St. Louis has an abundance of wonderful breakfast spots, and one of the things these restaurants have perfected especially well is the breakfast sandwich. You can find delicious daytime handhelds all over town, but these 15 represent the essential stops on any breakfast sandwich lover’s bucket list. From Balkan-inspired sendevics to Cuban-New York chopped cheeses, there’s no better reason to get out of bed early.
* Editor’s Note: To narrow the scope, we focused strictly on sandwiches served on bread and croissants, leaving out the three B’s: burritos, biscuits, and bagels, which we may revisit another time.
Bowood by Niche: Breakfast Sandwich
If the stunning setting inside Bowood Farms’ Central West End nursery isn’t enough to make your experience magical, Bowood by Niche’s breakfast sandwich does the trick. Although quite simple, the key is in the quality of ingredients and the impeccable cooking methods. The brioche bun is pillow-soft, the bacon is cooked to a perfect crisp-yet-not-burnt texture level, the cheese is a pungent gruyere, and the eggs are soft-scrambled to custard-like perfection. It’s a rich dish, so the pickled pepper aioli is there to cut through the decadence with a piquant punch—all of which are proof that elevating classic ingredients is the key to a perfect breakfast sandwich. 4605 Olive, Central West End.
Café Miami: Breakfast Chopped Cheese
South Florida may be a bastion of Cuban culture, but the influence of wintering-turned-all-year New Yorkers is almost equally strong. That’s why Café Miami’s breakfast chopped cheese captures the city’s culinary culture so well. Here, New York makes its imprint in the form of an outrageously delicious hoagie filled with sausage, egg, peppers, onions, and gooey American cheese. Pair it with a cafe con leche for the ultimate South Beach experience. 2022 South 12th, Soulard.
Cibo Italia: Panini with Egg and Pancetta
Michael Del Pietro’s Cibo Italia gives its breakfast sandwich a twist of the Old Country; instead of bacon, cheddar and, slice bread, the veteran chef uses panini bread, egg, pancetta, stracciatella cheese, and Calabrian chili oil to create a mouthwatering concoction that will transport you to that daytime trattoria just off the Piazza Navona. Pair it with a cappuccino for the ultimate Italian start to your morning. 7489 Delmar, University City.
The Clover and The Bee: Fried Mortadella Sandwich
Bacon may get all the glory, but it’s not the only cured meat that works well on a breakfast sandwich. The Clover and The Bee’s fried mortadella sandwich proves this point; the dish consists of the delicious pork salume, fried up so that it gets a nice crispness around the edges, as well as a fried egg, cheddar cheese, and a delectable strawberry-jalapeño jam that cuts through the richness while adding a sweet component that works well with the meat—a unique start to the day that will shake you out of your breakfast sandwich rut. 100 West Lockwood, Webster Groves.
Damn Fine Hand Pies: Breakfast Sandwich
Damn Fine Hand Pies earned raving fans while selling its namesake baked goods at Tower Grove Farmers’ Market. Yet its culinary pedigree goes deeper than these humble roots, all the way to Niche Food Group and a Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago. It’s no wonder, then, that the additional items they added to their repertoire when they opened a brick-and-mortar space in 2024 are equally outstanding. The breakfast sandwich is the perfect example of what they do best: taking a humble food idea, then turning it into something extraordinary by using great ingredients and impeccable technique. The sourdough brioche serves as a masterful canvas for an over-medium pasture-raised egg, gooey American cheese, and a house aioli. You can add bacon or not, but no matter how you enjoy it, you’re in for a damn fine breakfast. 4000 Shaw, Shaw.
Farm Spirit: Sausage, Egg and Cheese “Yucky” Style
Every Saturday during Tower Grove Farmers’ Market season, the heavenly scent of Farm Spirit’s smashburgers and sausage patties wafts from the griddle and through the park like an aromatic siren song. It lets you know that, whatever you eat, it’s going to be delicious even before you take your first bite; once you do, you’re positively enraptured. While the burgers may be the best smashburger in town, the sausage patties for the breakfast sandwiches are their breakfast cousins—handmade from the highest quality Such and Such Farms heritage breed pork and ground to a coarse texture so that you know you are eating real-deal pork, not some mass-produced distant version. A beautifully-cooked egg, a slice of cheese, and a soft bun make for an excellent morning sandwich, but what pushes it over the top is the optional “Yucky” sauce, an allium-heavy aioli that wraps everything in deeply savory, umami bliss. Center Cross, Tower Grove Farmers’ Market.
You’ll find a New Orleans inflection throughout the menu at this wonderful South City restaurant, and its Breakfast Po’Boy may be one of the most unique examples of this Big Easy influence. Here, Union Loafer’s hoagie bread is sliced in half and stuffed with scrambled eggs, andouille sausage, slaw, and a Crystal hot sauce-infused aioli. Order it for the main course, and save room for a stack of the restaurant’s famous pancakes for dessert. 3137 Morganford, Tower Grove South.
