Ian Froeb's STL 100 (2019 archive)

Post-Dispatch file photo

Mac's Local Eats

Mac's Local Eats has relocated to Bluewood Brewing at 1821 Cherokee Street in Benton Park. Mac’s Local Eats, the hole-in-the-wall restaurant inside Dogtown’s Tamm Avenue Bar, serves what is unquestionably the best smashed burger in St. Louis and what might be the area’s best burger, period. How good is it? In theory, the biggest burger here is the Captain, with four patties, but you can keep adding extra patties, and if you’re the first person to finish a burger with a certain number of patties, you can name the burger. As I write this, diners have eaten and named burgers with as many as 18 patties. Normally, I dislike gimmicks such as these, but the Mac’s burger, made from ground dry-aged, whole-cow beef, is so extraordinary that I’m tempted to try to fix my name on some towering, heart-stopping beast.

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily (closed Tuesday)

Last year's ranking: Rest of the Best

Opened: 2017

Join our Facebook group to talk food and dining in St. Louis.