“What’s your favorite restaurant in St. Louis?” It’s the question you ask us at Sauce Magazine the most: when we’re out for drinks, when we bump into each other at a party, when you need a restaurant for a special birthday or anniversary, or when you’re visiting town for the weekend. If we pause for […]
“What’s your favorite restaurant in St. Louis?”
It’s the question you ask us at Sauce Magazine the most: when we’re out for drinks, when we bump into each other at a party, when you need a restaurant for a special birthday or anniversary, or when you’re visiting town for the weekend.
If we pause for a few moments before answering, it’s because we think about this question constantly. And the answer changes often, because the St. Louis restaurant scene doesn’t rest. The restaurateurs, chefs, cooks, bakers and servers who set the standard for dining in St. Louis are always aiming higher and exploring new ways to delight and challenge us, whether their restaurants have been open for one year or three decades. For every fresh-faced newcomer on this list, like Sado, Telva at the Ridge or Bagel Union, there are restaurants like Brasserie by Niche, Sidney Street Cafe or Louie that remain the benchmark for quality many years after they served their first meal.
You don’t need us to tell you about all the St. Louis classics: You know so many of them already. Instead, the Sauce 75 is your guide to the essential St. Louis restaurants right now. That includes old favorites who keep innovating, venerable institutions whose standards never, ever drop, and newcomers bringing thrilling new ideas to the table. These are the restaurants and bars we’re excited to eat at in 2024, and you’re invited.
Photo by Michelle Volansky
Bulrush
A finalist in the Best Chef: Midwest category of the 2024 James Beard Awards, chef-owner Rob Connoley and his team are on peak form right now. At Bulrush, Connoley takes a deep dive into the past 200 years of Ozark cuisine, yielding culinary excellence from humble and sometimes scarce resources. The dishes here present a vibrant reimagining of traditional recipes using historically accurate ingredients. Everything you taste is in season, with ingredients often foraged that same day. You may have a chance to try a sauce made from wood sorrel, marinated chanterelles, fermented persimmons or perhaps paw paw “caviar.” Bulrush is the apotheosis of Connoley’s attempt to contextualize, understand and appreciate our region’s history and foodways, and a meal here is sure to be a unique, memorable experience. 3307 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.449.1208, bulrushstl.com
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Photo by Adam Rothbarth
Jalea
St. Charles’ historic Main Street may be an unlikely setting for a Peruvian bistro, but Jalea is a restaurant worth crossing the Missouri River for. Chef-owner Andrew Cisneros has worked under some of St. Louis’ most respected chefs, and at Jalea, a Sauce Best New Restaurant honoree in 2022, he’s now demonstrating the scale of his own talent. The seafood here is perfectly fresh: the eponymous jalea with crisp, breaded seafood that could range from cod to Florida snapper, depending on the catch of the day; or citrus-enhanced chunks of ceviche in “tiger’s milk” marinade blending clam stock, lime, garlic, ginger, red onion and Peruvian peppers. Cisneros’ use of sauces is another area of consistent excellence. The pepper cheese huancaina with perfectly crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside yuca fries, the house tartar and aji-citrus mayo, the assortment of sauces served with the pollo a la brasa: each of these adds distinct color and diversity to an already rich experience. The cocktail selection is built significantly around Peruvian pisco – start with the wonderful pisco sour and go from there. 323 N. Main St., St. Charles, 314.303.0144, jaleaperuvianbistro.com
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Photo by Michelle Volansky
Menya Rui
Very few ramen shops in the United States make their noodles in-house, and restaurants offering broth-less styles like tsukemen and mazemen are comparably rare. Local jewel Menya Rui (Sauce’s Best New Restaurant of 2022) does both, but it’s the broth-less tantanmen that really has us hooked. The fresh, chewy noodles take center stage in this Japanese take on Sichuan dan-dan noodles with ground pork, aromatic chile oil, sesame paste and pleasing notes of that signature numbing spice. Owner and chef Steven Pursley’s passion and expertise – which earned him a Food & Wine Best New Chef class of 2023 honor – are evident from your first slurp to your last lick of the empty bowl. Menya Rui is a restaurant that is clear in its identity, proud in its craft, rigorously on point in its execution and unrivaled in St. Louis. 3453 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, 314.601.3524, menyarui.com
