St. Louis, MO

Michael and Tara Gallina's vegetable-forward fine-dining room in the Cortex district, ranked #2 best new restaurant in America by USA Today readers. Tasting menu is the kitchen's serious play.

A Benton Park modern-American room that has been the city's date-night flagship for two decades. Beard semifinalist with smoked scallops and lobster turnovers as the signature dishes.

A Maplewood new-American spot named one of the NYT's 50 best places in America in 2025. Small dining room, scratch menu, real cocktail program.

Gerard Craft's Clayton Italian flagship — wood-fired pizza, daily pasta, gelato made in-house. Bigger and louder than the Niche-era operation it grew out of, and the kitchen has not slipped.

A Webster Groves new-American room with a menu that rotates seasonally and a brunch program that pulls weekend lines. Locals' default special-occasion spot west of the city.

Nick Bognar's Botanical Heights Japanese-Indonesian counter — his James Beard-winning kitchen. Bite-sized format, ambitious flavors, and one of the city's only proper omakase rooms.

The Hill restaurant that claims toasted-ravioli origin (so does Charlie Gitto's). Family-run since the 1970s, served in a no-frills wood-paneled room. The toasted ravioli is the only correct opener.

The other toasted-ravioli origin claim, an upscale dining room since 1981 with red booths and white tablecloths. The classics done correctly without irony.

A Hill family-run Italian-Greek hybrid doing the city's reader-poll-winning toasted ravioli plus Greek classics. Sandwich-and-pasta lunch counter, formal dinner room.

Established 1957, the oldest Italian-American restaurant on the Hill. Famous for the 32-oz Frozen Fishbowl cocktails, cheese-garlic bread, and pasta in iceberg-lettuce salad bowls.

A Crestwood chicken-and-catfish counter from Rick Lewis of Grace Meat + Three, in the old King Edward's space on Watson Road. Casual, fast, and the city's most-defendable fried-chicken sandwich.

A counter-service taqueria offshoot of Malinche, with handmade tortillas and a cantarito-cocktail bar. Quick visit, sharper flavors than the format suggests.

A South Grand Ethiopian institution doing classic stews and outstanding vegetarian platters served on injera. The South Grand cultural-corridor anchor.

A Soulard barbecue counter doing apricot-glazed ribs and brisket on a Texas smoker. Locals split between this and Pappy's down the street; the apricot glaze is what sets Bogart's apart.

A Midtown counter-service BBQ with apple- and cherry-wood smoke. The most-recommended single restaurant for first-time visitors; lines start at 11am most days.

A barbecue-and-whiskey-bar group born in the Loop, doing burnt-end deviled eggs and a serious whiskey shelf. Several locations; the Hampton Avenue and Delmar shops are the originals.

A Clayton brunch room with Mike Randolph's chef pedigree behind it. Egg-and-biscuit kitchen, espresso-bar program, and weekend lines that justify themselves.

A downtown brunch staple with multiple locations doing crepes, scratch sandwiches, and a Bloody Mary program. The downtown Locust Street original is the most-photographed.

A 1913 Old North St. Louis soda fountain and candy store, still family-run and unchanged in the right ways. Phosphates, sundaes, the BLT, and the heart-attack-on-a-plate they call the Heart Stopping BLT.

The Chippewa Street and Grand Avenue frozen-custard institution that has defined St. Louis dessert since 1929. The Concrete — too thick for the spoon to fall out — is the only correct order.

A Ladue sourdough bakery and cafe with serious bread and a tight breakfast menu. The bread is what supplies a chunk of the city's better restaurants.

A Tower Grove single-origin coffee bar with a serious pour-over program. Smaller and more focused than the chain alternatives; coffee education is part of the order.

A Lafayette Square cafe with the city's most-defendable gooey butter cake. Counter-service coffee, sit-down booths, and the cake comes in over 70 flavors.

Gerard Craft's Central West End French brasserie — steak frites, escargot, oysters, and a wine list that runs deep into Burgundy. The grown-up CWE dinner.

Six miles of paved bike-and-run paths inside the 1,326-acre Forest Park, plus dirt trails through the wooded sections. The city's central running and cycling artery.

A Meramec River state park 25 minutes west of downtown with 30+ miles of hiking and biking trails. The River Scene Trail's cliff-edge mile is the headline.

112 acres of wooded valley in south county with three paved interpretive trails and an interior nature center. The under-five-mile family hike with the visitor center included.

