Where to find the best Italian food in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area, from Ian Froeb’s STL 100
Looking for the best Italian in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area? Check out these suggestions from Ian Froeb's STL 100, a list of the best restaurants in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area.
Acero
"It’s difficult for an Italian restaurant to stand out in ºüÀêÊÓƵ — which makes Acero all the more remarkable."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý7266 Manchester Road, MaplewoodÌýHours •ÌýDinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)ÌýPricingÌý• $$$-$$$$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-644-1790;
Charlie Gitto's
"I would feel like an idiot for excluding Charlie Gitto’s from the STL 100 until now if I had eaten nothing more than its bucatini all’Amatriciana last year."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý5226 Shaw AvenueÌýHours •ÌýDinner dailyÌýPricingÌý•Ìý$$$-$$$$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-772-8898;
1929 Pizza & Wine
"You know ºüÀêÊÓƵ-style pizza, of course. Amy and Matt Herren want to introduce you to Wood River-style pies. The couple tend a wood-fired oven at 1929 Pizza & Wine, which they opened in late 2022 in downtown Wood River, but their pizza isn’t Neapolitan."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý7 North Wood River Avenue, Wood RiverÌýHours •ÌýDinner Thursday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Wednesday)ÌýPricingÌý• $$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý618-216-2258;
Katie's Pizza and Pasta Osteria
"As breathtaking as the Ballpark Village Katie’s is — especially for those of us who remember the ad hoc style of Katie’s Pizza Cafe, the restaurant she once ran with her late father, Tom Lee — and while the new location’s menu has expanded to such swanky main courses as lobster thermidor and filet mignon, the appeal remains simple: elegant, often seasonal pastas and pizzas, like charred broccolini and sweet dollops of buffalo ricotta over a silky tomato-buffalo ricotta spread.Ìý"
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý14171 Clayton Road, Town and Country; more locationsÌýHours •ÌýLunch and dinner daily, brunch Saturday-SundayÌýPricingÌý• $$$-$$$$ÌýMore infoÌý•ÌýÌý636-220-3238;
Louie, No. 8
"Chef Sean Turner hasn’t needed to tweak Louie’s signature dishes since the restaurant opened six years ago, but I still marvel at the perfect accent of mint with its hummus, at how the swirl of chermoula seemingly buried under a whopping double-cut pork chop and a plant’s worth of shishito peppers bursts through the plate with its herbaceous vibrancy."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý706 DeMun Avenue, ClaytonÌýHours •ÌýDinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)ÌýPricingÌý• $$$-$$$$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-300-8188;
Madrina
"Madrina, a new joint venture from the owners of nearby Robust Bistro & Wine Bar and the Parkmoor Drive-In, applies this idea to the Sinatra tunes and (synthetic) leather booths of the old-school Italian restaurant."
Where • 101 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves Hours • Dinner daily Pricing • $$$$ More info • 314-963-1976;
Noto Italian Restaurant, No. 17
"You will (still) find the best pizza in the metro area at Noto Italian Restaurant in St. Peters — and not just because Kendele and Wayne Sieve’s Neapolitan pies, fired at 1,000 degrees in a wood-burning oven, have received the official stamp of approval from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý5105 Westwood Drive, St. PetersÌýHours •ÌýDinner Wednesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Tuesday)ÌýPricingÌý•Ìý$$-$$$ÌýÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý636-317-1143;
O+O Pizza
"At O+O Pizza in Webster Groves, Risk and his team push the boundaries of what a modern, ostensibly conventional Italian restaurant can be."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý102 West Lockwood Avenue, Webster GrovesÌýHours •ÌýDinner dailyÌýPricingÌý• $$$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-721-5422;
Pastaria; Pastaria Deli & Wine, No. 24
"At Pastaria, acclaimed chef Craft learned to meet diners where they are (often with kids in tow) and only then dazzle them with his wood-fired pizzas and big plates of bucatini, tagliatelle and pappardelle."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý7734 Forsyth Boulevard, ClaytonÌýÌýHours •ÌýDinner dailyÌýPricingÌý• $$-$$$ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-862-6603;
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý7734 Forsyth Boulevard, ClaytonÌýÌýHours •ÌýLunch dailyÌýPricingÌý• $ÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-773-7755;
Paul Manno's Restaurant
"A trip through the time portal from the unassuming shopping-plaza storefront of Paul Manno’s Restaurant into its perpetually packed Sinatra shrine of a dining room might not persuade you to dress up for dinner — some lost causes are truly gone forever — but you’ll feel compelled to go big even before you open the menu."
°Â³ó±ð°ù±ðÌý•Ìý75 Forum Shopping Center, ChesterfieldÌýHours •ÌýDinner Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday)ÌýPricingÌý•Ìý$$$-$$$$ÌýÌýMore infoÌý•Ìý314-878-1274;
Ian Froeb
Restaurant critic
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Food fads come and go, but steak is eternal.
