Food & Drink >>

• Best Pie
  The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery
  With the rising cost of gas, a Sunday drive isn't just a pleasure excursion anymore, it's an investment. If you're going to put your capital into ten dollars' worth of gas, it had better pay off some serious returns. It must be said that Mary Hostetter's pies at Kimmswick's Blue Owl are more of... More >>
• Best Fast Food (3 Comments)
  Lion's Choice
  In these fast-casual times, it's easier than ever to condemn straight-ahead fast food as "unhealthy" or "greasy." But we come from a generation that was raised on the stuff! We can't deny our roots now, at least not forever. Whether we like it or not, we need fast food. We need it on road trips,... More >>
• Best Burger (1 Comment)
  Newstead Tower Public House
  The key to the hamburger is the hamburger. If that's not a Zen koan, it should be. Too many burger joints view the humble patty — which, you know, just so happens to be a cornerstone of American culture — as a vacant lot on which they can build terrifying towers of caloric excess.... More >>
• Best Burger (Non-Beef Division)
  Veggie Burger
  Every once in a while, just about any vegetarian craves meat: hot dogs, hamburgers, even — gasp! — beef jerky. Said vegetarians are thankful for MoKaBe's housemade veggie burger. Sure, lots of joints offer veggie burgers these days — gritty patties so dry they fall apart with... More >>
• Best French Fries
  Off the Vine
  The French fries at Off the Vine are made from potatoes cut by hand, by which virtue alone they enter the upper echelon of St. Louis fries. Still, that doesn't guarantee a topnotch fry, so the kitchen makes sure to cook them to a medium golden-brown, crisp on the outside and tender-fluffy... More >>
• Best Hot Dog (1 Comment)
  Pam's Chicago Style Dogs & More
  Pam's offers thirteen different dogs to choose from. The one that bears the restaurant's name, the Chicago-style hot dog, is served on a poppy-seed bun and topped with peppers, a pickle, neon-green relish and chopped onions. This busy and bizarre concoction is what they eat at Wrigley Field.... More >>
• Best Condiments
  Dirty Dogz
  It began as an attempt to differentiate his business from the dozens of similar hot-dog stands inside area Home Depot and Lowe's stores. It grew into an obsession. Four years ago Jason Gaines opened his first stand in the Chesterfield Valley Home Depot with the then-novel selection of ten... More >>
• Best Barbecue
  Pappy's Smokehouse
  The most important thing at Pappy's Smokehouse — after the smoker, of course — is the dry-erase board. Here the restaurant lists which meats have sold out for the day. You see, owner Mike Emerson doesn't believe you should reheat barbecue. He wants you to have Pappy's pulled pork or... More >>
• Best Cheesesteak
  9th Street Deli
  The secret to a great cheesesteak hides in plain sight, on the shelves of your local grocery store or maybe even in your own pantry. It's OK. Don't be embarrassed. Shout your love of Cheez Whiz from the rooftops. Or visit 9th Street Deli and order the "Just Like Philly" cheesesteak, which pairs... More >>
• Best Taqueria
  Taqueria la Pasadita
  Cherokee Street rightfully receives attention as the epicenter of St. Louis' small but mighty taqueria scene, yet Taqueria la Pasadita — inside a renovated north-county Taco Bell — more than holds its own. Both tacos and tortas (the latter are traditional, overstuffed Mexican... More >>
• Best Gooey Butter Cake
  Park Avenue Coffee
  Of all the foods native to St. Louis, gooey butter cake requires the least explanation to outsiders. Toasted ravioli isn't really toasted, you see, it's deep-fried. Provel, that controversial amalgamation of cheeses, has inspired more angry letters to the editor of this newspaper than any other... More >>
