The full-service barbecue eatery from Baileys’ Restaurants features traditional American “Q,” such as Carolina pulled pork and Texas brisket, with globally inspired flavors and specials.
Original J’s Tex-Mex & Barbecue features central Texas-style barbecue with Mexican-inspired starters and sides.
Devotees of Thai cuisine should make a beeline for Valley Park to visit Sweetie Cup Thai Cafe, which plates dishes of that nationality and unique sweets in a casual setting.
Kohlrabi, also known as the German turnip, can draw bewildered looks from shoppers, but the knobby purple or green vegetable shouldn’t be snubbed.
Prioritized Pastries is a vegan, gluten-free bakery that serves fresh, from-scratch baked goods and desserts.
The restaurant comes from executive chef and owner Jason Jackson, an Atlanta-born, Chicago-raised graduate of the latter city’s Institute of Culinary Arts at Robert Morris University Illinois.
Taco Circus, in St. Louis’ Southwest Garden neighborhood, continues to specialize in Austin-style Tex-Mex, but lately has transformed from fast casual to full service, with expanded comfort food and a brand-new bar program.
Since late August, Mayo Ketchup by Plaintain Girl has been delightfully dishing Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican fare in St. Louis’ Lafayette Square neighborhood.
Trending now
Early E-Edition
Mexican and American-Chinese cuisine are teaming intriguingly in central-north St. Louis County at Wok O Taco, a unique eatery plating creative dishes that blend the two cooking styles.
Thai eatery Chao Baan – from the family behind St. Louis’ longest-standing Thai restaurant, King & I – serves lunch and dinner featuring rustic regional cooking from southern and northeastern Thailand in that municipality’s Grove business district.
The restaurant focuses on American-style shareable plates to coincide with the photography exhibitions in the gallery there and live jazz.
This Middle Eastern-inspired dish is equal parts spicy and scrumptious.
Since May, local culinary devotees have been savoring sandwiches, steaks, seafood and other dishes at the West End Bistro, which serves lunch and dinner in St. Louis’ DeBaliviere Place neighborhood.
In June, Akar opened in Clayton under executive chef and owner Bernie Lee, providing “flex-casual” comfort food with its roots in Asian cuisine.
LemonShark Poké serves fast-casual build-your-own poké bowls and burrito-style rolls, as well as a selection of hot dishes and small bites.
BoB.Q, a fast-casual Korean barbecue eatery, opened in June in University City, offering a simple menu of rice bowls with the diner’s choice of flavorful, marinated and grilled proteins.
The Curry Club, a traditional Indian restaurant that opened in Chesterfield in December, offers everything from unique curries and rice dishes to dosas – crêpelike dishes made to order in an open kitchen – in a quick-service setting.
Mapelwood’s Yummi Tummi (previously known as Toasty Subs) continues to evolve two-plus years after its opening.
With six smokers on-site, BEAST Butcher & Block debuted just last month in the The Grove business district of St. Louis’ Forest Park South East neighborhood.
In April, St. Louis’ Tower Grove South neighborhood welcomed Taste of Persia, whose casual setting showcases authentic Iranian and Afghan cuisine, as well as a selection of Indian-style dishes.
Jerk Soul, a small carryout storefront in St. Louis’ Hyde Park neighborhood, specializes in Caribbean fare with flair by offering classic dishes alongside modern fusion items teeming with a taste of the tropics.
The Italian phrase Il Palato means “the palate,” which that posh Clayton restaurant seeks to please.
Smoked meats and fresh seafood make an unlikely but surprisingly delicious, creative pairing at Creve Coeur’s Cobalt Smoke & Sea, which opened early last month and which features globally inspired new American cuisine in an upscale-casual setting.
Pan-Asian cuisine and wood-fired specialties make for a deliciously unique match at Fox Fire in University City.
With summer approaching, Webster Groves’ Firenza Pizza and its sweet counterpart, Ziggy’s Frozen Treats, make one of the metro area’s best spots to enjoy casual, family-friendly Italian fare (including gelato).
Kemoll’s Chop House, one of St. Louis’ oldest and most iconic family-owned restaurants, recently started anew in Westport Plaza.