Restaurants >>

• Best Local Chef
  Josh Galliano
  Hurricane Katrina forced Josh Galliano to relocate from New Orleans to St. Louis. His impressive résumé — including stints at the legendary Commander's Palace and at chef John Besh's celebrated August (both in the Big Easy) and at Daniel Boulud's namesake restaurant in New... More >>
• Best Restaurant for a First Date
  Nachomama's
  Let's get something straight: Movies make for crappy first dates. Sure, they can take the pressure off by providing conversation fodder — but only after you've sat side by side for two hours, silently, in the dark. A restaurant first date is a far superior way to get to know someone... More >>
• Best Restaurant for a Date Night
  Atlas Restaurant
  No, not a first date, but that rare event when you and your significant other can find time in your hectic lives to relax, share a bottle of wine, have an actual conversation and enjoy a terrific meal. Atlas is the ideal environment. There is hardly a more welcoming place in St. Louis: From the... More >>
• Best Prix Fixe
  Acero
  Despite three successful restaurants — Liluma, the Crossing and Acero — chef Jim Fiala seems to maintain a low profile. For whatever reason, word of his $25 prix fixe dinner at Acero seems to be a secret, too, known only to foodies and acolytes of his mini-fiefdom. It hurts a little... More >>
• Best Restaurant When Someone Else Pays
  The Crossing
  The good news: Diners can satisfy their cravings for Jim Fiala's haute-rustic cuisine any time they please, thanks to affordable lunch options at Liluma and the Terrace View. The better news: Said diners can also treat themselves to authentic Italian regional food at Fiala's Acero and not take a... More >>
• Best Place to Blow Your Winnings
  SLeeK
  So you ignored the advice of everyone standing around the blackjack table and hit on eighteen...and won big. Now what? Oh, sure, you could do the responsible thing and pay off your student loan — you went to college to be a dentist, after all, not a card counter — but that's no fun.... More >>
• Best Service in a Restaurant
  Five Bistro
  Five is a family affair: Anthony Devoti is the executive chef; his parents, Joe and Bonnie, manage the front of the house. The family vibe extends to guests at Five Bistro, which this summer relocated to the Hill from Forest Park Southeast's Grove neighborhood. Whether you're dining there as a... More >>
• Best Décor
  SweetArt
  Some might say the Bayocs, owners of SweetArt, cheated to win this category. They didn't need to hire consultants or pay an artist to decorate the walls. SweetArt is a combination café and art studio, and all of the walls feature artwork from co-owner and local artist Cbabi... More >>
• Best Outdoor Dining
  Cielo
  Welcome to SkyTerrace, the patio at Cielo. Your table is right this way, facing the Arch. We think you'll have a most pleasant evening, beginning with our Parmesan crisps and fresh-baked bread, served with olive oil and a little sun-dried tomato. What's that, you like the soft music? Mmm-hmm,... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Ladies Who Lunch
  Robust Wine Bar & Café
  Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of ladies who lunch, That started from Ladue and Frontenac, And became the Robust bunch. A turkey sandwich was had by all, Side salads on each plate. No one ordered Robust's bread pudding, For they were watching their weight, they were... More >>
• Best Power Lunch (1 Comment)
  Café Napoli
  The novice equates "power lunch" with "dropping tons of money." While a superficial business luncher may be impressed by an AmEx Black and a $14 glass of sparkling water, true players understand that power lies more in connections than in cash. That's why Café Napoli is such a popular... More >>
• Best New Restaurant (1 Comment)
  Local Harvest Café & Catering
  When Local Harvest Grocery (see Best Grocery Store) announced it would open a separate café across the street from its location in Tower Grove South, no one could have imagined that St. Louis would gain not only an excellent spot for a nosh, but also an example of how even a casual eatery... More >>
• Best Steak House
  The Charcoal House
  Each passing year brings more steak houses hell-bent on outdoing the competition, whether it's by offering sweeping city views, sparkling new digs or star power in its very name. But the Charcoal House is old. There's old Saabs and BMWs (probably bought with old money) in the lot, driven by old... More >>
• Best Seafood Restaurant