• Best Way to Ward off Vampires
  Shish Taouk
  Tornadoes, floods, thunderstorms, palm-size mosquitoes: You know just how to react when any of these familiar aspects of nature are threatening you. But what about lesser-known dangers? The news certainly can't cover them all, and you don't want to be caught unawares if, say, there's a vampire... More >>
• Best Pizza (Thin Crust) (2 Comments)
  Dewey's Pizza
  Sorry, St. Louis-style fans. Cincinnati is the place to be. That's where Andrew DeWitt — yes, yes, of those DeWitts — opened the first Dewey's Pizza. Since then the small chain has spread throughout Ohio and, thankfully, to St. Louis as well. There's no great secret to Dewey's... More >>
• Best Pizza (Thick Crust)
  Pi
  When Chris Sommers and Frank Uible decided to open a pizzeria in St. Louis, they didn't look to the usual suspects for inspiration. No New York thin crust or Chicago deep-dish for them. And certainly no St. Louis-style pie. Instead they purchased the rights to the crust recipe from a San... More >>
• Best Old-School Pizza Experience
  Pantera's Pizza
  There are no stuffed-crust options, no cheesy breadsticks, no be-fudged monstrosity at Pantera's Pizza. There is a deep wooden bench the length of the front window where you wait for your order, right near the charity gumball machine. For entertainment you can read the current Cardinals... More >>
• Best Roast Beef Sandwich
  Pickles Deli
  Catering as it does to the metro area's most cosmopolitan population, the Central West End has always been a decent place to sample global cuisine. But the lowly American deli sandwich? Not so much. Which is why it came as such welcome news last year that meat lovers Tim Metz and Sean Olson had... More >>
• Best Bread
  The Daily Bread Bakery & Café
  Sometimes an empty feeling can be a good one to have, especially if it comes at the end of an epic journey, one on which, say, you've been searching for the perfect loaf of bread for months on end, walk into yet another bakery and search for the sourdough, and, well — oh, my!!! —... More >>
• Best Bakery
  222 Artisan Bakery
  Three cheers for three twos: 222 Artisan Bakery is worth the drive to Edwardsville. Plan a Saturday morning around the trip, but don't dawdle: the bakery closes at noon on Saturday. Or play hooky from work. You won't be disappointed, whether you're starting your day with a cup of one of 222's... More >>
• Best Bagels
  Pratzel's Bakery
  A real bagel, a true bagel, is made with yeast and malt, and — and this is perhaps most crucial of all — is boiled before it is baked. That's right: The dough, after being allowed to rise, should be dropped into boiling water. Anything else is just round bread with a hole in the... More >>
• Best Doughnuts
  Mini Donuts, Etc.
  One of St. Louis' greatest charms is its wealth of doughnut shops. Choosing the best among them requires serious time, travel and consideration. Do we celebrate the cakey or the flaky, the fruity or the frosted, the doughnut or the hole? This year, we honor the fresh. Every Saturday at Soulard... More >>
• Best Cheese Flip
  St. Louis Hills Donut Shop
  Technically, something is the "best" when it proves itself superior to its peers. Such is the case with most of the items in the issue you now hold in your hands. But should an item be excluded from this Best of St. Louis because it is unique? Some things are unique because they are undeserving... More >>
• Best Cupcakes
  The Cupcakery
  Shhh. Be very, very quiet. We're hunting for rare variations of the elusive cakeus minimus, better known as the cupcake, and we've been told that cozy Central West End shop the Cupcakery is the place to find them. Wait — there! Did you see that? That was a Tuxedo, whose distinguishing... More >>
• Best Coffee
  Shaw's Coffee, Ltd.
