Photo by Robert Cohen (Post-Dispatch)
Five Star Burgers
It’s a Golden Age for burgers in St. Louis. A new generation of great burgers both plump and skinny have joined the area’s already impressive roster, and later this year Danny Meyer will finally open a Shake Shack in his hometown. For me, the gold standard of this Golden Age is Steve Gontram’s Five Star Burgers. The recipe is simple: a terrific patty (Angus beef, pasture-raised, grain-finished) always cooked to the requested temperature with high-quality toppings. Five Star’s masterpiece is its green-chile cheeseburger. Take that one burger away — shudder — and for its range of other burgers (including lamb, bison, vegetarian and other nonbeef patties) Five Star would still be tops.
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily
Opened: 2012
Must order: Dad's Green Chile Cheeseburger ($9.75)