  Oceano Bistro
  Too many restaurants take the same, cynical approach to seafood: "You Midwestern rubes are lucky to have any seafood at all here in flyover country. Now eat this crab cake." At Oceano Bistro, you'll find a much more thoughtful approach. Yes, there is salmon — the default seafood... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Restaurant
  Gokul Snacks & Sweets
  Vegetarian restaurant: Why, after all these years, can the phrase continue to conjure such unappetizing images of bland food? Break that cycle with the delightful Indian buffet and takeout at Gokul, where the main ingredients are love and butter. So much butter. What highlights the... More >>
• Best Soul Food Restaurant
  Sweetie Pie's
  One could, in theory, head to Sweetie Pie's location in the Grove neighborhood any day just for the sides: cabbage flavored with smoky bacon, tangy mac & cheese, thick yams, black-eyed peas and generous hunks of cornbread. But you might find a specific day especially mouthwatering, for at... More >>
• Best Place to Eat Out With Grandpa
  Fairmount Park Racetrack
  Back in his younger days, Grandpa had a strict rule: You don't get lunch at the racetrack until you win. But ever since the price of a hot dog at Fairmount Park dropped to a buck on Horse Hooky Tuesdays (during the live racing season in spring and summer), the old man's eased up a bit. It... More >>
• Best Place to Get Fatter
  Hodak's Restaurant & Bar
  Here's what transpires every day at Hodak's: A server brings a customer a steaming plate. It is heaped with four pieces of juicy fried chicken, with crinkly French fries and cole slaw on the side. The customer stuffs his pie hole, then is required to pay $7.35 (!) plus tax. Transaction complete.... More >>
• Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant
  Onesto Pizza & Trattoria
  Look, you can let the kids drag you to another grim fast-food joint or one of those arcade-type restaurants where pot-addled teens in rodent costumes redolent of 30 years of b.o. try to distract the tykes from the fact that the pizza they are eating has a crust made out of industrial-grade... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Restaurant
  Biggie's
  Even when Biggie's is packed — which is just about every day at lunch or dinner — you'll see a fair number of empty seats at this Lindenwood Park institution. That's because patrons are constantly spotting old friends, classmates, coworkers, bowling teammates and nearly any other... More >>
• Best Comeback
  Herbie's Vintage 72
  When Balaban's went dark at the beginning of 2008, St. Louis didn't lose just another restaurant but a 35-year institution that was the anchor of the Central West End. As the restaurant remained closed for weeks, and then months, its many fans wondered not only if anything ever could replace... More >>
• Best Tapas/Small Plates
  Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant
  Ever since Spanish-style tapas arrived on the international culinary scene, it seems that every other European cuisine suddenly rediscovered its own version of small-plates dining. Such wee-dish incarnations may well be delicious in their own right, but the Spanish original remains the best. And... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant (Cheap)
  Sugo's Spaghetteria
  The economic turmoil of the past twelve months might have put fine dining out of your budget, but you don't have to look like you're slumming it. In truth, you needn't "slum" it at all. At Sugo's Spaghetteria in Frontenac — yeah, even Frontenac is frugal nowadays — you can enjoy... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant (Not Cheap)
  Ricardo's Italian Café
  For twenty years now, the husband-and-wife team of Mark and Michelle Adams has made Ricardo's Italian Café one of the city's most delightful dining destinations — the restaurant equivalent of the place where if everyone doesn't remember your name, they really are always glad you... More >>
• Best Greek Restaurant
  Momos Ouzaria Taverna
  In Greek mythology, Momos is the god of mockery, which essentially means he was the loudmouth jerk of Mount Olympus. After subjecting several of his brethren and sistren to his ridicule, he made the mistake of aiming his mockery at Zeus and got himself kicked off. So it might seem risky to name... More >>
• Best Bosnian Restaurant
  Taft Street Restaurant & Bar
