Waterloo Charm at Geno’s Trattoria & Chophouse
Since we’re always up for a road trip, we traveled to Waterloo for dinner at Geno’s Trattoria & Chophouse (114 W. Mill). The menu’s classic Italian and the setting is beautiful, with ancient wooden floors, charming interiors, and a lovely bar. What made the experience even better, in addition to that veal piccata, was to stroll around the city square, which is only a short block away. Waterloo is scenic, folksy, and historic, and an apres-dinner walk made for an unforgettable late summer evening.
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Cloosterbitter at No Ordinary Rabbit
No Ordinary Rabbit (1621 Tower Grove) whips up a cocktail that shares the same name as the restaurant. It’s a mix of rye, crème de cacao, a simple syrup, and cloosterbitter. If you can pass on a drink with something called cloosterbitter in it, just for no other reason than to say you’re a big fan of cloosterbitter in cocktails, then you’re not the sort of person with whom we care to associate. It’s our choice for the weirdest cocktail ingredient of the year.
Taco Big or Go Home at El Morelia Supermercado
El Morelia Supermercado (11982 Paul Mayer) moved across the St. Charles Rock Road this year, into even bigger quarters: It’s like El K-Marto-sized now, with rows and rows of every comestible from south of the border, from statues of El Nino Fidencio to corn smut. It’s the café, though, that made our 2025 muy emocionado. The selection of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and other classics is served up fresh, hot, and happily authentic. On weekends, a massive food bar is among the greatest bargains around.
Autumn In A Cup at Robin
Imagine a crisp, mid-autumn afternoon, scraping up heaps of earthen perfumed leaves that are simultaneously moist yet still crunchy enough to make that satisfying rustle under your rake. At Robin (7268 Manchester), that’s basically what the wild rice with oyster mushroom soup is like—a combination of aromas and textures, as much an experience as it is a taste. The mushrooms are chewy, meaty; the toasted wild rice has a magnificent crunch. It’s luxurious and simple, by far the most wonderful soup we enjoyed in 2025.
Requiescat in Pasta at John Viviano & Sons
The worn smoothness of that brass latch on your thumb, the skitter of the door opening, and the metal tinkle of the bell over it. Just walking into Viviano’s (5139 Shaw) was a sensory experience. And one step in, the sense that immediately took over was from your nose. The aroma of at Viviano’s, of garlic and olive oil, the musk of cheese and yeasty, fresh bread, the sharp prickle of peppered meat, was probably the most delectable nose bouquet in the gustatory arena of St. Louis. Our olfactory nerves still cry when we walk past the now sadly empty store.
A Cake Crabove at Cottle Village Farmstead + Distillery
Cottle Village Farmstead + Distillery (6470 Highway N) provided a master class in the construction of crab cakes. Here’s how complex it is: Use crab. Lots of it. That’s basically it. The hefty chunks of snowy crab are held together by the barest of herbed breadcrumbs. A good crab cake is like a marriage between crab and cornbread, with just enough seafood spice and salt to make it interesting. The new Cottle Village presents a first-class example of the coastal specialty, with a filigree of crispy crust and an interior softer than snowshoe sales on Maui.
Nigerian-Style Scarpetta at Africana
One of the numerous joys of bread is the work it does as an edible instrument. That last bit of ragu on the platter is swiped up just perfectly with a slab of focaccia, for instance, and injera bread does the same for Ethiopian stews. In other parts of Africa, it’s fufu. The version at Africana (5860 Delmar) is beautiful, glossy globes of snowy, spongy goodness, made of kneaded cassava and plantains with the silken texture of brioche that serves as a delectable utensil for sopping up the last luscious drops of the restaurant’s signature birria-like goat soup.
An Anamnesis at Tony’s
The glow flickered when Tony’s left downtown and went out, despite heroic efforts to keep it alive in Clayton. We lost not only a dining destination legend but also the last truly formal restaurant in our town. When’s the last time you dined in a place where you’d feel out of place without a suit coat or a tailored two-piece? Tony’s (105 Carondelet Plaza) defined “elegant dining” for this town, a bastion of civility and class. We are poorer for its absence.
Dongbei Cuisine at Si Kao Life
There are those places that get right to the point, and the point is serving good food. Si Kao Life Chinese BBQ (567-A Melville) is like that. It isn’t fancy. It is about the business of Dongbei’s cuisine, from northern China, rich and calorically top-heavy. The aroma of cumin perfumes the place. Lamb kabobs, whole fried whiting, pork belly; small plates keep coming from the tiny kitchen sizzling. And how can you not love a place that’s been voted by St. Louisans to have the Best Blood in Chili Oil and Beef Scalded Aorta in town?
Pizza at Sbarro
If you’re old enough to wonder who Mr. Bunny is and why he is bad, you’re probably old enough to remember when Sbarro (186 W. County Ctr) was as ubiquitous in malls as Waldenbooks, truant officers, and the smell of chlorine from the fountains. Well, the taste of yesteryear is blessedly back at West County Center, where a slice of that gloriously cheesy pepperoni with a pillow crust and a seat in the food court for people watching has been one of the best food moments of 2025.
Klaatu Barada Nikto at Movoc Hot Pot
From the name to the concept, Movoc Hot Pot (6329 Delmar) sounds like a robot out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. You stand in front of what looks like a combination of a supermarket produce and meat sections. It’s a chilly wall of vegetables, noodles, meats, and scores of Chinese specialties. You take a bowl and put in whatever tickles your fancy. You pay by the pound, select your broth, and sit down. What comes out is a steaming, personal hot pot. It’s a weird combination of institutional cafeteria dining and homey enclave for local Chinese college students and all connoisseurs of the blazing bowls of goodness that is hot pot.
A Story at Noodle Story
A table at the splendid new Noodle Story (6315 Delmar) included a 2-year-old in a high chair who caught the attention of a server. They chatted, and the server asked the girl if she’d like a tour of the restaurant. She did and so off she went, hand in hand with the server. Eventually, she returned, delivering the check to her family. It was one of those moments that make dining so much more than dinner.