  Coffee drinkers know that the closer you are to a cup of coffee, the better, and experienced coffee drinkers know the corollary: The closer the cup of coffee is to you, the better. Now, the Midwest is a fine place to grow a lot of things, but not coffee beans. The bean is nothing before it's... More >>
• Best Chocolate
  Kakao Chocolate
  This past spring Brian Pelletier dared to do what most of us only dream: When he heard Kakao Chocolate was up for sale, he promptly ditched his corporate desk job, rented space on Cherokee Street and devoted himself to mastering the art and science of chocolate-making. Using only natural... More >>
• Best Milkshake
  Jennifer's Pharmacy & Soda Shoppe
  The milkshake doesn't show up on modern menus, and when it appears it does so as a hallmark of traditional American fare. Lately the cheeseburger, the milkshake's longtime comrade in arms, has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts, flushing the indulgent carnivore from celebrity chefs who dress up the... More >>
• Best Smoothie (1 Comment)
  Washington Ave Post
  For downtown loft-dwellers, Washington Ave Post may be best known as a coffee shop and office-supply store rolled into one. But discerning customers know Washington Ave Post for its out-of-this-world smoothies. The store offers traditional smoothies made from frozen yogurt, power shakes fueled... More >>
• Best Bubble Tea
  OR Juice & Smoothie
  To boba or not to boba, that is the question. And the answer? Of course you should have boba with your bubble tea — you only live once, right? Those pea-size near-black tapioca balls add a bit of surprise to your beverage encounter: Will there be a boba in this slurp? Will there be two? Or... More >>
• Best Beer
  O'Fallon 5-Day IPA
  India pale ale was born of necessity. How to preserve Britons' beloved beverage during its long voyage to the far-flung corners of the empire? The solution was elegant in its simplicity, its genius so profound that it has become a rallying cry for craft brewers across America: "Add more hops!"... More >>
• Best Flaming Cheese
  Iron Barley
  Some cheese lovers hear "queso panela" and turn up the nariz. Poor fools haven't sampled Tom Coghill's flaming rendition of this humble Mexican mozzarella-like cheese. Coghill, proprietor-chef of Iron Barley, slaps a honkin' slice of panela on his grill, then slides it into a warm cast-iron... More >>
• Best Use of the Worst Cheese (2 Comments)
  Gerber Sandwich
  Time was you couldn't swing a cat in this town without hitting a Ruma's Deli. The local chain had locations in strip malls and shopping centers throughout much of the city, but these days Brock Ruma holds down the fort at the last Ruma's in the known universe. And God bless him for that: Ruma's... More >>
• Best Place to Put Your "Eat Local" Cred Where Your Mouth Is
  Floppin-N-Fryin Market
  After the New Oxford American Dictionary named "locavore" its word of the year in 2007, foodies dutifully spent 2008 foraging farmers' markets for food from within 100 miles of their homes. But while herb gardens and local produce are all well and good, everyone knows good-old-fashioned protein,... More >>
• Best Comfort Food
  Revival
  The lamentably late, totally great George Carlin once opined that the United States' national symbol shouldn't be a bald eagle; it should be a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Of course, Carlin was making a statement about American gluttony and laziness, not cozying up to Kraft. But we posit that... More >>
• Best Ice Cream Parlor
  Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream
  It's not ice-cream store; why is ice cream served in a parlor? Parlor — or parlour if you want to be all Oxford about it — is derived from parle, or "to talk," which indicates that the parlor is a room where people gather to talk. In Latin, one supposes. Granted, it has a nicer ring... More >>
• Best Guacamole
  Agave Mexican Table & Tequileria
  Agave, a beautiful new spot in the quickly gentrifying Grove, puts many delightful twists on standard Mexican fare. That's partly because Agave's menu is Mex-Mex, not Tex-Mex, so you won't have to go cheese-spelunking to unearth an enchilada, nor will you be faced with copious amounts of sour... More >>
• Best Caesar Salad
  The Vine Wine Bar & Bistro
  The days when the dining-room captain would roll out the gueridon and proceed to carve, flambé and toss your food have pretty much passed. The thing that was most frequently tossed, of course, was the caesar salad. When you think about it, the caesar was an unlikely candidate to be... More >>
• Best Farmers' Market (1 Comment)
  Tower Grove Farmers' Market
  On a sun-drenched summer Saturday morning, the squeals and shouts of kids splashing in Tower Grove Park's wading pool are no match for the excited voices at the nearby Tower Grove Farmers' Market. "That asparagus is gorgeous." "Are strawberries here yet?" "Did I sleep too late to get the ripest... More >>
• Best Asian Market
  Olive Farmers' Market