A 525-acre south county park with a cave at the heart of the trail system. The Cliff Cave Trail loops past the cave entrance and along the Mississippi bluffs.

St. Louis County's largest park with a 320-acre lake, paved 3.7-mile loop, and rowing-club docks. The county's default lake-and-loop walk.

A 405-acre drive-through wildlife park west of the city with herds of bison and elk visible from the road. Less a hike than a slow drive, but the wildlife is real.

An 8-mile paved rail-trail in south county along the route of the old Pacific Railroad. Flat, family-doable, and connects Grant's Farm to the Carondelet area.

An Ozark-foothills state park 30 minutes west of downtown with woodland trails and CCC-era stone-and-log structures. The Equestrian Trail is the longest, but the shorter loops are the better visit.

A St. Charles County park 40 minutes northwest on a former Frisco rail line with a sandstone quarry lake and 4 miles of trails. The Katy Trail passes through; the lake-and-quarry views are the headline.

A 9,143-acre wilderness area in the Ozarks about 80 minutes south of St. Louis with serious elevation and the city's nearest true wilderness experience. Day-hike from the Ottery Creek trailhead is the standard.

An Ozark state park 60 minutes southwest with caves, river bluffs, and a paved trail along the Meramec River. Fisher Cave's guided tour is the cave headliner.

A 4.5-mile loop through the largest county park west of the city — open fields, shady woods, and a couple of steep hills. Queeny's most-rural trail, tucked behind the manicured front edge.

South-side park with two lakes, a 2.5-mile loop trail, and the city's most-defendable picnic shelters. The local-friendly alternative to Forest Park when you don't want the crowds.

The 7-mile Chubb Trail runs through West Tyson, Castlewood, and Lone Elk parks — Gasconade dolomite outcroppings, switchbacks, and the city's most-defendable point-to-point hike. Drop a car at each end.

A small Kirkwood county park along the Meramec River — short loop trails through bluff-top woods with unobstructed river views. Quick after-work hike for west-county locals.

One of the country's best free zoos, on 90 acres inside Forest Park. The penguin-and-puffin coast and the River's Edge habitat are the standouts.

A free art museum in Forest Park with permanent collections spanning antiquities to contemporary. The Cass Gilbert 1904 building is a piece of the experience.

A downtown art-installation-meets-playground in an 11-story former shoe factory. Slides, climb structures, a roof Ferris wheel, and an aesthetic that splits the difference between amusement park and surrealist art.

A free science center in Forest Park with an OMNIMAX dome and a working planetarium. The boomerang skybridge over Highway 40 is the building's most-photographed feature.

A free history museum at the Forest Park north end built into the 1904 World's Fair's only surviving entrance. The Lewis and Clark exhibit and the 1904 Fair gallery are the keepers.

A 55,000-square-foot children's museum inside a Victorian mansion in Kirkwood. Hands-on physics, art, and economics exhibits target ages 2-12 but work honest programming for older kids too.

A 100-acre brewery complex south of downtown — historic stables for the Budweiser Clydesdales, the brewhouse, and a finishing biergarten. Free tour ends with a complimentary beer.

A 281-acre Busch family estate-and-petting-farm in south county, free to enter with paid parking. Tram tour through grazing animals plus a beer-sample garden at the end.

An 11,000-seat outdoor amphitheater in Forest Park running a summer Broadway season since 1917. The back-row 1,500 seats are free; everyone else pays.

A 1929 Siamese Byzantine-style movie palace on Grand Boulevard, now hosting touring Broadway, comedy, and concerts. The lobby is worth a pre-show walk-around.

A 1925 movie-palace turned concert hall, home to the St. Louis Symphony — one of the country's serious orchestras. Acoustics are surprisingly good for the original Rapp & Rapp design.

A free contemporary-art space designed by Tadao Ando in Grand Center. Smaller and more focused than the Saint Louis Art Museum; the architecture is half the experience.

A small but serious museum in the Central West End focused on chess history and master games. The 14-foot king on the sidewalk out front is the city's largest piece.

A modern aquarium inside the 1894 Union Station complex. The on-the-train introduction sequence is gimmicky in the best way; the tank-tunnel is the headliner.

A German-leaning St. Louis brewery with two locations — the original brewery and the larger Midtown brewhouse with a full kitchen. The schwarzbier is the brewery's tell.

A LaSalle Park brewery half a mile from Busch Stadium with a taproom, beer garden, and a kitchen that takes brewery food seriously. Saisons are the kitchen's signature.

