Where are the current—and future—restaurant hot spots in metro St. Louis? —Willie B., St. Louis
When asked this question four years ago, the surprise answer was Edwardsville, Illinois. And while that burg is still absolutely worth a visit (restaurants include Cleveland-Heath, Andria’s Countryside, Peel Wood Fired Pizza, Gulf Shores, Mike Shannon’s Grill, among others), a few areas of St. Louis (besides perennial hot spots Maplewood and Cherokee Street) have been on the rise:
1. The 600 block of Wash. Ave.: With the arrival of Porano Pasta, some are calling this the hottest restaurant block in St. Louis. When Porano’s graphics were being designed last summer, it was decided to use all caps in the logo. But it wasn't necessary. Gerard Craft’s fast-casual Italian eatery is already making a huge splash, without any additional shouting. Joining Porano on the south side of the street are Crazy Bowls & Wraps, Pi Pizzeria, Snarf’s, Taze Mediterranean Street Food, and MX Movies. Across the street is Robust, and beginning this spring, the National Blues Museum and Sugarfire Smoke House. And you can’t say the block has everything but the kitchen sink, because The Kitchen Sink also recently opened just around the corner on 6th Street.
2. Macklind Avenue in SoHa: Until Onesto Trattoria used "SoHa" (the Southhampton neighborhood) as its locator in 2008, we hadn’t even heard the term referring to an area of St. Louis. Macklind Avenue in SoHa is home to The Mack, Macklind Avenue Deli, and more recently Russell’s on Macklind (a beautiful upstairs room debuted last month), Grapeseed, and the most recently, The Copper Pig. All are worthy of a visit.
3. Grand Center: Five years ago, with all the planned development at Grand Center, it was being billed as the next great growth area for restaurants as well. That’s finally coming to pass. Besides stalwarts The Best Steak House and City Diner, Triumph Grill, and Urban Chestnut Brewing Company attracted a different group of diners. More recent additions include Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust, The Dark Room, BaiKu Sushi Lounge, Lucha, two venues at Jazz at the Bistro, LoRusso’s on Grand (the former Dooley’s), and the spectacular Curtain Call. Slated for later this year are a rooftop restaurant and bar atop the Kranzberg Arts Center/Big Brothers/Big Sisters building (below), located at the corner of Grand and Olive. And just yesterday, there was confirmation of a restaurant and catering operation in the former Plush space on Locust Street.
Image via HDA Architects
Artist's rendering of the upcoming rooftop restaurant and bar.
As to the next restaurant hot spot, we offer no prediction: A perusal of the latest edition of our Coming Soon list shows restaurants all across the metro. But it's still early in the year...
Ask George questions on Twitter @stlmag_dining or send him an email at gmahe@stlmag.com. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