  The pig is the unquestioned star of the contemporary food scene, but until you have visited the Olive Farmers' Market — not a farmers' market at all, but one of the area's biggest Asian grocery stores — you have absolutely no idea just how diverse Porky's culinary offerings are. Here... More >>
• Best Mexican Market
  Carniceria Latino Americana
  When you walk in, head to the right and break left before you get to the shelves full of cleaning products (all of which have the same color and design as the Mr. Clean you know, but a completely different brand name). You'll find a whole wall of saints candles. Included in the venerable wall... More >>
• Best Cheese Counter
  DiGregorio Imported Foods
  Cheese is a universal language that is spoken by many cultures. Though the varieties of cheeses across the globe vary like dialects, one fact knows no borders: Cheese is awesome. The makers of Italian cheeses are perhaps more aware of this fact than any other curdled-milk artisans. For proof,... More >>
• Best Meat Counter
  Hanlen's Meat Shoppe
  Driving down always-hustling-and-bustling Manchester Road, it's easy to cruise past Hanlens' storefront window. Meat lovers, however, have a bloodhound's nose for the place, and they flock to the Kirkwood meat counter for slabs of ribs, packages of farm-fresh bacon and the occasional bundle of... More >>
• Best Fresh Seafood Counter
  Bob's Seafood
  Blast freezing, next-day air, the rapid pace of globalization: These days it's easy to take the availability of seafood for granted, even here in St. Louis, a loooooooong ways away from the nearest ocean. Heck, sushi is so commonplace, it probably won't be long before some Americans start... More >>
• Best Canned Seafood Selection
  Global Foods
  To those gastronomes who dine upon caviar and foie gras and toast points and larks' tongues in aspic, kindly please continue your journey up your own alimentary tract. It's 11 a.m. Thursday, and some of us need a sardine sandwich, preferably on pumpernickel. But the pantry is bare, so off to... More >>
• Best Takeout Counter (Gourmet Division)
  Stellina Pasta Café
  How many times have you stood in front of a large refrigerated case, trying to decide which take-home meal looked the best, the freshest, the whatever-est? You won't have that problem at Stellina Pasta Café — and not only because the refrigerated case at this south-city restaurant... More >>
• Best Gelato (2 Comments)
  Benito's Gelato
  It's a vast understatement to say that Benito's Gelato is committed to quality: The shop concocts its dreamy Italian ice cream with ingredients and gelato machines imported from Italy, using a modified recipe from the family of company cofounder Judy Bellos. As a result, the gelato at Benito's... More >>
• Best Takeout Counter (Grocery Division)
  Macklind Avenue Deli
  When the thought of another sandwich or salad loaded with sun-dried tomatoes makes the stomach shrivel, it's time for a trip for takeout from the Macklind Avenue Deli. Two years ago the Krekeler family retooled their neighborhood market and concocted a grocery counter lineup long on old-school... More >>
• Best Grocery Store
  Local Harvest Grocery
  When was the last time you saw a neighborhood grocery store that you wanted to visit? In a Norman Rockwell painting? The neighborhood grocery store might not be as dead and gone as the dodo, but it's close, squeezed out of our lives from the top (supermarket chains both local and national) and... More >>
• Best Grocery Store to Die in the Past Year
  Wild Oats Community Market
  Toward the end it proved that tragedy and comedy are but a matter of perception. The roof, long neglected and prone to leaks in rainy weather, gave way after an ice storm and forced a temporary closure. A hasty repair job resulted in fewer leaks but in new locations; every rainstorm thereafter... More >>
• Best Sandwiches
  McLozzi Deli & Marketplace
  Panini have become so commonplace in restaurants, delis and even the home kitchen that only the very best are worth mentioning. So do forgive us if we go on — and on — about the panini at this cozy corner deli in Benton Park. First of all, they're grilled just right: The bread is... More >>
• Best Whole Roast Chicken
  Schnucks
  If a whole-roasted chicken isn't available after 7 p.m., does it still have a taste? Oh, it so does. It's the taste of a "King of the Hill" sammich — packed full of ham, shredded lettuce, gooey cheese and ripe tomatoes served in between bakery-fresh French bread — offered up for free... More >>
• Best Chicken Wings (1 Comment)
  BARcelona Tapas Restaurant
  Much of the debate about what constitutes great chicken wings is misplaced. Folks like to argue the merits of the classic Buffalo preparation — a mixture of butter and hot sauce with a side of blue cheese — versus newfangled variations like habanero, jerk, Thai, etc. But great wings... More >>
• Best Fried Chicken
  Porter's Fried Chicken
  Pavlov's bell has nothing on Porter's fried chicken. As you step inside the unassuming strip-mall storefront, you can hardly keep yourself from drooling: The smell of breaded, deep-fried manna wafts out of the kitchen and from the plain white boxes on the dining tables. You can hardly wait... More >>