not only the quantity of products being shown off that's relevant, it's the intense and somewhat chaotic mélange of color displayed. At a quick glance, nothing should be clearly... More >>
• Best Fresh Seafood Counter
  Bob's Seafood
  It all boils down to freshness -- and variety, variety, variety. That explains why about 90 local restaurants procure their fresh fish from Bob and Barbara Mepham's little store, tucked away in University City's Market in the Loop. The world has gotten smaller since the advent of overnight... More >>
• Best Meat Counter
  Straub's
  Have you ever eaten a great steak at a steakhouse and vowed to re-create that baby on your backyard grill? If you're like most folks, the vastly inferior version you end up with began with a slab of beef purchased at your neighborhood behemoth grocery store, enshrouded in plastic wrap in a... More >>
• Best Grocery Store
  Dierbergs
  We know what you're thinking: "With all the corner markets around town, plus two natural-foods supermarkets, you bozos choose a local chain that doesn't even have a store within the St. Louis city limits? What a cop-out!" OK, we'll be the first to admit Dierbergs isn't perfect. No local grocery... More >>
• Best Coffee
  Shaw's Coffee
  Shaw's Coffee presents those jonesing for St. Louis' best cup of joe with a true coffee mecca. Instead of bulk bins of pre-roasted beans lining the walls, a roaster dominates the richly accented main room, attesting to the management's dedication to providing the freshest coffee for its... More >>
• Best Doughnuts
  World's Fair Donuts
  When Terry and Peggy Clanton bought the doughnut business at the corner of Vandeventer and Shaw in 1976, they renamed it World's Fair Donuts because of the building's address. (Get it? 1904 Vandeventer?)They've been open almost every day since then, fourteen hours a day, except for Christmas,... More >>
• Best Bagels (Orthodox)
  Valentine's Bakery
  Did you ever, ever, ever think you'd see the day when a salt bagel grew in St. Louis -- maybe not even St. Louis, but within the 636 area code? Well, may miracles never cease. Not only can you pick up a salt bagel and an onion bagel and a tzizel bagel (wuh?) at Valentine's Bakery on Clarkson... More >>
• Best Bagels (Midwest-style)
  St. Louis Bread Company
  We're all too aware of the fact that bagel preparations and preferences in the Midwest aren't kosher, literally or figuratively. How we like 'em -- with a softer, more cakelike inside, and disguised as desserts like chocolate chip and cinnamon crunch -- is downright blasphemous to purists. We... More >>
• Best Bakery
  La Dolce Via
  When deciding on the best bakery in town, leave it to the experts; Bar Italia, perhaps St. Louis' most perennially favorite restaurant for twenty years running, gets its bread from La Dolce Via, while Best New Restaurant JaBoni's orders both its bread and desserts from here. Both a neighborhood... More >>
• Best Bread
  Black Bear Bakery
  Black Bear Bakery is a collective, something we like to see in this increasingly corporatized world, where even a loaf of damn French bread (or is it now Freedom bread?) baked in California and sold in supermarkets here is packaged to look like it came from a local hearth. And because Black Bear... More >>
• Best Cheese Counter
  Whole Foods
  With hundreds of varieties from around the world, there's plenty to choose from at Whole Foods. Cheeses from Wisconsin, Wales, Ireland, Belgium, England, Denmark, Australia, Wisconsin, Germany and, of course, Wisconsin. Cheeses made by the Amish and by European monks. Cheeses from sheep, goats... More >>
• Best Takeout Counter (Grocery Division)
  Whole Foods Market
  Some people refer to the place as "Whole Paycheck," because you can spend five bucks a pound on organic green beans. But the takeout counter (or "prepared foods department") at Whole Foods is large, varied and never disappointing. Vegetarians and vegetarian-conscious souls can make a meal to-go... More >>
• Best Takeout Counter (Gourmet Division)
  Provisions Gourmet Market & Gifts
  Provisions is a sprawling, one-stop store for the gourmet: wine, cheese, spirits, prepared foods, cooking utensils and a large inventory of gifts, all under one big roof. But it's their takeout menu that keeps folks coming and going from breakfast till dinner. All breakfast fare is just $4.95... More >>
• Best Whole Roast Chicken
  Boston Market
  You know the drill: It's getting late, you're hungry and another pizza is out of the question. And really, how much macaroni-and-cheese can you feed the kids and still keep a clear conscience? That scenario, and variations on it, explain why an increasing number of people are picking up whole... More >>
• Best Pizza (Thick Crust)
  Vito's
  Nothing -- not even the Cardinals' pitching -- starts an argument faster than the issue of who has the best pizza in town. There are many variables that must come together to create a great thick-crust pie: The dough must be freshly prepared and allowed to rise peacefully for an adequate... More >>
• Best Pizza (Thin Crust)
  Pizza-A-Go-Go
  Sometimes we're of two minds about this Best of St. Louis business. Every once in a while, we feel a little hesitant about announcing a winner. Pizza-A-Go-Go presents just such a case. It's not that we're lukewarm about the recommendation -- quite the contrary. But enough people already know... More >>
• Best Delicatessen (1 Comment)
  Two Cents Plain
  As it says on Jack Carl's business card, "2¢ Plain" used to mean a large glass of seltzer with no syrup. What can you get for a couple pennies nowadays at Jack Carl's Two Cents Plain? "Nothing!" he'll yell at you if you're dumb enough to ask. What he does have, however, is worth prying your... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Deli
  Eternity Vegetarian Deli and Juice Bar
  To survive as a vegetarian deli in this meat-centric city is an accomplishment in itself; that the Eternity Vegetarian Deli and Juice Bar manages to thrive speaks volumes to the quality of food served up at this Central West End emporium. Whether you eat your meal on-site or take cartons home,... More >>
• Best Place to Eat and Get Gas
  Gator Flats
  Who'da thunk you could get award-winning blackened red snapper while filling up your SUV? If you said to yourself, "Only in Chesterfield," you'd be right. But this ain't the swanky part of Chesterfield, with all the strip malls and fancy cars; this is the old, rural, pickup-drivin' section of... More >>
• Best Chocolate
  The Chocolate Bar
  White chocolate-coated jumbo Bavarian pretzels. Venezuelan fudge. Chocolate chip cookies. Dark chocolate hazelnut crispies. Grand Marnier-soaked currant ganache truffles. Praline and semisweet chocolate truffles. Vanilla white chocolate ganache truffles. Chocolate-covered dried pineapple rings.... More >>