Half & Half: Roasted Tomato and Egg Sandwich
You don’t have to be vegetarian to delight in Half & Half’s outstanding roasted tomato and egg sandwich. While it’s traditional bacon, egg and cheese is excellent way to start your day, the veggie-centric version offers a creative twist on a breakfast handheld, featuring and over-easy egg topped with roasted tomato aioli, lemon oil dressed arugula, and gruyere cheese, all tucked between two slices of sourdough bread. The sandwich absolutely bursts with flavor and is so bright it will wake up your tastebuds even if the rest of you needs a second cup of coffee. 8135 Maryland, Clayton.
Katie’s: Egg & Prosciutto Piadina
Katie’s may be best known as a pizza and pasta spot, but its sandwich game deserves equal billing. During its weekends-only brunch, Katie’s serves a fantastic piadina, or flatbread sandwich, overstuffed with prosciutto di parma, stracchino and parmigiano reggiano cheeses, lemon-dressed arugula, and two over-easy eggs that form a rich sauce for the dish. One bite and you’ll want to rename the place Katie’s Pizza, Pasta, and Piadinas. See website for locations.
Mess Hall at 2nd Shift Brewing: Breakfast Sandwich
John Messbarger is not messing around when it comes to his weekends-only breakfast sandwich. On the surface, it looks pretty simple—just egg, cheese, and a choice of bacon or sausage on an English muffin. However, the technique he employs in crafting this mouthwatering beauty is something you’d expect out of a high-end white tablecloth spot rather than a humble brewery food counter. He begins by frying the muffin uncut so that the outside gets a nice crispness while the inside remains soft and fluffy. He fries the sausage and bacon in tallow to give it extra depth, then pairs it with sharp and complex Irish cheddar cheese. The pièce de resistance, however, is the egg, a custardy concoction cooked with cream, gelatin, and a secret ingredient that you might have heard of from IHOP. It’s superfoamed and cooked in a CVAP to give it a luxurious texture. Add a side of curried hash browns to your order, and you have one of the best starts to your day in the bi-state area. 1601 Sublette, The Hill.
Nathaniel Reid Bakery: Breakfast Sandwich
Nathaniel Reid’s pastry case is an embarrassment of riches, making it impossible to choose which one thing to enjoy. On Saturdays, that decision is made even more difficult, thanks to its breakfast sandwich, heaped with fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon and ham, and creamy havarti cheese, all tucked into one of the bakery’s signature croissants. The correct decision? Have a breakfast sandwich for the main course, and a kouign amann for dessert. 11243 Manchester, Kirkwood.
Telling someone about Songbird’s legendary sandwich does little to impart its greatness. On the surface, it seems pretty basic: sourdough, cheddar, bacon, and an egg. When you take your first bite of The Combo, however, you understand that owner Chris Meyer and her team are doing some sort of alchemy in the kitchen, transforming the whole into something infinitely greater than its parts. And yet, those parts are the key to its magnificence; Songbird is meticulous in sourcing the best ingredients like flawlessly golden butter-toasted La Bonne Bouchee sourdough, sharp aged white cheddar, a gorgeous over-medium egg from Rustic Roots, locally sourced applewood smoked bacon, and a little bit of honey and sea salt on top—a magic potion that brings this masterpiece together. 3153 Morganford, Tower Grove South.
Telva at the Ridge: Breakfast Sendvic
If Balkan Treat Box is the lunchtime, traditional brother, Telva is the brunchy, boundary-pushing sister. The sophomore effort from James Beard Award-winning chef and co-owner Loryn Nalic takes the outstanding Balkan cuisine that she and her team perfected at flagship Balkan Treat Box as a jumping-off point to push further into the region’s thrilling culinary heritage with one delicious dish after another. It’s difficult to narrow down your order when everything is perfect, but the breakfast sendvic (Bosnian for “sandwich”) is a great place to start. The restaurant’s legendary wood-fired bread serves as the base for a runny egg, herbed ajvar (a red pepper and eggplant condiment), mayo, and choice of meat. Add some delicious Bosnian coffee and a gorgeous, rustic setting, and you can see why this is one of the most popular daytime spots in the metro area. 60 N. Gore, Webster Groves.
Winslow’s Table: The Classic Sandwich
It’s a classic for a reason. A perfectly fried egg, gooey American cheese, and a buttery brioche bun is what you think of when you close your eyes and envision the quintessential breakfast sandwich. However, the maple aioli is what takes Winslow’s riff on the classic a cut above the rest, adding a note of rich, complex sweetness that nods to the days of when you were a kid and your pancake syrup used to run into the rest of the goodies on your breakfast plate. Nostalgia has never tasted so good. 7213 Delmar, University City.
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