Food & Drink >>

• Best Ethnic Grocer
  La Tropicana
  As the region grows, ethnic stores sprout throughout the city. One underappreciated gem of the scene is La Tropicana. Located in South St. Louis, near the intersection of Kingshighway and Chippewa Street, Tropicana is a hidden treasure. Not only does the market provide the fresh produce required... More >>
• Best Working-Class Power Breakfast
  White Castle
  Gone are the days when White Castle shunned advertising and marketing, relying solely on the reputation of its onions, grease and square buns to sell meat. Gone are the days when the all-night meal mecca was limited to a few locations in a handful of Midwestern and Eastern cities. The chain,... More >>
• Best Culinary Middle Finger to President Bush's War on Obesity
  Slinger, O.T. Hodge Chile Parlor
  Dieting is as American as mom and apple pie. But what continues to puzzle is that none of us seems to remember the first thing we were taught in health class our sophomore year in high school -- that dieting doesn't work. It's all about the exercise, folks. So, provided you can pull your ass off... More >>
• Best Veggie Sandwich
  Adriana's (on the Hill)
  A restaurant advertising "Fresh Salsicca" in its windows might seem an unlikely place to find a tasty vegetarian lunch, but Adriana's offers much more than just pasta with red sauce. Along with fresh salads, caponata and eggplant Parmesan soup, the café makes two terrific veggie... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Deli
  Juhari's
  The vibe is one reason to visit Juhari's, located inside the Golden Grocer in the Central West End, but the restaurant's food is even more compelling. Offering a selection of vegetarian, vegan and raw food, the menu that ranges from Sojourner Scrambled Tofu and Veggie Bacon for breakfast to the... More >>
• Best Waldorf Chicken Salad
  Carolyn's A Matter of Taste
  Tucked under a black-and-white polka-dot canopy, off to the side of a strip mall on the main street of Ladue, sits Carolyn's, the spot for ladies-who-lunch. The smell of fresh pies, cakes and muffins wafts from the back kitchen of this cozy bistro into the dining room; large crocks of homemade... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Soul Food
  Eternity Deli
  Descending the stairs into this deli's soothing interior, customers are greeted by the ominous "Welcome to Eternity" sign hanging behind the counter. But if Eternity's Barbeque Delite is the last thing you taste before slipping through to the next world, its memory will gently carry you to the... More >>
• Best $1.19 Sandwich (2 Comments)
  QuikTrip
  Scoff if you must, but you can get good food at the gas station -- not just any gas station but the refrigerated case at QuikTrip. If you've sampled the chicken-fried-beef-and-spicy-cheese sandwich, you know how unexpectedly good it is -- it's got a hearty ... er ... beefy flavor. The spicy... More >>
• Best Veggie Burrito
  El Burrito Loco
  Up for some serious beanage? Three words: El. Burrito. Loco. It's really huge, it's really cheap and it's really good, which is probably why we always have to wait for a table at this tiny, friendly South Side burrito stand. Although all the other tortilla treats at El Burrito Loco come in more... More >>
• Best Guacamole
  Ramon's El Dorado
  Raymundo "Ramon" Otero, he of Ramon's El Dorado Restaurant, grew up in El Salto, Mexico, in a rural area where, as a child, he tended sheep and goats on the mountaintop where his family lived. He learned to cook from his mother, who for 25 years operated a restaurant there. After he arrived in... More >>
• Best Alternative to Toasted Ravioli
  Toasted Cannelloni at the Uptown Café
  Head to one of the restaurants in the Café Manhattan family -- we're partial to the Uptown Café, a hole-in-the-wall in downtown Clayton -- and taste the appetizer that toasted ravioli longs to be. Though we risk blaspheming a St. Louis staple, toasted cannelloni gives you a lighter... More >>
• Best Dumplings
  Café Lavash
  You may not know it, but the former Soviet republic of Georgia is famous for its cuisine, and Café Lavash should be famous for its version of dumplings. Chef/owner Edward Kiknadze's plump offerings are flat-out terrific. Each is a blast of flavor, stuffed plump and tight, seams pinched... More >>
• Best Pizza
  Racanelli's
  Perhaps no food is the subject of more sizzling debates than pizza. You seldom hear expressions of warm feeling or heated opinion on the subject of, say, tuna salad, but pizza -- believed by some to have evolved from Middle Eastern flatbread -- seems to pluck at some particularly primal string... More >>
• Best Links
