St. Louis Restaurants
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Ivory Coast Bistro
Once upon a time, St. Louis had plenty of small bars that also had kitchens. They offered humble food, most of it made on site, and a nearby accountant or salesman might drop in for what was often called a merchants’ lunch, or for a fast sandwich and a glass of beer. In fact, it
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Bar Italia
Once upon a time, Bar Italia was cutting edge. When it first opened in 1983, St. Louis didn’t know what to make of this place that called itself an Italian restaurant but whose menu looked so different. Gelato? Cold bean salad with tuna? Risotto? But people soon caught on, and (well before Starbuck’s arrival in
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Brunch: Capri at the Renaissance Grand
It’s been a cold, gray winter here in St. Louis. But we recently ate brunch sitting in wicker chairs under palm trees. Waikiki? San Diego? Nope. Washington Avenue. The Capri restaurant at the Renaissance Grand, to be precise. Despite the palm trees, this is a very casual spot. Weekend hotel guests aren’t interested in dressing
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Katie’s Pizzeria Cafe
Lots of new restaurants appear to be popping up around town, and Katie’s Pizzeria Café, which we tried recently for an after-theater supper, came as a serendipitous choice — welcoming, tasty and modestly priced. It opens at 6:30 a.m. for coffee, begins food service at 11 and serves until 1 a.m., something only a young
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Land of Smile
On its way through University City and Olivette, Olive Boulevard provides a comfortable home to many restaurants. Most are Chinese and Vietnamese, but there are Japanese, Indian, Caribbean, Mexican and American establishments as well. And now there’s Thai cuisine, too, at Land of Smile. And while smile is singular in the restaurant’s name, it became
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Chez Leon
Fine French restaurants are swell places. But we have an equally strong affection for bistros, the (usually) smaller, less fussy spots serving traditional food the way it’s been served for the past hundred years or so. Bistro food is about the closest you can get to French grandma–excuse us, grandmere–cooking unless you have a grandmere
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Agave
The strip of Manchester Avenue west of Vandeventer, now the Grove, formerly Forest Park Southeast, slowly is coming out of a cocoon that housed merely a strip of bars. Spreading some multi-cultural wings, the neighborhood now is attracting a number of improving restaurants. Among the recent openings is Agave, a Mexican restaurant that’s considerably more
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I Fratellini
I Fratellini has always been a low-key place, flying relatively low beneath the radar while riding high in terms of popularity. And the trattoria-esque restaurant is little; it seats about 30, not counting the handful of seats at the bar. A cozy storefront equally pleasant on a snowy night or a summer evening, thanks to
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Anthony’s Bar
We’re always a little surprised that more people don’t know about Anthony’s Bar. The younger, more casual sibling of Tony’s, with whom it shares a kitchen, it’s diagonally across the lobby in the same building, but on the side facing Broadway, with too good a view of the much-vaunted but still invisible Ballpark Village,
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The King & I
The King & I, as old-timers know, was the first Thai restaurant in St. Louis. We’ve always been extremely fond of it, and Ann has pleasant memories of stopping by en route to her evening shift and buying pad Thai take-out to replace hospital food. It’s grown over the years, moving across and north on