Over the 12 years I’ve been covering the St. Louis dining scene, I can’t remember a stronger year for new restaurants than 2017. As always with this annual guide, I seek not simply a list of 100 great restaurants but 100 great restaurants that also reflect the current character of St. Louis’ dining scene: what is essential now, what points us toward the future and what examples from the past we should take with us. The STL 100 is also, as always, one person’s opinion, imperfect, but undertaken with relish. And hot sauce.
#1
Stone Soup Cottage
#2
Elaia
#3
Vicia
#4
Sidney Street Café
Closed
#5
Privado
#6
Farmhaus
#7
Nixta
#8
Público
#9
Sardella
#10
Pastaria
#11
Olive + Oak
#12
The Crossing
#13
Tony’s
#14
Cleveland-Heath
#15
Five Bistro
#16
Reeds American Table
#17
Annie Gunn’s
#18
Veritas
Closed
#19
Vista Ramen
#20
Beast Craft BBQ Co.
#21
Lona’s Lil Eats
#22
Juniper
#23
Guerrilla Street Food
#24
Pappy’s Smokehouse
#25
Union Loafers
The Rest of the Best
in alphabetical order
Acero
Baileys’ Range
Balkan Treat Box
Banh Mi So #1 — Saigon Gourmet
Bar Les Frères
Big Baby Q and Smokehouse
Bing Bing
Blues City Deli
Bogart’s Smokehouse
Brasserie by Niche
Byrd & Barrel
Cafe Natasha’s
Cardwell’s at the Plaza
Cate Zone Chinese Cafe
Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant
Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery
Comet Coffee & Microbakery
Edibles & Essentials
El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery
Five Star Burgers
Fork & Stix
Frankly Sausages
Gioia’s Deli
Grace Meat + Three
Half & Half
Hiro Asian Kitchen
I Fratellini
Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria
Kounter Kulture
La Patisserie Chouquette
La Tejana Taqueria
Lemmons by Grbic
Local Chef Kitchen
Mac’s Local Eats
Mai Lee
Mariscos el Gato
Medina Mediterranean Grill
Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant
Mission Taco Joint
Nathaniel Reid Bakery
Nudo House
Olio
Pangea
Parigi
Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.
Pho Long
Pi Pizzeria
Pint Size Bakery
Pizza Head
Pizzeoli
Polite Society
Closed
Porano Pasta
Private Kitchen and Soup Dumplings STL
Quincy Street Bistro
Retreat Gastropub
Rice Thai Bistro
Salt + Smoke
Salume Beddu at Parker’s Table
Seoul Taco
Sheesh Restaurant
Signature India
Sister Cities Cajun
Smoki O’s
Southern
Southwest Diner
Spare No Rib
Sugarfire Smoke House
Tai Ke
Taqueria Durango
Taste
The Palm Trees
The Taco & Ice Cream Joint
The Wood Shack
Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B.
Yolklore
A few important notes:
- The STL 100 is divided into the Top 25 and the Rest of the Best. There is no gap between No. 25 and whatever No. 26 would be. At a certain point, splitting the difference is too arbitrary to be useful.
- Restaurants must have opened by Oct. 31, 2017, to be eligible for this edition of the STL 100, though I wasn’t able to reach every restaurant that opened last fall in time. Every restaurant has been visited at least once since Jan. 1, 2017.
- As with my weekly restaurant reviews, I attempted to dine anonymously. After 12 years of writing about St. Louis restaurants, however, many chefs and restaurateurs know me by sight.
- Pricing info is estimated per person. The availability and cost of recommended dishes are subject to change.