  G&W Meat & Bavarian Style Sausage Company
  The best links don't come at the end of a Web article. They dangle from the rafters of G&W Meat in long, loopy ropes of all-beef Landjager sausage. Family-run for 35 years, G&W has passed from two brothers to their sons, Gerhard Wanninger and his cousin Bob Wanninger. They continue the tradition... More >>
• Best Pineapple-and-Ham Pizza
  Cicero's
  There are two kinds of people in this world: those who like pineapple-and-ham pizza and those who are pitied by the first group. Granted, the idea of eating pizza with pineapple on it sounds a little funky -- until you try it. Once you do, the gates of understanding open and the pizza-delivery... More >>
• Best Vegetarian Restaurant
  Hungry Buddha
  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that Blake Brokaw is some sort of genius, if only for the heavenly Hungry Buddha, which cranks out stir-fry weekdays on Washington Avenue. And you don't have to be a genius to not look like an idiot here, either: The concept's basic -- as most brilliant... More >>
• Best Chinese Restaurant
  Lee's Restaurant
  Located in a shopping plaza in Olivette, the unassuming Lee's Chinese Restaurant is one of St. Louis' best-kept secrets. The cozy restaurant has been there for years and was a favorite of Jack Carney, departed KMOX-AM personality. The food is just as good, if not better, than it was a... More >>
• Best Hot-and-Sour Soup
  In Soo
  Erica Jong has compared hot-and-sour soup to the heat of an adulterous love. She is undeniably correct, but we prefer to leave the sex metaphors to the poets and just eat it; our lyrically challenged mind can't hope to do justice to its thick, glossy, fungus-y, peppery, eggy, tofu-ey, vinegary... More >>
• Best East Side Restaurant
  Neruda
  It had to happen. Someone had to yank some big-city swank over to the other side of the river. When you're tired of standard fare on the East Side, look for Neruda, named for the Chilean poet Pablo (portrayed in the classic film Il Postino). Enjoy smoked-chicken potstickers in a... More >>
• Best Place to Buy Fresh Seafood
  Bob's Seafood
  It's no tale, ha-ha-ha, that Bob's is a great place to find the best fish and seafood in this area. Bob's, which has been in business 24 years at the Market in the Loop, deals fish and seafood to about 100 area restaurants, including the Blue Water Grill. You can find the following underwater... More >>
• Best Open-Air Market
  Soulard Farmers Market
  Often imitated, never duplicated, Soulard Farmers Market, a St. Louis fixture since 1838, is today the lone survivor of what once were numerous public markets in the city. Although other open-air markets pepper the metropolitan area -- Clayton and University City have them, for instance, and a... More >>
• Best Bar/Nightclub
  Venice Café
  A blow-up doll, floating from the ceiling. Multicolored tiles and lights everywhere. And Missouri vanity license plates that read "TRIPE." You could spend a year inside the Venice and still not notice everything on the cram-packed walls and ceilings decorated with just about anything the mind... More >>
• Best Wine Bar
  Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar
  There are wine bars, and then there are wine bars; some austere, some brash, others outright dull. Want some fun? Remy's, a free spirit of the species, debunks the theory that serving the nectar of the gods is an inherently haughty business. Remy's offers more than 40 different wines by the... More >>
• Best Dive Bar
  Maple Leaf Inn
  From the outside, the Maple Leaf Inn looks grim, even forbidding: just a dirty Budweiser sign and a flimsy door covered with metal mesh. Inside, the walls are covered with snapshots of patrons, some with their dogs, some with fresh hunting kills. The scuffed wooden bar is lined with pickle jars... More >>
• Best Coffeehouse
  Meshuggah
  The name of this U. City coffeehouse is Yiddish for "crazy," and you'd be very, very meshuggah to miss its brewed-to-order joe. Patrick Liberto, who has owned the place for almost six years, offers his devotees a casual, humble room in the Delmar Loop. Students hang there, as do locals and area... More >>
• Best Martini
  Nik's Wine Bar & Hookah Lounge
  This neighborhood joint draws an eclectic crowd from all over the St. Louis area because of many offerings, but the martinis are the best. Nik's, which will celebrate its five-year anniversary in December, features a smashing assortment of 37 house martinis, from the Classic Martini to the... More >>
• Best Bartender
  John Berg, Dressel's Pub