  Bosnian food is hearty food, and Taft Street Restaurant dishes it out in hearty helpings. In its fifth year of operation, this pleasant, no-frills corner eatery in Bevo offers up a cuisine suggestive of Bosnia's geographic position (i.e., both Mediterranean and Eastern European). Begin with the... More >>
• Best West African Restaurant
  Tam Tam African Restaurant
  In an unobtrusive storefront in a Florissant strip mall for which the adjective "dowdy" seems too kind, Tam Tam African Restaurant is one of the area's better-kept secrets, specializing in the cuisine of Africa's northwest. The dishes are at once familiar and strange: Consider yassa guinaar,... More >>
• Best East African Restaurant
  Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
  You can't dangle your toe in the waters of Ethiopian cuisine. You must, to mix metaphors, roll up your sleeves and get your hands messy from the start, forgoing traditional utensils — or untraditional utensils, for that matter. Instead, you use the spongy, sour flatbread known as injera to... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Restaurant
  Café Natasha's Kabob International
  Café Natasha's Kabob International isn't the sort of place you stop at if you're in a hurry, but as the old dictum goes, good things come to those who wait. The array of sumptuous stews and aromatically seasoned kebabs on the menu reveal a patience in the kitchen for preparing a complex... More >>
• Best Indian Restaurant
  India Palace
  Planes land. Planes take off. Travelers stand in line at the security checkpoint, staring at their watches. Travelers stand around the baggage carousel, staring at their watches. But you are sitting high above the fray — literally, eleven stories above, in the former tiki bar that houses... More >>
• Best Sushi
  Miso on Meramec
  Miso on Meramec boldly describes its revamped menu as a "revolution." Eliott Harris, who took over the kitchen of the Clayton sushi mainstay earlier this year, delivers the goods to back that claim. If your sushi experience is limited to California, spider and other Americanized rolls, Harris'... More >>
• Best Never Went
  Sidney Street Café
  For nearly a quarter of a century, Sidney Street Café has been the crown jewel of Benton Park and among the city's most popular restaurants, one of the first spots discussed when dinner isn't merely dinner but a Special Occasion. Even more remarkable is the fact that the restaurant... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant (3 Comments)
  Shu Feng
  Many governments follow a One China policy, refusing to recognize — explicitly, at least — Taiwan's independence from mainland China. In the interest of global harmony, might we suggest replacing this with the Shu Feng policy? At this University City spot, you can enjoy excellent... More >>
• Best Dim Sum
  Wonton King
  There's no other place where you can order so much and know so little. Sure, you may get by with numbers at other Asian restaurants, but for the non-Mandarin speaker, ordering dim sum at Wonton King is a purely sensory experience. Even the descriptions offered by the waitstaff keep you in the... More >>
• Best Thai Restaurant
  Basil Spice Thai Cuisine
  South Grand Boulevard between Arsenal Street and Gravois Avenue was once the crucible of Southeast Asian cuisine in St. Louis. Much of the action has since moved from the city proper into the county, but since it opened in early 2008, Basil Spice has given the South Grand business strip a new... More >>
• Best Vietnamese Restaurant
  Banh Mi So #1 – Saigon Gourmet
  It's difficult to find something new to say about the nearly perennial — four times in the past five years! — winner Banh Mi So #1 – Saigon Gourmet. The menu isn't as broad as at most Vietnamese restaurants in the area, but you can be sure everything you eat will be topnotch... More >>
• Best Mexican Restaurant
  Pueblo Nuevo
  Goat is the new hip meat among the food cognoscenti. Color Pueblo Nuevo unimpressed. This modest Mexican joint in Hazelwood has been serving the tasty goat stew known as birria for years. Then again, birria is easy to overlook on a menu overflowing with sure-bet selections, from everyday... More >>
• Best Taqueria
  La Vallesana
  Sad news from July of this year: Gidget, the chihuahua who became famous in the "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!" ads, passed away at the age of fifteen. Noticeably absent from the nonstop news coverage of her death, not to mention her star-studded memorial service at the Beverly Hills PetSmart, was... More >>
• Best Central/South American Restaurant
  Fritanga
