Foodies Guide To St. Louis

St. Louis is one of the cities this year that took me by surprise and on a culinary adventure. I was able to eat through the city with a friend and it felt like we were in a constant state of  “wow this is so good!” We ate for four days taking in the best of the city and now I am ready to share with you my favorite foodie stops in St. Louis! From breakfast to dinner and snacks in between, the cities culinary scene is booming.
Nathaniel Reid Bakery 
Never in my life have I met someone so fiercely passionate about their craft. Nathaniel Reid really stood out on my food tour through the city because he went over everything in his bakery, told his background story of working in Las Vegas, and explained how basically everything .. down to crusts, fillings, and even jams – are made in the bakery. This bakery is taking in no shortcuts in providing high quality food and the customer service is top notch – in the 40 or so minutes I was there Nathaniel greeted most customers (many whom were return customers) and his staff was equally as friendly. I think that says a lot about a business – but the food was equally exceptional. Do not miss the quiche and basically any of the pastries or desserts. Everything I tried was incredible.

Nathaniel Reid Bakery

Nathaniel Reid Bakery

Nathaniel Reid Bakery

Rooster
Specializing in crepes – I went off the deep end and deviated from my normal sweet crepes and went for a savory. Now let me say this – I have never had a savory crepe because the idea just sounded off, but one on the menu stood out that had goat cheese and BACON – so here we are, trying new things, and LOVING them.

Rooster

Rooster

Vicia
I cannot possibly give enough accolades to Vicia as the chef Michael was just named by Food & Wine as one of the best new chefs! What I loved was all the freshness of the food, the abundance of green (lord knows I don’t eat enough of it) and creating these dishes that just paired well(here’s looking at you cold asparagus soup!). I highly recommend the soup, their ice cream sandwich, the potato salad, AND the cold brew mint chocolate coffee!

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Vicia

Retreat Gastropub
Although the space is small, the menu is fierce. When we sat down we got a menu that was three pages with a heavy focus on craft cocktails and beers. Retreat Gastropub is that restaurant you go to when you are looking to be inspired by a drink or a dish that the owners have carefully curated.

Retreat Gastropub

Retreat Gastropub

Retreat Gastropub

Fitz’s
One simply doesn’t go to St. Louis and NOT get a Fitz’s root beer float. This place is an institution and should not be missed.

Fitz’s – floats

Sardella
I found Sardella to be an interesting restaurant. They play with food in ways I have never seen it – for example, I ordered brussels sprout toast with a poached egg. I have never seen this anywhere in my life (and I eat a lot) and I could not get over how incredible it was. They brought out an order of their ricotta pancakes (something I also have never had before) and let me tell you how good they are. My friend and I both took a bite and they were piping hot, but they were so good we continued to eat them. That’s right – we actually risked burning our mouth for how damn good these pancakes are.

Sardella

Sardella

Sardella

Sardella

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Disclaimer: This is written in partnership with the St. Louis Tourism Board. As always, opinions are entirely my own.