  We have little regard for those friendly "how's it goin', Joe, what can I do for ya?" sorts of bartenders. Give us someone enigmatic to mix our drinks, keep us guessing and make us feel even a little bit unsure. Someone who reminds us that if we're looking for solace in a bar, we should be... More >>
• Best Beer Selection
  Corral Liquors
  No one has liver or time enough to drink all the beers offered at Corral Liquors in Granite City, but many a native of this brew town would like to die trying. Corral sells more than 400 brands of microbrewery and imported beers at its Granite City store, which is next door to Gitcho's Gas and... More >>
• Best Orange Soda (1 Comment)
  Vess Whistle Orange
  If you simply have to know, all the ingredients of soft drinks are right there on the label. Sometimes knowing can be unsettling. The third most prevalent ingredient in Mountain Dew, both the dreary regular flavor and the fantastic Code Red variety, is orange juice from concentrate. Even if you... More >>
• Best Barbecue
  Smoki O's
  Back in the day, when we boomed around on a motorcycle, an old flame accused us of being able to spot the curling smoke of a barbecue pit through the side of our helmet, resulting in sudden, sliding 180-degree reversals and mad dashes in hot pursuit. In the Lou, the benchmarks of good 'cue are... More >>
• Best Name for a Bar
  Straight Home
  Ask the steelworkers at Granite City Steel where they're going after work, and they'll tell you, "Straight home." That could be home to the spouse and kids, or it could mean across the street to Straight Home, the bar with the mendacious moniker. Straight Home has been in operation since 1987,... More >>
• Best College-Town Bar
  Stagger Inn... Again
  Along with its nightly beer specials, free popcorn, substantial menu (the kitchen closes by 9, however), music seven nights a week (including entertaining open-mics on Wednesday and Sunday), ample seating and one of the area's best bartenders in Charmaine, the Stagger Inn ... Again exudes a... More >>
• Best Missouri Winery
  Stone Hill Winery
  Nearly a century ago, Stone Hill Winery was the nation's second-largest winery and the mothership of a thriving Missouri winemaking industry. Many of Missouri's wineries were founded by immigrants -- mostly Germans -- who settled small communities such as Hermann and Dutzow along the Missouri... More >>
• Best Sommelier
  I Fratellini Caffe and Rosticceria
  "I've always looked for the different, the out-of-the-way, never the easy, sure thing," explains Rich Zellich when we ask him how he came to be the sommelier at I Fratellini. St. Louis has many wine enthusiasts, but except for the francophiles, few are smitten with the wine of a single country.... More >>
• Best Italian Restaurant
  Trattoria Marcella
  Variety may be the spice of life, but let's face it: We head like lemmings for the nearest Starbucks even as we denounce the corporation's McDonald's-style global tyranny and capitalist greed (hey, someone's keeping them in business). Instead, why not patronize that cute café, diner or... More >>
• Best Bakery
  McArthur's Bakery
  Rationalize it with a sandwich first -- on French bread -- then sink into the tiramisu or the famous strawberry whipped-cream cake or the blanc et noire chocolate mousse or, best of all, the layered chocolate, raspberry marmalade and ganache of the treasure truffle torte. McArthur's may have... More >>
• Best Server
  Stephanie Dotson, Tangerine
  Think Thora Birch in Ghost World: self-possessed and surly, yet ... well ... darling. That's Stephanie Dotson, who waits tables and bartends at Tangerine and, to our thinking, is St. Louis' best waitress. Her demeanor is all don't-fuck-with-me, yet she works a busy Friday-night floor with... More >>
• Best Waitstaff
  Tony's
  Before Tony's moved to its current Broadway location, server Herb Cray (now retired) found he had a knack for showing restaurant guests to their tables while ascending a flight of stairs -- backward. Owner Vince Bommarito's philosophy, which also applied to Cray, both figuratively and literally,... More >>
• Best Sushi
  Sansui West
  There was a time, not long ago, when the phrase "raw fish" made most St. Louisans blanch. But our palates are changing; we no longer gag at rawness, and sushi joints are popping up all over the place. Everyone's got his or her fave, but we say Sansui West is the best. Occupying the former... More >>
• Best BLT Roll
  Nobu's
  Purists and dilettantes cringe when we sing odes to the BLT roll at Nobu's. They don't know what they're missing. Revered by many as the city's premier temple of sushi, Nobu's has previously pioneered such breakthroughs as slicing the nigiri sushi in half. That one was good, but it's got nothing... More >>
