The sixth annual edition of the STL 100 looks back on a thrilling decade for St. Louis dining. Chefs winning national recognition. The ongoing barbecue boom. The growth of food trucks and fast-casual dining. You will find all these developments and more represented in this list. You will also see the result of 2019’s stunning crop of debut restaurants, an influx that forced me to make the most difficult choices yet to form this list of St. Louis’ 100 most essential restaurants. Here is the STL 100 for 2020.

1
Vicia

2
Savage

3
Indo

4
Stone Soup Cottage

5
Olive + Oak

6
Sidney Street Café

7
Louie

8
Elaia

9
Balkan Treat Box

10
Billie-Jean

11
Bulrush

12
Elmwood

13
Sardella

14
The Crossing

15
Lona’s Lil Eats

16
Beast Craft BBQ Co. and Beast Butcher & Block

17
Grace Meat + Three

18
Pastaria

19
Nippon Tei and Ramen Tei

20
Annie Gunn’s

21
Tony’s

22
Farmhaus

23
Union Loafers

24
Private Kitchen and Soup Dumplings STL

25
J. Devoti Trattoria
The Rest of the Best
in alphabetical order
Acero

Akar

Alta Calle

Bait

Bar Les Frères

The Bellwether

The Benevolent King

Blues City Deli

Bogart’s Smokehouse

Brasserie by Niche

Byrd & Barrel

Cafe Natasha’s

Cate Zone Chinese Cafe

Chao Baan

Cinder House

Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery

Cleveland-Heath

The Clover and the Bee

Cocina Latina

Crown Candy Kitchen

The Curry Club

Edibles & Essentials

El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery

Fork & Stix and Kiin Essentially Thai

Gioia’s Deli

Guerrilla Street Food

Han Lao

I Fratellini

J’s Pitaria

Jerk Soul

Juniper

Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria

Knead Bakehouse + Provisions

Kounter Kulture

La Patisserie Chouquette

La Tejana Taqueria

The Last Kitchen

Lemmons by Grbic

Mac’s Local Eats

Mai Lee

Malinche Mexican Culinary Experience

Mayo Ketchup

Medina Mediterranean Grill

Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant

Mi Tierra Bonita

Morning Glory Diner

Nathaniel Reid Bakery

Nixta

Nudo House

Olio

Pappy’s Smokehouse

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.

Pie Guy Pizza

Pint Size Bakery

Pizza Head

Planter’s House

Polite Society

Rice Thai Bistro

Salt + Smoke

Sameem Afghan Restaurant

Seoul Taco

Sides of Seoul

Sister Cities Cajun

Southwest Diner

The Stellar Hog

Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant

SweetArt

Taco Circus

Tai Ke

Taste

Veritas

The Vine Mediterranean Cafe

VP Square

The Wood Shack

Yellowbelly
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 have been.
- Restaurants must have opened by Oct. 31, 2019, to be eligible for this edition.
- Pricing info is estimated per person based on dinner (when applicable).