St Louis.
loading the map…
20 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Nathaniel Reid Bakeryjust added
Destination · Bakery · Kirkwood · $$
walk-in
The Amber is salted-caramel mousse on a sablé Breton, and Ian Froeb calls it unparalleled.
Viciajust added
Destination · Contemporary American · St. Louis · $$$$
booking essential
Ian Froeb ranked Vicia second in St. Louis in April 2026, and the dish he singled out was a plate of carrots.
Side Project Brewingjust added
Destination · Brewery · Maplewood · $$$
walk-in
Cory King pours his saison over the skins that made a Missouri rosé, and the beer that comes out is called Loam Chambourcin.
Pappy's Smokehouse
Solid · Barbecue · St. Louis · $$
walk-in
Mike Emerson's baby backs go out under a Memphis dry rub, and the Midtown pit sells out long before it closes.
Sump Coffee
Solid · Coffee · St. Louis · $
walk-in
Scott Carey built this shop out with his brother's tools, and every one of them still had his brother's name on it.
Schlafly Bottleworksjust added
Listed · Brewery · Maplewood · $$
book ahead
The sticky toffee pudding comes out warm under a brown-sugar sauce, and Ann Lemons Pollack calls it one of the great dishes of our town.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 3 here.
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard
Dessert · St. Louis · $
walk-in
A concrete leaves this window upside down, and it has since 1959.
The Schlafly Tap Roomjust added
Brewery · St. Louis · $$
walk-in
Tom Schlafly bought a 1902 printing house on Locust Street for $137,000 and then had to get a Missouri law changed before he could sell his own beer out of it.
The Side Project Cellarjust added
Bar · Maplewood · $$$
walk-in
Karen King's list here was nominated for a James Beard Outstanding Bar Program award in 2015.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 11 here.
Adam's Smokehousejust added
Barbecue · St. Louis · $$
walk-in
Adam Gaffney cooked at Pappy's and died in 2012 at 25, and the 35-seat room named for him puts an apple-jelly glaze on its ribs and blowtorches it.
Bogart's Smokehousejust added
Barbecue · Soulard · $$
walk-in
The ribs run the Pappy's recipe and then take an apricot glaze, torched at the counter until it caramelizes.
Seoul Tacojust added
Korean-Mexican · University City · $
walk-in
David Choi's counter on Delmar puts kimchi fried rice inside a burrito, and this is the door he opened first.
Yolklorejust added
Breakfast · St. Louis · $
walk-in
Mary Bogacki trained in fine dining and put those standards on a breakfast counter, and Yolklore says the biscuit and gravy gets people driving across town.
Perennial Artisan Ales
Brewery · St. Louis · $$
walk-in
Andrew Cisneros, of the Peruvian kitchen Jalea, cooks his Sanguchitos sandwiches inside this brewery.
Modern Brewery & The Kings Oakjust added
Brewery · Kings Oak · $$
walk-in
Modern counts more than 20,000 kegs of one beer, Citrapolis, and The Kings Oak puts birria on the fries beside it.