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Photo by Michelle Volansky
Bagel Union
Co-owners Ted Wilson and Sean Netzer have replicated the success of Union Loafers Cafe and Bread Bakery with this on-point Webster Groves bagel shop. A bite of the generously seasoned everything bagel with lox schmear (made using Sierra Nevada Cheese Co. cream cheese) confirms the kitchen knows its way around the classics, and signature sandwiches like the spicy Iggy – smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese, red onion, cilantro salad and Passenger Foods chile crisp on tzitzelnickel bagel – have distinguished Bagel Union from the outset. But every visit here is exciting because there’s always something new to try, from cacio e pepe cream cheese to specials like the sambal bagel with chile crab and scallion cream cheese.8705 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.320.7556,
bagel-union.com
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Photo by Michelle Volansky
Dalie’s Smokehouse
We expect delicious pulled pork and ribs from the sister restaurant of both Pappy’s Smokehouse and Bogart’s Smokehouse, but there are plenty of exceptional surprises at Dalie’s Smokehouse in Valley Park. Their Ultimate Reuben is one of our favorite sandwiches in town: Mild sauerkraut allows both house-smoked beef and pork belly pastrami to star, supported by Swiss and Thousand Island on a strong marbled rye stage. The 11-plus sides include seasonal specials alongside beloved evergreens like Pappy’s classic sweet potato fries, while the mac and cheese luxuriates in a creamy cheese sauce with just a touch of heat and a crunchy bacon-breadcrumb topping. What’s better than the Fire and Ice pickles? Deep-fried Fire and Ice pickles with perfectly crunchy exteriors and addictive sweet-sour insides. 2951 Dougherty Ferry Road, Valley Park, 636.529.1898, daliessmokehouse.com
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Chez Ali
Chef Alioun “Ali” Thiam moved to the U.S. in 1999 and lived in New York City until 2013 before ending up in St. Louis and bringing his superb Senegalese cuisine to City Foundry STL. Try as much as possible by getting the chicken sampler plate, which, depending on when you go, should come with curry chicken and jerk chicken, as well as sides like rice and steamed cabbage. While steamed cabbage may not sound exciting on paper, it’s a great foil for the platter’s more aggressively flavored components. If you’re lucky, you may show up on a day when the fabled sweet and citrusy yassa chicken is on the menu: Order this immediately and in large quantities. All three chicken dishes are powerhouses of warm spice, heat and soft-yet-toothsome chew. Whatever you do, be sure to add the fried plantains to your order. 3730 Forest Park Ave. (inside City Foundry STL), St. Louis, 314.210.0897, chezali-mo.com
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Photo courtesy of Niche Food Group
Brasserie By Niche
From the interior’s warm decor to the expansive, luxurious patio where blankets are offered to keep diners snug on cool nights, few restaurants in town dare to be this charming. Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group opened this Central West End destination in 2009, and its commitment to classic Parisian-style bistro dining has never wavered in the intervening years. The gougeres should be ordered immediately, but these delicate, warm cheese puffs are just one of Brasserie’s enduring classics. Other standouts include the French onion soup with its bronzed cap of gooey Comte cheese, or the bistro steak served with a buttery bearnaise sauce and a pile of slim-cut pommes frites. Whatever you do, don’t miss dessert, particularly their floating island – poached meringue on a pool of creme anglaise – or one of the rotating options from James Beard-nominated pastry chef Elise Mensing. Mensing’s London fog creme brulee riffs on a classic: Her recipe uses Earl Grey custard and is served with shortbread and a dollop of lavender meringue. 4580 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, 314.454.0600, brasseriebyniche.com