  In Nicaragua a fritanga is a small, casual restaurant. A snack bar, if you will. St. Louis' Fritanga offers the laid-back, welcoming vibe that you'd expect at such a joint, but this is no mere snack bar. Since 2007 Fritanga has been serving hearty dishes that pack more flavor into a single bite... More >>
• Best Chain Restaurant
  Chick-fil-A
  Chick-fil-A lures you in with the cows. There they are, Godzilla-tall painted billboards with pleas such as "Eat Chikin, Cuddle Cowz," "Skip Beef, Not Brekfust" and "Vote Chikin: Itz Not Right Wing or Left." The cows may not have stellar spelling abilities, but their hide-saving suggestions are... More >>
• Best Place for Late-Night Dining (1 Comment)
  Sandrina's
  Contrary to what your parents think, you are now a sophisticated adult, and being sophisticated means early-morning food cravings no longer come in the form of greasy-spoon slingers after a night of Jäger-induced vomiting-slash-cold sweats. No, these days you want real food. And while real... More >>
• Best Desserts
  Bissinger's: A Chocolate Experience
  The sour economy has put us in the mood for something sweet — and indulgent. We need chocolate, in other words, nature's Zoloft, and nothing sates our appetite for an indulgent dessert like Bissinger's: A Chocolate Experience does. The sleek dessert bar from this St. Louis institution... More >>
• Best Restaurant to Die in the Past Year
  In Soo
  Sad to say, but several excellent, unique St. Louis restaurants could have occupied this space this year: Revival, McLozzi Deli, the Pitted Olive. Yet the RFT has always had a special place in our heart for the University City Chinese and Korean restaurant In Soo and its long-time owner, In Soo... More >>
• Best Breakfast
  Café Osage
  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Mom said, but nowadays odds are even those who claim to eat breakfast don't actually eat breakfast. A gallon of coffee between the last snooze alarm and lunch? That ain't breakfast. One of those grab-and-go cereal bars? That's a snack. McGriddles?... More >>
• Best Breakfast with a Hangover
  Uncle Bill's Pancake and Dinner House
  Most mornings when you're nursing a particularly nasty hangover, the thought of ingesting anything more extravagant than plain toast, tap water and six ibuprofen is enough to cause your stomach to rebel. But despite your instincts to lay low with the curtains drawn, this is when your body is... More >>
• Best Sunday Brunch (2 Comments)
  Nadoz Café
  A bygone country Christmas tradition from before the Depression (the Great one) was to eschew store-bought presents in favor of mothers and grandmothers making one of each kind of cake and pie possible from midwinter's stores of canned berries, dried apples and fresh eggs. Laid out on the front... More >>
• Best Vegan-Friendly Brunch
  Black Bear Bakery
  Vegans dreamin' of a steamin' weekend feast would do well to head toward Cherokee Street for the neighborhood brunch at Black Bear Bakery. Each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the bakery's staff — which collectively owns and operates the establishment — serves up French toast, egg... More >>
• Best Diner
  Goody Goody Diner
  Nostalgia has led us to expect certain things from a diner: lots of chrome, a grill in full view behind the counter, pies under plastic domes, waitresses in polyester uniforms who call you "hon," endless cups of burned coffee, regulars who drop by at 3 a.m., cigarette butts smoldering in plastic... More >>
• Best Lunch Counter
  Adriana's
  Don't be afraid. Yes, you had trouble finding a parking spot. Yes, that line looks awfully long. Yes, the menu looks delicious, but, like that of every other dining establishment on the Hill, it seems to be replete with Provel cheese. But just wait. Not too long. Maybe five minutes. When you... More >>
• Best Lunch Specials
  The Good Pie
  The Neapolitan-style pizza at the Good Pie is terrific at any time of the day: thin crust briefly fired in a nuclear inferno of an oven; fresh mozz melted to perfect goo; light, flavorful sauce. At lunch, though, it's terrific and an absolute steal: For as low as $8.95 (plus tax and tip), you... More >>
• Best Coffeehouse
  Café Ventana
  A coffeehouse should percolate more than just good coffee: Creativity, community and peace of mind are also essential ingredients in a winning brew. Café Ventana succeeds thanks to a beautiful space that feels just right whether you're chatting with friends over cappuccino or wine,... More >>
• Best Barista
  Davis Cox