• Best Bollywood-and-Vindaloo Vendor
  Seema Enterprises
  Got ghee? Sure, it's easier to feed your Indian cravings by ordering your palak paneer and chicken vindaloo takeout, but if you're itching to experiment, cooking curry at home, you'll need ingredients that are perhaps a bit too exotic for the big generalist groceries. Do you really expect to... More >>
• Best Restaurant Ambience
  Woofie's
  Whereas some folks prefer linen tablecloths and four different-size forks, others go for a linoleum counter and a squeeze bottle of mustard. For the latter, let-it-all-hang-out crowd, Woofie's has an unusual charm. The Fotomat-size hotdog stand must be recognized for its superlative collection... More >>
• Best Place to Time-Travel
  Al's Steak House
  As you might've guessed, the alluring opportunity for time travel will cost you -- in this case, exactly the price of a fancy dinner. Stepping into Al's, located on a long-forgotten patch on downtown's First Street, is like walking into a posh New York restaurant in the early '60s. Completely... More >>
• Best Seafood Appetizer
  Seasoned Deep-Fried Lobster Tail, Kirk's American Bistro & Restaurant
  The ultimate appetizer, by St. Louis standards, should be deep-fried. How about a seasoned deep-fried lobster tail? The chef at Kirk's is attuned to his customers' palates, changing the menu on a regular basis to add, subtract, cook to order and basically do what it takes to create unique... More >>
• Best Culinary Dominatrix
  In Soo Jung, In Soo
  In Soo Jung doesn't lightly suffer fools, the kind of fools who have the nerve to taint her heavenly potstickers with sweet-and-sour sauce ("No! You use soy sauce and vinegar on potstickers!"), the kind who want soy sauce for their egg rolls ("No! You use sweet-and-sour sauce on egg rolls!").... More >>
• Best Weird Beverage
  St. Louis Bubble Tea
  Fill a plastic cup with green tea and flavored syrup, throw in a handful of slimy brown tapioca pods and hermetically seal it in a special machine with cartoon-printed plastic wrap, and you have bubble tea. The latest in the ever-evolving genre of trendy youth-culture beverages, it's more fun... More >>
• Best Menu
  Bella Città Mediterranean
  To be truly ravishing, a menu must use ingredients in seductive ways, coax us to try new dishes and make it nearly impossible to decide what to order. The menu at Bella Città Mediterranean is alluring by any measure. When the restaurant opened last spring, its menu was crafted by owner... More >>
• Best Diner
  South City Diner
  We know a thing or two about diners and the difference between the real deal and those retro ripoffs that have all of the chrome and none of the rib-sticking fare. You learn to look for the diner essentials: coffee done in the American style -- clear, strong and never left too long on the... More >>
• Best Place for a Chocolate Fix
  Chocolate Bar
  Quality, quantity, variety: They're all to be found at the newish Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square, a chocolate junkie's dream. Everything from fruit to fortune cookies has been dipped in white, milk or dark chocolate. There are cakes and truffles, all injected with chocolate -- or, if you... More >>
• Best Dinner Rolls
  Sidney Street Café
  St. Louis is home to a number of good breadmakers: Companion, Black Bear and, of course, the ubiquitous St. Louis Bread Company. But Sidney Street Café, which bakes its own, has dipped back into St. Louis' French history with the beignet. A favorite in the coffee shops of New Orleans,... More >>
• Best New Restaurant
  Luciano's Trattoria
  Luciano's is not only the best new restaurant in town, it's also the most improved new restaurant. Opening the place was a mammoth undertaking -- it has 7,000 square feet of space and seats 235 diners. But when the restaurant debuted in June 2002, after just three months of construction, we were... More >>
• Best Burgers
  O'Connell's Pub
  Lots of places brag about their burgers. O'Connell's doesn't have to. It's got the reputation and backs it up with every medium-rare it produces. Hamburgers here are moist, seasoned just right and bursting with that heavenly cooked-ground-beef flavor. They're served on the requisite toasted... More >>
• Best Late-Night Munchies
  Chris' Pancake and Dining
  If you've got 4 a.m. munchies, you're going to have to hit one of the city's standards -- Courtesy, Uncle Bill's, South City Diner. And at 4 a.m. you're really just looking for grease and salt, and maybe a little syrup (mmm, syrup). OK, maybe a side of bacon, too. But we're the type of... More >>
• Best Frozen Dinner
  Allen Foods Inc.