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Photo courtesy of La Patisserie Chouquette
La Pâtisserie Chouquette
At this beautiful Botanical Heights patisserie, owner Simone Faure creates cakes, pastries, macarons and desserts that are as beautifully detailed as they are delicious – it’s no wonder many sell out daily. The intricate Darkness croissant is filled with dark chocolate and two chocolate batons and is topped with Himalayan sea salt, while the canele (vanilla rum cake) is a Bordeaux specialty with a custard center. The sweets are irresistible, but don’t overlook savory items like the flamiche tart (crisp puff pastry with thin-sliced potatoes, leeks, creme fraiche, Gruyere and Asiago). In early 2024, the French-inspired pastry shop was named a James Beard Awards semifinalist in the Outstanding Bakery category for a second consecutive year, and we wouldn’t bet against a third nomination next year. 1626 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.7935, simonefaure.com
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Photo by Meera Nagarajan
Balkan Treat Box
Three James Beard Award nominations for co-owner and chef Loryn Nalic have earned Balkan Treat Box national acclaim, but this Webster Groves restaurant is truly a family affair. The heart of the restaurant is the copper-plated, wood-fired oven, where somun (pita-style Bosnian bread) and pide (a boat-shaped Turkish flatbread) are baked. The standout pide comes topped with cheese, ajvar (a bell pepper- and eggplant-based sauce), tangy kajmak (a Balkan cream cheese), herbs and your choice of beef, chicken or vegetables. The cevapi, grilled beef sausages stuffed inside somun with onions and kajmak, is available in whole or half portions – even the half size will fill you up. 8103 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.733.5700, balkantreatbox.com
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Photo by Michelle Volansky
Louie
The Sauce Best New Restaurant of 2018, Louie is a beloved Italian restaurant that our staffers return to repeatedly. Go on the weekend when you can get the recurring off-menu special burrata on grilled sourdough: it’s the best burrata dish in town by our reckoning. The broccolini with Calabrian vinaigrette is another standout, as is the grilled beef tenderloin with roasted potatoes and salsa verde. The cocktails are exceptional, with the Rosie y Rosa and El Tigre top of our must-try list. For dessert, the rotating ice cream sandwich is delectable – a rich, creamy center is flanked by a soft-yet-sturdy cookie sandwich and served alongside a crunchy element like nutty granola or hazelnut crumble. 706 DeMun Ave., Clayton, 314.300.8188, louiedemun.com
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Photo by Adam Rothbarth
Chiang Mai
Opportunities to enjoy northern Thai food are few and far between in St. Louis, but anyone who is already familiar with the region’s cuisine will be excited by Chiang Mai, which pays homage in name and spirit to chef-owner Su Hill’s hometown. The confident, straightforward menu’s northern Thai signatures include gaeng hung lay (a braised pork curry flavored with a variety of herbs and spices, garlic, ginger and onion), larb khua (sauteed ground pork served with steamed or sticky rice, vegetables and fresh herbs) and sai oua (a fragrant and funky grilled pork sausage). Even the khao soi, a chicken and curry noodle dish commonly found on Thai takeout menus, has its own distinct personality, with a darker, burnt orange color and nuanced spice mix. 8158 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314.961.8889, chiangmaistl.com
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Photo by Michelle Volansky
Akar
This intimate space is a love letter to chef-owner Bernie Lee’s past. The name means “roots” in Malay, and the menu is inspired by Lee’s childhood, his travels and what he cooks at home. Try the insanely tender short ribs, which come topped with a rich and silky sambal-spiced demi-glace alongside mashed peas and burnt carrots, or the Rangoon stuffed with huge chunks of lobster meat and served with a spicy-sweet mango sauce. There’s also a handful of creative cocktails like the Serai, which includes lemongrass-infused tequila, cilantro liqueur and Thai chile simple syrup, as well as a well-curated wine selection. 7641 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, 314.553.9914, akarstl.com
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