First photo by Robert Cohen (Post-Dispatch); add'l photos sponsored by restaurant
Lona's Lil Eats
This year’s STL 100 features several restaurants that are locally owned, fast-casual operations. One of the paragons of the trend is Lona’s Lil Eats, which evolved from a stall in the Soulard Farmers Market into a restaurant unlike any other in St. Louis. The format is familiar — build your own rice-paper wrap or plate, or choose among preselected combinations — but Lona Luo, who runs the restaurant with husband Pierce Powers, draws on the traditions of her home in a “hill tribe” area in Yunnan province in the far south of China. The dishes are always complexly flavored, sometimes fiendishly hot (the spicy-sesame sauce, the village bamboo stew) and often transformative (turkey — turkey — that makes you say, “Wow!”). Look out for specials like beef brisket and burnt ends as a protein option; these were so full of beefy, smoky flavor that I wanted to beg Luo to open a barbecue joint.
Hours: Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)
Last year's ranking: unranked
Opened: 2014
Must order: Turkey rice-paper wrap ($9.25)