As a pizza incubator, Elmwood is emblematic of how restaurateurs have navigated the pandemic. Its one more winner for Cate Zone, which first attracted notice for its focus on the cuisine of Chinas northeast, including another crisp (though not spicy) dish, the sweet-and-sour pork that is as much and maybe more the latter than the former. St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers daily articles and information on all political candidates for local and federal elections. They will keep an eye out for specials like the kumru or collaborations with other restaurants. The eponymous Nathaniel Reid is a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Baker nationwide, among numerous other plaudits over the years. For a time, he pivoted his Grove location from its usual barbecue menu to sandwiches, including a phenomenal take on Baltimore-style pit beef. Cate Zones menu traverses multiple regional cuisines, making the restaurant not only a part of St. Louis growth of regional Chinese restaurants, but also emblematic of it. Beyond their ribs, I tend to favor Pappys for pulled pork and burnt ends, Bogarts for its pastrami and tri-tip, Pappys for the variety of sides, Bogarts for the inimitable beans. Photo by Ian Froeb, Post-Dispatch, Sambava-chocolate, vanilla and hazelnut cake. Where 2549 Woodson Road, Overland More info 314-395-2855; instagram.com/dixons_bbq Hours 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday-Wednesday) Pricing $-$$, El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery Mexican, Tacos. Where 7266 Manchester Road, Maplewood More info 314-644-1790; acero-stl.com Hours Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday) Pricing $$$$. Since opening in January 2020, and against pandemic headwinds, Kendele and Wayne Sieves St. Peters restaurant has become one of the metro areas toughest tables and its prime destination for Neapolitan pizza. Of course, she presents a superior version of the classic Cuban sandwich: roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles on bread from the famed La Segunda Central Bakery in Tampa, Florida. In March, it began with a delicate first course of poached apple with fennel, celery leaf and horseradish that hinted at the budding of spring and then staggered me with a shabu shabu of cured salmon and preserved mushrooms in a summer-bright tomato dashi with seemingly bottomless umami. More broadly, Landeiro uses sandwiches as a gateway to introduce her broader repertoire of Cuban fare, including ropa vieja and her signature mojo-roasted pork. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Obituaries - Legacy.com The Chicken, say. It begins with the fiercely personal cooking of chef and owner Lona Luo, who introduced her dumplings at a Soulard Farmers Market stall and since 2014 has overseen a restaurant menu that ranges from those mushroom or steak-and-mushroom dumplings to rice-paper wraps plump with exceptional smoked brisket or turkey in a lemongrass pesto as verdant as it is spicy. Looking for a St. Louis restaurant? Fuel plays second fiddle at Wally's gas station in Fenton, where a food court serves barbecue, jerky, pizza and more. Where 4087 Chouteau Avenue More info 314-925-8250; chaobaanstl.com Hours Dinner daily Pricing $-$$, Chez Ali Afro-Caribbean, Caribbean, Ivorian, Senegalese. Given the beauty of his platings, I am willing to wait and let Soup Dumplings STL take center stage this year instead. She always barbecued, he said, and he was the person who was just always there beside her. Runnels would go on to open her barbecue restaurant in Berkeley, and Dixon followed in her stead with his first restaurant, Dixon Smoke Co., in midtown in 2015. Julie Truong expanded her fast-casual restaurant DD Mau Vietnamese Eatery to Webster Groves in 2021, and the new location both replicates the appeal of the Maryland Heights original and showcases how the concept is continuing to evolve. Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant turns 15 this year, and the restaurant Atsede Wondem and Henok Gerbi founded is now as synonymous with dining along the vibrant South Grand corridor as such St. Louis icons as Pho Grand and the King and I. I have done my best to work through Meskerems menu over the past decade and a half a daunting task, given the variety of both meat and vegetarian options available but when I returned after the past two years, I couldnt resist the comfort of the Meskerem Combo, the round of spongy injera topped with such signature, precisely spiced dishes as tibs wat (beef), doro wat (chicken) and miser wat, the brilliant, berbere-seasoned dish that will hip the most vocal carnivore to the charms of the lentil. Photo by Ian Froeb, Post-Dispatch, Sweet-and-sour pork. You dont need more evidence why Union Loafers has become St. Louis premier bread bakery. Its been a helluva two years. Their son runs Locoz Tacos in Tower Grove South, where youll find the best carne asada tacos in town. At DD Mau, she has brought together excellent Vietnamese dishes rice bowls, crackling banh mi, hearty pho and counter-service convenience. Chef and owner Maritza Rios waited some 20 years after moving to St. Louis to open a restaurant featuring the food of her native Peru. When available, Thiams oxtails are the best in town, smoked and then cooked down to nearly scoopable tenderness. Where 10200 Page Avenue, Overland More info 314-551-2123; facebook.com/firechickenstl Hours Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday) Pricing $. From fluffy pancakes to beignets with sausage gravy to smoked pork ribs, Grand Pied is as distinctive as it is comforting. First looks. The rich, sweet-and-savory broth would draw me here if it were served by itself in a bowl. (Reservations for dine-in service are essential.) Youll love it anyway. In 2019, the chef and owner of Grace Meat + Three installed a walk-up window in his acclaimed Grove restaurant. the Gnocco, too. Get here however you can, but the smart play is to dine with a group and pair a couple of Waynes pies with a few of executive chef Josh Polettis pastas, from simple, perfect tortellini en brodo to luxurious lobster ravioli. GA - $45 or VIP - $65 Contact: Contact Phone: http://feeds.feedburner.com/CityOfStLouis-Calendar, Trivia Night Every Tuesday at Steves Hot Dogs, Reception for lnspiration and Expression: The Art of MaryJo Clark, Xavier Riddle and The Secret Museum: The Exhibit at The Magic House, Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1940s1970s, Tales by Light a National Photography Exhibition, Alton Mayor Seeking Solutions To Homelessness With Future Meetings. But at Chao Baan you can still find much of the fare that made this restaurant one of 2019s standout debuts: sai grog (sausage) snappy with lemongrass and lime; citrusy, spicy beef nam tok; the smoky and chile-pungent ground-beef dish kua kling. You can, of course, order Js Sarajevo-style cevapi cradled in freshly baked somun, but you might also try maslenica, a flatbread stuffed with the beef sausages, smoked mozzarella and kajmak and smothered in yogurt sauce. Whisks full name is Whisk: A Sustainable Bakeshop. The arrival of COVID-19 scuttled plans for a follow-up fundraising event, but only months later, it was the Lopez family helping those in need, distributing donations outside their shuttered restaurant during the first pandemic summer. Studying the Hopewell culture led Connoley to the importance of hazelnuts, which featured in the Ozark-style chili crisp atop gorgeous roasted carrots. Chez Ali debuted along with the Food Hall at City Foundry in August 2021, and Alioun Ali Thiams restaurant is one of the main reasons the long-anticipated midtown project has exceeded my expectations. Shift fans can take some solace: Ely occasionally hosts ticketed dinners at the Lucky Accomplice featuring a menu in the vein of his original restaurant. Where 2203 South 39th Street More info 314-771-4278; sweetartstl.com Hours 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Wednesday) Pricing $, Taberu Catering & Delivery, Japanese, Seafood, Sushi. Charlene and Darren Young launched their Filipino barbecue pop-up in 2020 with almost no restaurant experience between them. In any other circumstance, you must purchase it instead and you must. Discover something new at the Great Taste event featuring Ian Froeb's STL100 restaurants! flavor, just a skosh less incendiary than Beast Mode. Ann Bognar opened Nippon Tei in 2001, and this shopping-plaza storefront between Des Peres and Ballwin has been a St. Louis jewel ever since. Mendica certainly hasnt stood still since then. Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch, Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday) , Hokkaido scallops with koshihikari rice, Waianae-herb salad and harissa butter. Now the Herefords have brought their own brand of complex simplicity to the Food Hall at City Foundry with Chicken Scratch. Where 10094 Page Avenue, Overland More info 314-395-0180; owingplus.com Hours Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday) Pricing $. 174, truu xao xa ot, stir-fried lamb with chiles and lemongrass, hot and verdant; a classic bun bowl; chicken fried rice from the Chinese menu for the kids Mai Lee was bustling once again. New dishes like those on a recent visit tamarind-glazed pork ribs with mint and Fresno chiles over crisp rice noodles and pork-belly lechon in adobo sauce with garlic rice will bring me back to write even more about Lee. Even the pizza finds its own niche, thin and crisp with a bit of a chew not quite New York, not quite tavern-style. Photo by Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch, 8158 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves , Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday) , Gaeng hung lay (ginger curry) with rice. Where Soup Dumplings STL, 8110 Olive Boulevard, University City More info 314-445-4605; facebook.com/soupdumplingstl Hours Lunch and dinner daily (closed Tuesday) Pricing $, Where Private Kitchen, 8106 Olive Boulevard, University City More info 314-445-4605; facebook.com/privatekitchenstl Hours Contact via text for hours and availability Pricing $$-$$$$, Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant Mediterranean, Middle Eastern. Pet Parade | Purina When I returned this year, Jimenez-Gutirrez and Gutirrez Molina had reinvigorated the menu with many newer dishes, each distinguished by vibrant flavors seamlessly brought together on the plate: molito verde, pieces of tender pork loin in a complex mole verde garnished with pepitas; campechanos, the restaurants signature beef arrachera (formerly served with bone marrow) with longaniza in a taco with both an inner corn-tortilla and outer griddled-cheese shell. Little Fox is a deceptively modest name for the restaurant Mowgli and Craig Rivard have built in the citys Fox Park neighborhood. Discover the best restaurants in St. Louis, right now! Observant diners might have known Andrew from his work at Mike Randolphs late Randolfis Italian Kitchen and other area restaurants, but Nomad was only beginning to build name recognition a process complicated by the fact that it had succeeded the popular burger restaurant Macs Local Eats as the food venue for Tamm Avenue Bar in Dogtown. It isnt birria: the consome de borrego at La Tejana Taqueria, a golden elixir of the meats rich, grassy, slightly funky flavor, garnished as you like with cilantro, onion, jalapeo and lime. In October 2021, Henry opened his debut restaurant inside the Food Hall at City Foundry: Sureste, a marvel of Yucatecan food and, as often as possible, locally sourced ingredients. The staff had only recently placed a couple of high-top tables by the counter, where I happily sat. The Vine Mediterranean Cafe opened in 2009 in Tower Grove South, and with Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant, which debuted two years earlier across the street, this Lebanese restaurant represents the new generation of anchors for the essential but never static South Grand corridor. Ben Porembas Nixta has followed a fascinating, if not exactly linear, path from its late-2016 debut to today. Rick Lewis wins the unintentional-foresight award for the COVID dining era. St. Louis Post-Dispatch hosted the Great Taste on April 13, 2023, at the Saint Louis Science Center, where attendees sampled from restaurants on Ian Froeb's STL 100. A relatively new addition features grilled octopus over crispy potatoes and chickpeas, all of it sharpened by soppressata and Calabrian chiles. Photo by Hillary Levin, Post-Dispatch, Dinner Tuesday-Saturday, lunch Saturday (closed Sunday) , From left: Bonci pizza, mushroom pizza, stracciatella pizza. (An enclosed patio is also now available.) Should the city ban the open-carry of firearms by teenagers? A landowner with whom Bulrush has formed a partnership had a deer problem on his property. At Crown Candy Kitchen, Karandzieff continues his familys now-109-year-old legacy, one that I might have taken for granted before the pandemic.