  The good citizens of downtown Belleville needed good coffee, bad. In July 2008 they got their wish when Oregon Trail Roasting Company opened. During his breaks from college in Chicago, Davis Cox is the guy behind the coffee, and he's damned serious about it. "These new steam-wand tips are so... More >>
• Best Gastropub
  Newstead Tower Public House
  Ask a dozen food types to define a gastropub and you'll get a dozen different answers. They'll probably agree on two things, though: 1) it's a silly term; and 2) it has nothing to do with snails and slugs. Like pornography, you know a gastropub when you see it — or, in the case of Newstead... More >>
• Best Endorsement
  Barack Obama extols Pi
  Positive word of mouth always benefits a restaurant. A rave review in the local fishwrap usually helps. But you know what really gets butts in the door? When the Leader of the Free World says your pizza is the best he has ever eaten. President Obama first sampled Pi's cornmeal-crust pies during... More >>
• Best Brewpub
  Schlafly Tap Room
  The indecisive shouldn't visit Schlafly Tap Room. What beer do you want? Where to start? Of course, you can always opt for one of Schlafly's tried-and-true varieties: pale ale, hefeweizen, pilsner. But you have to consider the seasonal brews, too, such as Kaldi's Coffee Stout in the fall or... More >>
• Best Beer Selection in a Restaurant
  The Stable
  Building on its 2008 Best of St. Louis honor in the sister category Best Beer Selection in a Bar, the Stable just keeps getting better. While the numbers at this Benton Park beer palace are impressive — 24 taps and 50 or so bottles — beer lovers know that numbers can deceive, and... More >>
• Best Whiskey Selection in a Restaurant
  The Scottish Arms
  Yes, you'd expect to find a decent selection of scotches at a joint called the Scottish Arms, especially when the place is owned by a Scot. That said, Alastair Nisbet's three-ring binderful of scotches tells you something special is happening here. The list runs to about 75 selections, and, with... More >>
• Best Wine List in a Restaurant (Price Be Damned)
  Tony's
  Twelve months of doom and gloom are more than enough. The time has come to tell this economy exactly what it can do to itself. No better place than venerable Tony's, the sine qua non of classy, old-school dining in St. Louis. No better way than to peruse the impressive wine list, which harkens... More >>
• Best Wine List in a Restaurant (Value)
  33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar
  When Jake Hafner announced in January of this year that he was selling his Lafayette Square wine bar, St. Louis oenophiles panicked: Would 33 Wine Shop & Tasting Bar, bereft of its guiding spirit, become one more characterless spot selling whatever plonk distributors were trying to offload... More >>
• Best Dining Destination (1 Comment)
  Firefly Grill
  Located not quite two hours by car from St. Louis, Effingham, Illinois, is probably best known for the giant cross that looms above the intersection of Interstates 70 and 57. Now, we would never suggest that the town should be known instead for the Firefly Grill. Frankly, we're old and slow and... More >>
• Best Restaurant Trend
  National Attention
  The accolades are impressive: Last year Niche executive chef Gerard Craft was named one of Food & Wine magazine's "Best New Chefs" — the first St. Louis chef to rate the honor. This year Craft was one of five finalists in the "Best Chef — Midwest" category of the prestigious... More >>
• Best Restaurant Neighborhood (5 Comments)
  Midtown
  Midtown? A dining destination? Tell that to most lifelong St. Louisans and they'll laugh in your face. But a funny thing has happened over the past few years: An area where your dining choices were once limited to one Italian restaurant and the Saint Louis University student union is now... More >>
• Best Restaurant Concept
  Bobo Noodle House
  Opening a noodle joint across the street from the Washington University campus is such a no-brainer that every forward-thinking restaurateur in St. Louis should be ashamed he or she didn't think of it first. Credit industry vet Zoë Robinson and chef Ny Vongsaly, who have worked together at... More >>
• Best Place to Eat Out Alone
  Niche
  Yes, Niche is one of the best restaurants in St. Louis, and, yes, Gerard Craft is one of the city's most acclaimed chefs, and blah, blah, blah. This isn't about Niche. This is about you. You're on your own tonight. Maybe you're on your own every night. Whatever the case, tonight you've decided... More >>