All the best in St. Louis and elsewhere
Louie’s bar is dark and glamorous, something you would see in an Esquire photo shoot or maybe as a quick interior establishing shot in a Bryan Fuller show. The bar, by the way, is reserved for walk-in diners, delivering on Louie’s promise as a neighborhood spot, unlike so many restaurants merely modeled after such democratic establishments.
Read MoreYellowbelly, which is sort of like Tiki Bar: The Next Generation, comes from Travis Howard and Tim Wiggins of Retreat Gastropub. Top Chef alum Richard Blais helped develop the menu, which is definitely seafood forward with roots in California, but really, the restaurant is a love letter to rum.
Read MoreAt Billie-Jean, Vongsaly has taken traditional continental classics and added a touch of his Laotian heritage and other Southeast Asian influences. It’s nothing outrageous, rather the menu is full of subtle twists that belie exciting surprises. It’s an an impressive accomplishment.
Read MoreIt should go without saying, but I will anyway... This food is every bit as nuanced and complex when it comes to flavor and composition as any white-table-clothed European fine-dining establishment. That you can enjoy it in a paper basket on the side of the road or on a stool next to a cloudy bottle of fish sauce is only a plus in my book.
Read MoreEach burger is great in its own way, but they’re all united at a base level by the deep, satisfying flavor that comes from dedication to quality ingredients and perfectly executed griddling. Once you have a burger at Mac’s, you start to wonder what the hell you’ve been eating your whole life.
Read MoreAll things considered, St. Louis is a pretty good place to land if you're jonesing for smoked meats. Places like Pappy's, Bogart's and Sugarfire routinely gain national attention for their barbecue. But there's a new BBQ joint steadily earning acclaim, Big Baby Q and Smokehouse.
Chef-owner Mike Randolph’s Italian venture occupies the Good Pie’s former space on the Loop. Much like his other restaurant Público, Randolfi’s aims to take familiar dishes and elements and tweak them. It also aspires to have the same welcoming atmosphere and warmth, splitting the difference between casual and fine dining. In Randolph’s restaurants you are a friend—not just a customer.
Read MoreThey’re better than your average quick-service sandwich because Loafers cares about the bread. It’s the foundation of a good sandwich, but most places can’t be bothered…cough, Subway, cough. In fact, most Americans have forgotten what bread is supposed to taste like. We’ve come to accept sugar loaded white bread with the consistency of an old sweatshirt as the norm. It doesn’t have to be like this!
Read MoreAniar is owned and operated by JP McMahon and Drigín Gaffey and focuses specifically on what western Ireland’s land and sea have to offer. McMahon and Gaffey strive to serve food with a sense of terroir, which is something typically reserved for wine. However, food can also be emblematic of a region based on its environmental factors. Aniar’s cuisine is a shining example of that notion.
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