A 700-seat 1912 concert hall in Grand Center known for acoustics rated among the country's best — jazz, classical, folk, and a 350-event annual calendar. The local default for chamber-scale music.

A 3,100-seat art deco theater downtown — originally the 1934 Kiel Opera House, restored and reopened in 2011 as a touring-act venue for music and comedy. The big-ticket midsize room.

A 2,300-capacity Delmar Loop concert venue consistently ranked among the country's top mid-size rooms by industry trade press. Standing-room floor with a balcony; the local default for touring rock and indie.

A non-collecting Grand Center kunsthalle in a 2003 Brad Cloepfil building — three to four major shows a year, no permanent collection, and the city's most-current contemporary-art venue. Free admission, closed Mondays.

St. Louis's original craft-brewery taproom (1991) in a downtown building with a gastropub menu, 25+ Schlafly beers on draft, and live music four nights a week. The city's defining post-Anheuser-Busch beer institution.

Eero Saarinen's 630-foot stainless-steel arch on the Mississippi riverfront. The Arch itself is the headline; the redesigned underground museum at its base is a surprisingly serious city-history experience.

A 1,326-acre Olmsted-tradition park larger than Central Park, anchoring the Central West End. The 1904 World's Fair site, home to the Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center, and the Muny outdoor theater.

Founded in 1859 — one of the oldest botanical gardens in the U.S. and one of the few with a working herbarium and serious science program. The Climatron geodesic dome and the Japanese Garden are the headliners.

Central West End cathedral holding the world's largest collection of mosaic art — 41.5 million pieces across 83,000 square feet. The dome and side chapels reward an unhurried hour.

A downtown sculpture park spanning two blocks of the Gateway Mall, free and walkable. Twenty-four pieces from the major late-20th-century roster — Tony Smith, Mark di Suvero, Niki de Saint Phalle.

The 1828 federal courthouse where the Dred Scott case was first tried, with the cast-iron dome above. The interior is open free as part of Gateway Arch National Park.

An Italian-American neighborhood west of downtown, dense with bocce courts, craftsman houses, and family-run restaurants. Birthplace of toasted ravioli and the closest American Little Italy that still feels lived-in.

A French Colonial neighborhood south of downtown with cast-iron-front rowhouses and the 1779 Soulard Farmers' Market. The city's most-intact pre-Civil-War neighborhood.

St. Louis's oldest neighborhood park, surrounded by an unbroken ring of 1850s-1870s Italianate and Second Empire mansions. The Lafayette Square Restoration Committee has kept it intact.

A 289-acre Victorian gardenscape between South Grand and the Botanical Garden, with twelve pavilions and a roller-skating arena. Independent of the Forest Park system and quieter for it.

A six-block stretch of Delmar Boulevard between U City and St. Louis with restaurants, music venues, and the Walk of Fame brass stars. The locals' bar district, despite the touristy reputation.

The 1874 wrought-iron arch bridge across the Mississippi — the first to span the river south of the Missouri and the first major-river bridge built mostly of steel. Pedestrian deck on the lower level.

An 1894 Romanesque-Revival train station turned mixed-use complex with a hotel, aquarium, mini-golf, and a Ferris wheel out front. The Grand Hall is the building's surviving glory.

The oldest public market west of the Mississippi, in operation since 1779 and in this Renaissance-Italian H-shaped pavilion since 1929. Roughly 148 stalls of produce, meat, fish, spices, and prepared food — a working market, not a tourist set piece.

An 1849 garden cemetery on 314 acres holding Adolphus Busch's mausoleum, William Clark's grave, and a registered arboretum with over 5,000 trees. A serious self-guided history-and-landscape walk.

A late-1800s public-works park crowned by the 179-foot Compton Hill Water Tower — one of three surviving standpipe water towers in the U.S. The park is small, the tower views are the headline.

A 105-acre outdoor sculpture park in southwest county with over 60 large-scale works and a small indoor gallery. Free, year-round, and one of the largest dedicated sculpture parks in the U.S.

Washington University's free art museum on the Danforth campus — one of the oldest teaching collections in the U.S. (1881) with a renovated 2006 building. Strong on modern and contemporary work; the under-the-radar art stop in the city.

A free university art museum on the SLU campus housing the Western Jesuit Missions Collection, a strong Russian and Greek icon collection, and rotating contemporary shows. The 1900 Beaux-Arts building is itself worth the visit.

A small state park at the actual confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers — Lewis and Clark crossed it in 1804. A 30-minute drive north of the city, mostly empty except for birders.