  You've got your gourmet on-the-run storefronts and your ethnic takeouts. Yet another key element in the American diet mix is distinctly frozen. But why buy Swanson's and Stouffer's when you can get the same food that some restaurants buy and reheat? What started out in the 1890s as a family... More >>
• Best Dessert Menu
  King Louie's
  The most accomplished King Louie's diners -- and there are a lot of them -- understand the idea of pacing and have realized the necessity of restraint, even when they're popping pommes frites, shoveling in salad and biting into delicate baby ribs. First, don't eat the bread -- or, if you must,... More >>
• Best Sandwich (1 Comment)
  Salvato's Café
  The sign outside reads, "World's Best Sandwich." That may be a stretch -- we've heard tell of a cozy bistro on the Champs Elysée that's pretty hot. But as far as St. Louis goes, Salvato's Café has, by far, the best of all possible sandwiches. Corned beef. Pastrami. Chicken salad.... More >>
• Best Place for a Kid's Birthday Party
  Magic House
  Anyone who's ever arranged and hosted a kiddie birthday party knows that keeping the little urchins together in one location is about as easy as corralling cats. Hopped up on cake and Kool-Aid, the kids quickly break ranks and head out of sight in about ten different directions. If you've got a... More >>
• Best Chef
  David Guempel, Zinnia
  Many a home cook daydreams of trading in coat and tie for clogs and toque. But when it comes down to brass tacks, few are willing to tolerate the fatigue, the late nights, the heat, the urgency and the imperative of unflagging creativity. Add to that the demands of running a business, and you've... More >>
• Best Falafel
  Kabob International
  Unless you count manna -- which is sort of in short supply these days --falafel is possibly civilization's oldest food. The durability of the friendly Middle Eastern chickpea croquette is no accident; if there is a sensation more satisfying than biting into a hot, crispy ball of falafel, e-mail... More >>
• Best Health-Food Store
  Natural Way
  St. Louis has been inundated by "lifestyle" stores, those big boxes where you can take a class on bleu cheese, purchase yoga accessories, sip wine and listen to live music. What the hell ever happened to the crunchy health-food store, the place you went to buy organic tofu, bulk local honey and... More >>
• Best Family-Friendly Restaurant
  Romano's Macaroni Grill
  For child-free couples, picking a restaurant can be difficult because there are just so many choices: Should you go for ethnic, exotic, trendy? For families, though, the field is pretty narrow: Will this restaurant satisfy tender young taste buds that don't yet appreciate tangy, spicy or... More >>
• Best Mexican
  El Vaquero
  Although St. Louis has a modest Mexican population and a number of popular restaurants of that ethnic persuasion, this is a tough town in which to find truly great renditions of all your Mexican favorites under one roof. To satisfy a refried craving, you have to hunt and peck -- this place for... More >>
• Best Place to Conjure Your Spirit Animal
  Kaldi's Coffee House & Market Bakery
  The night is cold. You sweep into Kaldi's and close the door behind you, sealing out the frigid winter. Breathlessly, you order it: the white-chocolate cocoa. You wait several minutes, pacing, looking around at nothing, needing the fix. It is ready. You take the hot glass. You make your way past... More >>
• Best Weekend Brunch
  MoKaBe's
  Brunch -- the mysterious meal between the breakfast dessert and the lunch appetizer, the bridge that connects the morning's gluttony with the noon's regret and invites the afternoon's foreboding. And yet, for all its glory, the eternal St. Louis unanswerable: Why the hell is it so hard to get a... More >>
• Best Ethnic Grocer
  La Tropicana
  As the region grows, ethnic stores sprout throughout the city. One underappreciated gem of the scene is La Tropicana. Located in South St. Louis, near the intersection of Kingshighway and Chippewa Street, Tropicana is a hidden treasure. Not only does the market provide the fresh produce required... More >>