Celebrating The Stellar St. Louis Food Scene

Let’s brag for a minute. Our food scene here in St. Louis is top notch.

Just last week, the Chicago Tribune published an article about several high-profile chefs who are incredibly happy they came home to St. Louis for their latest ventures, our thriving craft beer scene, and some of our notable recent additions like Cinder House and Yellowbelly.

How ‘bout that St. Louis? Even our top city rival has good things to say about us and we’re not surprised.

Travel + Leisure called us “America’s Next Great Food City” and we think they’re right. After all, Vicia and Nixta were named one of 50 finalists for Best New Restaurant in the United States by Bon Appétit last year. We can't say we're surprised by the results, as these restaurants have been building up plenty of hype over the past year. Vicia was named the second best new restaurant in the U.S. in 2017 in USA Today’s readers poll and was named to Eater's list of the 12 Best New Restaurants in America and Reeds American Table & Sardella Osteria were named in Wine Enthusiasts' Best Wine Restaurants in the country for 2018.

According to a recent Riverfront Times article our St. Louis style pizza started in 1964 when Ed Imo borrowed only $500 to open the first Imo’s Pizza location ( less than $4,000 by today’s standards!). Their top two most popular pizzas are sausage and sausage and bacon.

Nathaniel Reid, a former Pastry Chef of the Year per the U.S. Pastry Competition, chose Kirkwood 3 years ago to open his unassuming - but world-class - pastry shop, Nathaniel Reed Bakery, largely for the sense of community he found there.

And then last, but certainly not least, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ARTICLE

We’ve been working our way through Ian Froebs 100 Best St. Louis Restaurants as well as lists from Feast and Sauce and we have to say - they’ve been some pretty stellar meals. St. Louis - you’re fantastic at food. Let’s go celebrate with a good meal, eh?

What to choose? We’re highlighting some of our favorites next week. :)

If you’re looking for more: here’s 43 St. Louis restaurants that have been featured on the food network.

Copyright © Amanda Honigfort, 2019